Cat is my favorite current athlete. You may remember her from Team USA at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics. She first made national headlines pitching for the University of Texas. In just her second start, as a freshman, she threw a perfect game! She went on to pitch numerous more no-hitters and a few more perfect games in her 4 years at UT, and finished her career there with a new NCAA record for strikeouts. That record was broken 3 years later by Tennessee's Monica Abbott, another member of the 2008 Olympic team, but Monica pitched considerably more innings than Cat did. Cat still holds the record for most average strikeouts per 7 inning game. Post-college she has also pitched for Team USA in many other international tournaments, as well as playing in the National Pro Fastpitch league here in America, where she currently throws for the USSSA Pride, based in Orlando, Florida. Cat is different from many pitchers in that she does not throw a fastball. She uses movement and location to get hitters out. She's sort of the Greg Maddux of softball (look it up, lol). She is 6' 2" with a slender build and long arms and legs, and her hands are big enough that she can hold the ball with her fingers when she pitches instead of resting it in her palm like most pitchers have to do. This allows her to get extra spin on the ball, giving her 3 basic pitches - curve, drop and rise - more movement than hitters are used to seeing from most other pitchers. When she's really on, she's practically unhittable.
       However, I also admire Cat very much for the kind of person she is. In addition to being an All-American at Texas for all 4 of her years there, and winning the College Player of the Year award a record 3 times (only 2 others have ever won it twice), Cat was also an Academic All-American. After gaining wider fame from her first Olympic appearance she began putting on clinics across the country for young girls to learn how to become better softball players. She also does charitable work, and there is actually a private school in Texas that named itself after her. She is a role model to countless girls who dream of playing on Team USA someday.

I made this Cat message board set for my own use in June, 2011.

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