March 19, 2007

By: Diana T. Pulupa

Washington, D.C. - There are few things in sports as glorious as a home run - more infrequent than the touchdown and against more adversity than the open-court dunk - the home run stands as one of the more highly coveted moments in an athlete's career. But, what if it's even more than that? What if the first home run in someone's college career is the first homerun in a program's history?

For Cathy Richter, a senior and two-year starter on the Georgetown softball team, this is a reality.

Richter, a member of the inaugural 2005-06 softball team on the Hilltop, already had a legacy at the University for that reason alone. But on February 18, in the last inning of the last game of the Kennesaw State Invitational, she wrote herself into the history books when she blasted a home run against Miami (Ohio).

The Hoyas may have lost the game, but they gained something far greater. Just four games into the second season of Georgetown softball, the Blue and Gray added one more statistic to the program and its new home run leader was Richter, with one.

"I didn't know I hit it," Richter said. "I actually didn't think I got it at all. When I saw it getting close to the fence, it was one of those, it's either going to hit the top or it's going over. The second it went over, I jumped up and couldn't stop smiling the whole way around."

With a program that has just started to build its history and create an infield routine and pre-game procedure, Richter chooses not to acknowledge the magnitude of her role in this program quite yet. She did not even realize she had the program's first home run until she returned from Kennesaw, Ga. and found people congratulating her - even her friends who barely know the sport saw the importance of her accomplishment.

Since the program is only two-years old and she is the lone Hoya with collegiate experience, having played one season at Saint Joseph's University before transferring, she is a natural leader on a squad with seven freshmen.

"I definitely see myself as a leader mentally and emotionally. It's a sport where you fail seven out of 10 times and I think, over the course of three years, I have acquired a positive attitude and the ability to shake things off," Richter said. "We have amazing talent in our freshmen, but perhaps not the wisdom quite yet because it is their first year. I see my role as helping to bridge the gap, especially as we play more seasoned players - our team has the skill level, they are just waiting for the experience and I hope I can guide the way."

In a sport where going 3-for-10 is enough for Hall of Fame status, mental toughness is a crucial part of one's game. Richter hopes to leave a legacy of not only being one of the first leaders of Georgetown softball, but a positive leader. The ability to know when someone needs to hear encouraging reinforcement, or when to keep someone loose is not something one can learn quite the same way they acquire technical skills. It is a learned behavior through observation and being there once yourself. Once a freshman herself, she knows what the freshmen on her squad now need to hear when they go up to bat.

"When I leave, I hope that people want to recreate my attitude on the field - that we can always come back, that we can always get a hit, and that, no matter what, we always deserve to be on the field with our opponents," Richter said. "I think when we start competing against the more established programs, the difference will be mental toughness, and I see this team winning a lot of games this season if we can hone that skill."

She's not alone in her endeavor to create a nearly unbreakable mental prowess on the team. Head Coach Pat Conlan and Assistant Coach Erin Goettlicher have given every softball student-athlete a notebook to keep in their bag. For anyone who wants to harp on a poor play or dismal at bat, they are to write down every bad feeling and every negative thought in the notebook and solidify it on paper. Once it is written down and the feelings are let out, one can close the book and move on to the task at hand - winning softball games and representing their school.

Richter may think her efforts are season-specific, but what she may not, or even chooses, not to acknowledge is that she is building the foundation of the Georgetown softball program. She will always be a part of the history because she was on the first two squads and because she hit the first home run - but more than that, she is creating a tradition and her very own legacy.

"This program is getting better and better," Richter commented. "With Coach Pat at the helm, she's not going to settle for mediocrity. She's looking to take the program as far as it can go and I'm sad I won't be here next year to be a part of it. It hasn't sunk in quite yet what my role is here. I hope I wake up someday and realize it, but for right now, it would be far too overwhelming each time I walked up to the plate."

This may be Richter's last year, but her role at Georgetown has been cemented into history with one swift swing of the bat and an ever-resilient attitude on the field.