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

