IN CONTROL - Seymour Tribune

March 17, 2015

Throughout her career at Trinity Lutheran, Kaitlyn Wright has played basketball and softball.

If she had to pick a favorite, the senior said she would go with softball.

“I’ve just always loved softball since I was little,” she said. “It’s the sport that I’ve loved.”

Her main position on the field has been pitcher.

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“I like the competitiveness and the atmosphere,” she said. “It’s you against the batter. It’s like every man for himself. It’s you or them, and you want it to be you, so you do everything you can to get them out.”

Wright said she has a variety of pitches.

“Right now, I have a fastball, and I can place it where I want it,” she said. “I have a couple different change-ups, and I’m working on a riseball, a screwball and a drop curve. I have those pretty much, but they are not solid.”

For different pitches, Wright said she changes her release.

“It’s how you grip it and how you release it. The coaches will give the signals (type of pitch and location), and my catcher will give me the calls, and then I’ll hit that spot,” she said.

“It would be really hard for the batter to adjust in that split second, but some really good batters, like on travel teams, pick up on that. With the ball in my hands, I can’t even move my fingers around so they could tell it was going to be a change-up. I have to hide it in my glove.”

When she faces a batter the second or third time through the lineup, Wright said she makes adjustments.

“After they bat around once, it’s easier to read what their strengths and weaknesses are,” she said. “If they hit really good outside, then I know next time, I’m going to pitch inside to jam them up so they can’t get a good hit off me.”

Offensively, Wright said she does her best to guess what the pitcher is going to throw to her when she is at the plate.

“When I’m up to bat and I have one or two strikes on me, I think, ‘This will be a perfect time for her to throw a change-up,’ and I watch out for that,” she said. “I think that is what I would do in that position, and I’ve got to watch out for that.”

Wright said she likes outside pitches the most.

“I’m not really a big fan of inside pitches,” she said. “I like to hit them in between the outfielders. I like to hit line drives over second base.”

Change-ups are the most difficult to hit, Wright said.

“Most high school pitchers don’t have all the other pitches, so the change-up is probably the deadliest one, I would say, because it is the most common that they throw that we swing and miss,” she said. “It’s tricky because you really don’t know where it’s going because it drops and you’re so ready and intense for that fastball.”

On the basketball court, Wright said her favorite place to be offensively was the 3-point line.

“I wasn’t that good in the lane,” she said. “I’m definitely a 3-point shooter.”

Wright’s high-point games this season were scoring 10 against Eastern Greene and West Washington. Her career-high came during her junior year when she scored 17 against Medora, and that included five 3-point baskets.

“I would probably like to play against man (defenses). I like the movement,” she said.

Wright said she liked using her quickness on defense to deflect passes and take the ball down the court for a layup.

In both of her sports, Wright focuses on maintaining a positive attitude so she can be successful.

“Sports takes control, dedication, motivation, and all those things, like leadership skills,” she said.

“The mental aspect is extremely important because if you lose your mental game, then you’re pretty much done,” she added. “If one person on the team gets down on themselves, it snowballs, and everybody else gets that same vibe, and they start to doubt themselves. If you’re up and you’re cheerful and say, ‘Let’s do this,’ and you do it, that’s going to snowball as well.”

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Name: Kaitlyn Wright

School: Trinity Lutheran High School

Parents: Mike and Stacy Wright

Siblings: Amanda and Michael

Sports: Basketball 4 years, softball 4 years

Athletics highlights: Softball, MVP 2012; basketball, helped the Cougars win sectional twice

Home basketball games: “Home games are always the best. Your extended family could come, like grandparents, aunts, uncles, and of course, the students. They’re loud and cheering you on.”

Favorite away gyms: “I like the sunken gyms, like Brownstown, Orleans and Springs Valley.”

Home softball games: “We got the dugouts my freshman year, so those are fairly new.”

Goals: “We definitely want to win the sectional this year. We got close last year (losing in the finals). That is the first priority, and we want to improve individually in everything. We’ve got some good freshmen coming in, so I think they’re going to pick up the slack from the seniors that graduated.”

Career: “I’ll remember all the memories and the closeness that sports brings girls and teammates together. You can’t re-create those after, but you’re always going to remember back in high school. You’ll remember the good old days.”

Attending TLHS: “I’ve definitely enjoyed it here. I like the small-school atmosphere and just being open about my faith. It’s awesome. You can’t get that anywhere else. We interact with the teachers very well. They’ll answer any questions that we may have.

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