Front and Center Again

After the Bruins won their 12th national softball championship in June, Katie Schroeder didn’t run in from her usual center-field spot to celebrate with her teammates.

With her clipboard set aside, Schroeder, still rehabbing her left leg, instead ran out from the dugout to join her teammates celebrating on the infield.

“As a softball player, there’s probably a million girls out there that dream of playing in that national championship game, and I was one of them,” she said. “It was fun to watch, but it was definitely hard. If I said it was easy, I’d be lying.”

Coming off of an All-American sophomore season in 2009 during which she led the Bruins in batting average, home runs, on-base percentage, walks and too many other categories to list, Schroeder was poised to become an integral part of that national championship team.

Just seven games into the 2010 season, however, those plans changed when Schroeder noticed something wrong while rounding second base in a game against Cal State Northridge.

“I fell over second base, kind of tripped, laughed at myself,” Schroeder said. “But I fell because my leg gave out. I was like, “˜What’s going on?’ Immediately, I felt like I broke my ankle.”

After heading to the clubhouse with an entourage of doctors and trainers, she was diagnosed with a stress fracture in her left tibia, one of the two main bones below the knee.

Recovery time for a stress fracture is usually several months. For Schroeder, that meant she would have to redshirt and sit out the rest of the season, an eternity for someone who had never missed significant playing time due to injury.

“It was heartbreaking, to say the least,” Schroeder said. “You train so hard, and you work so much just to play that you don’t think about getting hurt. … That was never in the back of my mind, ever.”

Schroeder spent the next several months rehabilitating her leg, spending countless hours in the Acosta Athletic Training Center running on the Ultra G treadmill, a machine that simulates an anti-gravity state by having runners insert their legs into an air-filled container that reduces the normal pressures of running. In fact, she was on the treadmill so often that it was endearingly dubbed “Katie’s Machine.”

While many athletes leave their team to rehab on their own, that was never an option for Schroeder. She traded in her glove for a clipboard, determined to do whatever she could to help her team win, including charting for hitters, scouting videos, and taking note of opposing pitchers’ tendencies.

Senior pitcher Donna Kerr, who has been playing softball with Schroeder since she was 15 years old, admired how her teammate took on a coach’s role during the regular season and the dominant postseason run.

“I couldn’t imagine being in that situation, but Katie did an awesome job,” Kerr said. “She was one of the biggest cheerleaders in the dugout, encouraging everybody, keeping us on track. … She was able to give her knowledge to the younger girls and help with batting and fielding tips.”

Now a redshirt junior center fielder, Schroeder is able to look on the bright side, pointing out that she is glad to have been able to experience the game from a different perspective.

Schroeder knew she would eventually be back on the field, and still approached each game with the intent of bettering herself as a player.

Every time the leadoff hitter ““ Schroeder’s usual spot in the batting lineup ““ would step up to bat, Schroeder imagined herself in the batter’s shoes, mentally envisioning her own approach at the plate.

But now, she no longer has to imagine herself in the batter’s box. Come Friday, she will step up to the plate with bat in hand as the leadoff hitter in the Bruins’ season opener against Utah State at Easton Stadium.

“It’s just great getting her back out there,” coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said. “She’s a very strong leader and a very active leader. She’s going to contribute offensively and defensively, and it’s just a great feeling for everyone to get her back in the lineup.”

After nearly a year of patience, Schroeder can finally step back onto the field as a player on game day. Instead of quietly scouting opposing pitchers from the dugout, she can exploit them herself.

She can leave the clipboard behind and focus on what she needs to do with the bat and the glove. To Schroeder, her long-awaited return can’t come fast enough.

“I can’t wait until that first pitch,” she said. “I’m nervous, but it’s nervous excitement. I can’t wait.
“It’s good to be back.”