ANN ARBOR – Catherine O’Donohue almost ran right past her chance to log one of the toughest accomplishments for any softball player.
The Ann Arbor Father Gabriel junior Catherine O’Donohue was ready to round third base and head for home when her coach threw up the stop sign, giving O’Donohue arguably the toughest part of hitting for the cycle.
By the time the game was over, O’Donohue had an inside-the-park homer, a triple, a double and single to go along with the 17-strikeouts she logged en route to pitching a no-hitter against St. Catherine’s Academy in the same game.
“It was kind of funny,” said her coach, Robert Zeffero. “I don’t think either of us were thinking about a cycle at that point. It was just a game situation, and we were just playing the game. But then at the end of it, you’re looking at the statistics and you go, ‘Oh my gosh.’
“We were both in the moment. Neither of us were thinking whether it was a cycle or a no-hitter, we just kind of figured it out after the game.”
For O’Donohue, it her first no-hitter in high school and first-ever cycle. The fact that both came in the same game late last month only added to the excitement for the team captain.
“It means a lot to me,” O’Donohue said. “I had never done that before.”
It isn’t rare for pitchers to throw no-hitters in high school and hitting for the cycle is a tough task but has been done before.
Having the two accomplishments happen in the same game, however, is unheard of.
Even the Michigan High School Athletic Association is unsure if another player has ever duplicated the feat.
“We haven’t tracked anything like that, but it’s quite an accomplishment,” said the MHSAA’s Geoff Kimmerly.
So how does one do what O’Donohue did.
It comes down to two things.
“Work as hard as you can,” O’Donohue said. “You never know what will happen. Go out and do your best and good things will happen to you.”
Zeffero added that it not only takes a special player like O’Donohue, but it also takes supreme focus.
“Catherine was totally in the moment,” Zeffero said. “Pitch-to-pitch, out-to-out, inning-to-inning, whether it was pitching or hitting. When players are in that zone, it’s easy for them to do great things because they’re totally focused on the task at hand. They’re not thinking ahead to other batters or innings.
“When an athlete is in the zone, a lot of times they don’t even realize how much they’re scoring or how well they doing and that’s where Catherine is at. Even some of the people who were watching the game, they came in between the games and were like, ‘Wow. Your pitcher was really on today.’
“You could sense something special was going on, but you don’t realize it until after the game when you start looking at it.”
O’Donohue admitted that hitting for the cycle was harder than throwing the no-hitter, but said that pitching is what brings her the most joy in the circle.
“I enjoy pitching more but hitting is fun when you’re on point, too,” she said. “Striking everybody out, it just gets me more pumped up and when my defense is behind me making plays, it makes me feel good. It feels good when I feel the ball moving and they’re swinging and missing.”
It was a once in a lifetime moment for a O’Donohue, who hopes to play at the next level, and Zeffero said having a showing like that not only puts the scouts on notice, but validates the work O’Donohue has always put in.
“For me, as a coach, it’s very gratifying when you see people who have an incredible work ethic and a great attitude,” he said. “When you see players of that caliber work as hard as Catherine does to reach her full potential, it’s very gratifying as a coach and sets a great example for our whole program.”
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A cycle and a no-hitter in the same game? No problem for Michigan prep softball pitcher - MLive.com
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