Freshman slap-happy about starting position

By Zach Silka

The Daily Northwestern

When Northwestern sophomore pitcher Courtnay Foster is in the circle for the Wildcats, freshman outfielder Katie Logan is alone on the field — as the only freshman on the diamond.

Other freshmen start for the Cats — Garland Cooper is the designated player and Eileen Canney is the other starting pitcher — but Logan is the only freshman who has the opportunity to make an impact on all aspects of the game.

“With our goals for this team, age shouldn’t matter,” Logan said. “When I’m struggling during the season, some of my friends are like, ‘Don’t get down, it’s just your freshman year.’ But it doesn’t matter that I’m a freshman. I have to play like I’m a senior.”

It was Logan’s goal to be a starter this season, and her hard work in the fall convinced the coaching staff that she deserved one of two vacant starting positions in the outfield.

“Katie has done some things really well for us this year,” NU coach Kate Drohan said. “I like the way she has been putting the ball in play offensively lately and putting pressure on the defense.”

Logan is a left-handed slap hitter, which enables her to start running to first base while she is hitting the ball. She usually is halfway down the line when the defense fields the ball, causing infielders to hurry their deliveries and throws.

As the team’s nine-hole hitter, Logan’s job is to serve as a second lead-off hitter and score runs for the Cats, Drohan said.

“With the slappers, all I really care about are their on-base percentage,” Drohan said. “I don’t care about her batting average. I want to know how many errors she forces and how many times she walks.”

Starting all 46 games this season, Logan has a .273 on-base percentage, seven walks and 11 runs scored. Logan is 11th on the team in on-base percentage.

Assessing her own development this season, Logan said she has grown in all aspects of her game, but especially her fielding.

“It’s a totally different game coming to college than high school ball,” Logan said. “Before, I would say my defense is totally flawless, but when the season started, I made some errors and I had to work really hard on my defense.”

What keeps Logan motivated are the back up outfielders. Logan said if she wasn’t doing her job, another freshman could come in and take her position.

“The non-starters in the outfield do a really awesome job of keeping me playing my best,” Logan said. “They know their roles, and they do a really great job of keeping you focused and playing as well as you’re capable of playing.”

The Cats will need Logan to play well this weekend in their final two Big Ten games. The team will play at Michigan State on Saturday and Sunday. If NU can win both games and Illinois loses its two games against Iowa this weekend, the Cats will move up to the No. 3 seed for the Big Ten tournament that will be held May 13-15.