Since her first days of high school,
senior softball catcher Katie
Alexander has been willing to do
whatever it takes to get on the
softball field.
Formerly a second baseman, Al-
exander only had one response
when her high school coach
Alicia Seegert asked on the
first day of practice if she’d ever
considered catching:
“Well, could I try out for
varsity?”
She’d been playing softball since
the first grade and was ready for
some real competition. Not only did
Alexander try out for — and make
— Saline High School’s varsity
team as a freshman catcher, she
was subsequently voted team
captain three years in a row.
Although she had the confi-
dence of her teammates, as
an underclassman, Alex-
ander struggled to adjust
to her new position and
level of play. This was
particularly true on of-
fense where she either
hit it hard or struck out,
nothing in between — a
pattern that Seeger
said stemmed from a
lack of patience.
But with a work ethic
like Alexander’s, the
struggles wouldn’t last
long.
Much like she has in her
four years at Michigan,
in high school, Alexander
only got better. As time went
on, she gained confidence
and consistency — a combi-
nation that, by her senior year,
made her ready to walk onto a
top-ranked team like Michigan.
Throughout her high school
career, she was chosen as the
team’s MVP and was twice named
a Michigan All-State player.
Despite not being recruited, Alex-
ander was eager to stay in the game
after high school.
Growing up ten minutes from Ann
Arbor, it had always been a dream
of Alexander’s to play for the
Wolverines, a dream Seegert — a
Michigan graduate herself —
fully supported.
Coming to Ann Arbor would
challenge Alexander both on
the field and in the class-
room, something Seegert
knew from personal expe-
rience.
Seegert served as the Wol-
verines’ starting catcher
from 1984 to 1988, holding
ten team records — includ-
ing for home runs and
batting average — by
the time she gradu-
ated. Remembered
as one of the
best catchers in
Michigan’s his-
tory, Seegert
was the first
Wolverine
softball
player
named an
All-American in 1986.
Throughout high school, Seegert
held the current senior catcher to a
high standard, knowing what would
be asked of her if she was going to
play at the collegiate level, especially
for a program like Michigan.
When Alexander walked onto the
team her freshman year at Michi-
gan, she went from being coached
by one Michigan softball legend to
another. Carol Hutchins —Michi-
gan’s longstanding head coach —had
coached Seegert over 30 years
earlier. While the two coaches share
a similar style, nothing could have
prepared Alexander for the coach
she was about to have.
“Hutch is incomparable to anybody
else,” Alexander said.
Though it’s hard to imagine not
seeing her behind the plate now, Al-
exander didn’t begin her collegiate
career as a starter. Lagging behind
other catchers in the lineup and
failing to fill the shoes of an impres-
sive senior class including catcher
Lauren Sweet, she appeared in just
13 games with a batting average of
.273 in 2016.
Alexander never resented her
position as a walk-on, seeing it as an
opportunity for growth.
“I could only go up from there,”
Alexander said. “My dad always told
me to work hard and that you’d rath-
er be the underdog. Thinking that
way always helped me strive to be
greater. My dad’s always reminded
me that I can do anything.”
During her sophomore year, she
earned more time behind the plate,
maintaining a near perfect fielding
percentage of .997 and committing
fewer errors than in her freshman
season.
Even when she wasn’t playing, she
watched and learned, getting ready
to seize her opportunity when the
time came.
And then, it finally did.
Alexander rocketed into her junior
year with the hard work and deter-
mination she had showed Seegert all
those years ago.
“(Alexander) has improved beyond
measure,” Hutchins said. “She’s got a
heart to beat. She wants to be great.
She wants to be her best. This is a
kid who’s come to me as much as
anybody in my time — ‘Can we hit
early? Can we do this?’ She’s open.
She wants to improve. We like to see
kids on that kind of a trajectory.
“It’s the same with offense; her of-
fense has come a long way and that’s
just hard work. In our sport, it’s just
a lot of swings, a lot of throws, a lot
of detail.”
Alexander’s momentum only took
off from there. Her performance at
the plate began to catch up to her
defense. Within the first 10 games
of her junior season, Alexander ran
off with the starting position, at the
time held by then-junior catcher
Alex Sobczak. She ended last season
with a batting average of .314, with
29 runs scored and five home runs
— a force to be reckoned with.
Her energy on the field prompted
Hutchins to start Alexander in 54 of
57 games last season and ultimately
earned her a place as the catcher on
the All-Big Ten Second Team. After
that season, Alexander was given an
athletic scholarship.
“She was as good a catcher as there
was in the league, in my opinion,”
Hutchins said of Alexander’s per-
formance last season. “She handles
the pitchers fantastic, her receiving
skills — she was throwing everybody
out — and she was just having fun
with it.”
Despite her personal success,
Alexander’s favorite moments have
always been with her teammates,
whether off the field — counting
cacti in Arizona or go-karting in
Kentucky — or on it, watching the
team succeed.
“When I see people who hav-
en’t played a lot — someone
who wasn’t highly recruit-
ed or wasn’t meant to
be playing a lot — do
something great like
get a good hit in
a big situation,
those are my
favorite moments,” Alexander said,
“
Just to see my teammates succeed
after putting in all this work for the
past six months or years on end.”
While her teammates now describe
her as positive and supportive, some
were at first a little intimidated by
her presence.
At the imposing height of 5-foot-
10, it’s easy to see how Alexander
could prompt intimidation. But it’s
much more than her tall stature that
has commanded the respect of her
teammates.
“On the field, she’s a beast,”
Hutchins said earlier this season.
“I’ve been really pleased. Katie’s a
kid who’s done nothing but get bet-
ter every year. She’s one of the nicest
people you’ll ever meet; she’s a great
teammate. Her teammates love her.
She’s a nice kid, but on the field, she
wants to beat you. That’s the kind of
kid I want on the field.”
Alexander has seen it as part of her
role as team captain to keep the
game fun again this season, despite
early losses. The Wolverines suf-
fered several tough defeats against
teams like then No. 9 Louisiana State
and North Carolina, leading to their
current record of 12-10. For the first
time in almost 20 years, Michigan
spent two weeks unranked, though
recent wins have propelled the team
to the No. 25 spot.
As her senior year continues and
her time with the Wolverines comes
to a close, Alexander’s own legacy
will start to take shape. A tenant of
Hutchins’ program is to leave the
team better than you found it — a
challenge Alexander has not shied
away from.
“She takes (the mantra) to heart,
which is the first step,” Hutchins
said. “It’s not something that’s total-
ly measurable, but they understand
that if we can get this team to be all
in. That’s what I want the seniors to
lead this team to, a team that is all
about the team on every pitch.”
Whether the team has been “all in”
up to this point in the season is up
for debate. With erratic performanc-
es practically every weekend, Mich-
igan is still looking for consistency
from its players.
Alexander is no exception.
Though Alexander boasts an im-
pressive 11 RBI thus far, her batting
average of .152 — the lowest of the
starting players — leaves much to
be desired. On defense, Alexander
has maintained her confidence,
throwing batters out and saving the
Wolverines runs in practically every
game.
As Michigan faced the ups and
downs of the first few games,
Alexander tried to lead by example,
coming in each day as if she was still
the freshman who hadn’t earned her
spot. That mentality has helped her
push through the challenges and
avoid getting in her own head.
“Always focus on what you can do at
the time,” Alexander said. “Even if
you make an error or mess up, focus
on what you can do on that next
pitch. Focus on what you do well
opposed to what you can’t do at the
time because it’s so quick paced. It
doesn’t matter what you did before.”
Alexander’s natural confidence and
inclination to lead carry over into
everything she does. Always one to
take charge in group projects or vol-
unteer in class, she’s never hesitant
to use her voice. She’s developed
that voice both on and off of the
field, simultaneously growing as a
player and a person.
By virtue of her position as catcher,
Alexander has been leading the
team from behind the batter’s box
long before being officially voted a
captain this year. As leader of the de-
fense, Alexander’s prowess behind
the plate has garnered confidence
from many her teammates.
“She definitely shows passion,” said
sophomore shortstop Natalia Rodri-
guez. “You can see that right away
on the field. You can see how seri-
ously she takes the game. She wants
to build the people around her. As a
catcher, she takes that captain role,
which is one of the most vocal.”
Added sophomore left-hander
Meghan Beaubien: “Anything I
Alec Cohen / Daily
Design by Jack Silberman
LANE KIZZIAH
Daily Sports Writer
CAPTAIN
from walk-on to
4A