Katelynn Gorton – softball – Stillwater High School

M. Howell

Katelynn Gorton thanks softball for teaching her never to give up. She is a junior at Stillwater High School and aside from softball mainly focuses on her academics. Katelynn says her favorite position to play is catcher because she loves to be involved with every pitch of the game. Learning to always pay attention to detail like that is no simple task, but you can tell Katelynn truly enjoys it. Her proudest memory so far is hitting her very first homerun at her first at-bat after an injury break when she broke her leg in 2021, showing that not only was she back – the injury did not keep her from being able to excel in the sport that she loves. Katelynn stated softball taught her “…that you can’t sit and dwell on something that didn’t do your way, you have to keep your head up and say, ‘I got it next time.’”

She is extra appreciative of softball for instilling those values because they have helped her academically at the same time. “My favorite teacher is Mr. Benites,” Katelynn responded when asked. “He’s really helpful when you don’t understand something and, as a bonus, he’s just really funny.” Katelynn knows that a good sense of humor goes a long way to making difficult lessons easier to digest and is thankful for his brevity. She says that her mom is her biggest inspiration. “I know she would do anything I needed without me even having to ask. She really is my person,” Katelynn added. Her teammate that has made the biggest impression on her is Alexus Elnes because she is always cheering on anyone playing and maintains a good attitude. Katelynn notices that Alexus always sees when people are feeling down and is the first to offer them a helping hand and pick them up. “Alexus is the definition of being a good teammate,” she concluded.

Katelynn enjoys getting to represent Stillwater High School because she likes being a part of something bigger and spending time with those who share similar passions. Katelynn gets to help coach a 10u travel ball team for her little sister and said she feels blessed with the opportunity to work with younger softball players and takes pride in it. She also recently joined Unified Peers with Coach Linsenmeyer and is excited for that opportunity. She would like to shout out her sister Lily because she has grown to love softball as well and Katelynn really loves being able to share it with her. Keep an eye out for Katelynn Gorton with Stillwater High School as she follows her dreams!