NCAA softball player reveals alleged encounter with pro-trans counterprotesters at Sophie Cunningham rally

Kendall Kotzmacher returned from college to her home state on Sunday to attend a Sophie Cunningham rally in Minneapolis.

She made the trip home to Minnesota just more than year after her final high school softball game in the state ended in a championship defeat to a transgender pitcher, who also hit a double to help win the game.

Kotzmacher, who is set to play for Colorado Christian this upcoming year, stood alongside Riley Gaines, Michelle Tafoya and Jennifer Sey, as they led the the third rally in support of Cunningham in the span of one week. Counterprotesters had appeared the previous two rallies for Cunningham. But Sunday saw a different degree of agitation compared to the first two.

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Kotzmacher was caught right in the middle of it.

A pro-transgender protester at the rally allegedly approached with a megaphone and unleashed insults at the group. One remark was directed at Kotzmacher in front of her mother and sister.

"He had a megaphone and was just yelling everything about how awful people we are," Kotzmacher told Fox News Digital. "At one point, I got told that I should’ve been aborted when I was younger."

Kotzmacher said she had previously received hostile messages online after speaking publicly about competing against a transgender athlete. Sunday marked the first time she encountered that level of hostility in person.

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"I’ve gotten so many hate texts, death threats, people commenting on my posts, all of that stuff," she said. "So at this point, I’m kind of used to it, but it was definitely weird for them to be able to hear it and be like, ‘Oh, people are actually like this. Someone has enough to say this out loud to a person.’

"They have no rebuttal to what we’re standing for," she added. "They have nothing to go against what we’re trying to say, and so they just go back to calling us names."

The confrontation allegedly grew more physical when Gaines arrived shortly before the game. Kotzmacher said Gaines had initially planned to attend the entire rally but delayed her appearance because of safety concerns.

Kotzmacher alleged police officers nearby did not intervene and said a male bystander started to push people around.

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"A man, just a bystander, had to push him out of the way while the cops watched all this happen," she said.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Minneapolis Police Department for a response.

Kotzmacher said she and her family took precautions before traveling into Minneapolis, including parking near the arena and making sure no one walked alone. Once she joined the larger crowd, however, she felt safer.

"I remember talking to my mom, and I was like, ‘Okay, we need to make sure that we’re being smart. We’re parking near where we’re walking, making sure that we’re never alone,’" she said. "Once we got there and I was in a big enough group, I was like, ‘Okay, I’m with a crowd. I’m going to be okay.’"

Another women's sports activist who was there, Amy Sousa, had her own experience with the counterprotesters, and even claims to have had a civil conversation with one.

"The opposition in Minneapolis showed up as they always do, trying to drown out women’s voices with megaphones and sound machines. This time, as I calmly stood in front of this woman with her megaphone, I simply asked her to tell me what she thinks I believe so I could tell her what I actually believe," Sousa said.

"After explaining that I’m a Democrat and my position is pro-women and girls on the basis of sex she admitted 'that’s a little bit different,' than what she thought. She ended up agreeing with me. My colleague Kara Dansky has always said, 'if we can be heard, we will win.' And this conversation proves that’s true.

And despite the confrontations, Kotzmacher said rally supporters received more positive feedback, privately.

"There were so many people that were supportive of us," she said. "I got so many compliments on our shirt. Everyone got so many compliments on what we’re doing. But in the media, they go to show everyone against us, which is kind of funny to see, because if you were there, it wasn’t that way at all."

The dueling demonstrations continued inside Target Center. Cunningham was booed when she touched the ball, while fans wearing shirts supporting transgender athletes appeared throughout the arena.

Kotzmacher, who sat in the upper level, alleged the arena’s video board repeatedly featured fans with pro-transgender messages but avoided showing Cunningham supporters and their shirts.

"Every time that the jumbotron was on, it was showing people with pro-trans signs or shirts, or anything like that, of them cheering," she said. "Even when Sophie was getting booed, they would put the jumbotron on people booing her."

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Kotzmacher argued that the presentation did not reflect the full reaction inside the arena.

"There were so many people that cheered for her, but the media only paid attention to the negative parts," she said.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Lynx for a response.

She also said the atmosphere became more welcoming after rally attendees entered the building. Fans stopped Kotzmacher to praise her shirt, while others asked to take pictures with Gaines.

"Once we got in there, most people stopped," Kotzmacher said of the hostility. "So many people stopped us to say, ‘This is great what you’re doing,’ or even to take pictures with Riley. So once we got in, it was really supportive."

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But the hostility resurfaced after the Lynx defeated the Fever. Kotzmacher said people leaving the arena pointed, laughed and taunted her group over Indiana’s loss and Cunningham’s performance.

"Someone’s like, ‘Ha, you lost,’" Kotzmacher said. "We got pointed at or laughed at. Individuals were like, ‘Ha, you guys lost. How many points did Sophie have today?’"

Kotzmacher thought back to her final high school softball game in the state championship.

The trans pitcher held Kotzmacher's team to just two runs on seven innings, then hit a double in the final inning to set up the winning run.

Kotzmacher fell into her little sister's arms sobbing after the walk-off loss. The loss later ignited the feud between Simone Biles and Riley Gaines last June after Gaines posted about the championship that same day.

Kotzmacher has since gone on to do multiple televised interviews about her experience, and has signed a brand ambassador deal with XX-XY Athletics as an NIL athlete.

Now, as Kotzmacher continues her college softball career at Colorado Christian, she plans to continue advocating for the protection of women's sports.