Sophomore

Clarence,NY

#14 Shortstop

2009: .248

Katie led the Griffs in homers (6) her Freshman season; tied for the lead in RBIs (28); and was 3rd on the team in slugging percentage (.428). She was also outstanding at shortstop, where she started 50 of 51 games. Katie is a threat to knock the ball over the fence at any time (see video against Syracuse below). She seemed to struggle with her hitting a bit during the middle of the season, but recovered during the end. Katie covers a lot of ground in the infield, often getting to balls that seem unplayable. She's a very strong player too, as opposing players who try to knock her off the bag discover painfully, including an Ohio St. runner who thought she was going to barrel over Katie in last season's NCAA's, only to spend considerable time on the ground after the effort! Look for Katie to escalate her play over the next 3 seasons.

Katie won 11 varsity letters playing softball, soccer and basketball at Clarence High School. As a softball star, she was chosen as the 2008 Western New York Player Of The Year and ECIC 1 Player Of The Year. She was also a 2 time All State (New York) 1st Team selection. And all this with a broken nose!

Her dad, Rick, played Major League Baseball for San Diego, San Francisco and Boston, so I guess she had good coaching! Katie has already hit a homer in her first college start.