Commendable Catching

Shawna Amatucci was lucky enough to have a chance to start at catcher for the Clark University softball team in her freshman season. So far, she has not disappointed.

Through 30 games, Amatucci is second on the team with a .302 batting average and has 4 home runs, 16 RBI and 42 total bases to lead the Cougars to a 15-16 record and a playoff berth.

What makes Amatucci’s feat even more impressive is the fact that she was not the starting catcher at her high school, , where she graduated in 2010.

“I’ve been catching basically every game,” said Amatucci, who served as the Colonials’ back-up catcher in both her junior and senior years. “I’ve only not caught two games or so.”

As expected, the transition from playing softball at the high school level to the college level took some adjusting time.

“You’re going from playing one game, twice a week against different teams to six games a week playing twice against each team,” she said. “The pitching level is escalated, better pitchers, more control of their pitches. You see a lot of different things.”

Not only has the increased amount of games been difficult, but there’s also been the matter of balancing her school work with softball.

“This semester, there have been times I study for a test on the bus to games,” said Amatucci. “It is difficult to do, but at the same time, the coaches understand if you need to skip a practice.”

It hasn’t always been easy, but Amatucci feels that she was prepared well at Shrewsbury High School.

“Shrewsbury being a really good school, they’re tough on academics,” Amatucci said. “It got me prepared to do school work and go to softball. It helped a lot.”

Amatucci still makes it a point to stay in touch with her former high school teammates as well.

“Once in a while, I’ll stop to text someone or Facebook chat someone,” she said. “Even if I wasn’t like the best of friends with people on the team, I still keep contact to see how they’re doing in their seasons and school.”

On the field, Amatucci has quickly emerged as one of the league’s top catchers. In just her first season at Clark, she has a .949 fielding percentage and has thrown out 8 of 12 runners attempting to steal, which leads the conference.

“When you’re catching, you’re involved in every single play,” Amatucci said. “You’re catching the ball from the pitcher, throwing it back, throwing [runners] out. Sometimes it does get stressful. You’re always on your toes, and it keeps your mind sharp and your reflexes and all that. It gives you a lot of adrenaline.”

Amatucci is near or at the top in several statistical categories for the Cougars, leading the team in slugging percentage (.488) and sacrifice flies (3).

In addition, she is second in batting average, second in home runs and RBI, second in on base percentage (.370), third in hits (26) and second in total bases.

“I feel like I’ve done pretty well catching,” Amatucci said. “Being a freshman starter, there’s a lot of expectations, and personally, I believe that I’ve done well keeping expectations as a high as possible.”

Even though Amatucci has already reached a high level of play, she realizes that there is always something that she can work on.

“I’m always trying to make myself better, trying to improve myself regardless of whether or not people are saying ‘you’re doing great,’” Amatucci said. “You always find that one thing you can improve on, and you still try to do it, even in practice.”

Amatucci’s hard work has paid off in the short term, and she has no doubt that her time at Clark will benefit her, both on and off the field.

“I definitely think that I will benefit from being at Clark, it being a good school” Amatucci said. “From a catcher’s standpoint, there are improvements that can be made at all points, but I think it will definitely be good for me and I’ll definitely still improve.”