Katcher becomes 4th Comet to sign with NIACC Trojans

By John Burbridge sports@charlescitypress.com

CHARLES CITY — Kelby Katcher doesn’t lament on what could have been.

Still, it was a bummer that she had to be sidelined during last year’s State Softball Championships.

In the midst of a first-round upset of No. 2-seed Fairfield, Katcher — Charles City’s starting catcher — had to be replaced and shelved for the rest of the tournament due to a reaggravated thumb injury on her glove hand.

The Comets were forced to realign their defense as well as losing an able bat, and lost their next two games on way to finishing fourth in the Class 4A bracket.

“I was still glad to be there, and I still felt I was a part of the team … cheering them on,” Katcher said. “Things may have been different, but you can never know. We practiced and prepared knowing that I would not likely be able to play, so we were ready for what might happen.”

Katcher is looking forward to her senior season as she has good reason to believe — with the talent coming back — that Charles City can make it three state appearances in a row.

And even after the forthcoming season, it still won’t be time to “breakup” the Comets.

On Monday, Katcher became the fourth Comet senior to sign her letter of intent to continue her softball career at North Iowa Area Community College. Fellow Comets Payton Reams, Tayler Schmidt and Ciana Sonberg have already signed to play for the Trojans.

“It’s nice that a lot of my teammates are going to be there, but I probably would have went there, anyway,” said Katcher, who plans to major in Ag Business.

Katcher has been the Comets’ starting catcher since her sophomore year. But it wasn’t until last year when she got the chance to regularly swing the bat — Katcher often was “DHed” during her sophomore season.

Katcher took advantage of the opportunity while hitting nearly .300, slugging three home runs, and tying Schmidt for team lead in walks with 20.

Katcher also improved her defense and mobility behind the plate while catching ace Samantha Heyer, one of the hardest throwers in the state.

In 328 fielding chances, Katcher only made one error for a .997 fielding percentage.

During the offseason, Katcher has been training with battery-mate Heyer and is playing spring ball on Sundays with her teammates.

“It’s something we did last season for the first time, and it helped us get ready,” Katcher said. “But this spring we haven’t had much of a chance to play.”