The St. Catherine softball team has been off to its best start in over a decade with a 7-2 record through the first half of its annual spring break trip in Clermont, Fla. The Wildcats' success has been in large part thanks to the strong play of junior Alyssa McKee (Spring Lake Park, Minn.) at the plate. For her spectacular start to the 2013 season, McKee has been named the Wildcat Athlete of the Week.
McKee has been the top Wildcat hitter this season as she lead the team in every hitting category and has compiled 13 hits, seven RBI, 21 total bases. She has posted a .476 batting average and an impressive .750 slugging percentage thanks to her team high five doubles.
She started the week off for the Wildcats going 1-for-2 in an 8-0 win over Crown College with two RBI, before propelling the Wildcats to wins over Manchester University and Framingham State College on the first day of the team's spring break trip. McKee scored two runs in the win over Manchester before going 3-for-4 against Framingham with a double, an RBI and three runs scored.
The Wildcats stumbled for their first two losses of the season on Saturday, but rebounded with a 4-1 win over Oberlin College and a 10-6 defeat of the Unviersity of Southern Maine Sunday. In the narrow victory over Oberlin, McKee had the lone Wildcat RBI and a double to lift her team to victory. Against Southern Maine, McKee continued to propel the Wildcat offense with another RBI en route to the team's seventh win of the season.
McKee opened up the season on Feb. 22 with a truly impressive accomplishment against Bethany Lutheran College. The infielder went a perfect 6-for-6 agaisnt the Vikings and hit a home run to tie the first game of the doubleheader in the bottom of the seventh to force extra innings. In the 8-7 win, McKee scored two runs and also hit a double and picked up an RBI. She followed up her impressive game one performance with two doubles and an RBI in the 6-5 win in the second game.
McKee and the Wildcats resume spring break competition Tuesday against the Indiana Institute of Technology and Colby College in Clermont, Fla.
