It has become the stuff of legend, that quarterback Tom Brady used his battle for playing time at Michigan to drive him to NFL greatness with New England.
Kate Hunter, who also uses her arm to achieve athletic success, has adopted that same chip-on-the-shoulder attitude to motivate her in high school. After trying out for the Robbinsville Little League Softball All Stars and getting cut in fourth grade, she never returned to RLL.
“My family and I decided we would get out of that and not go to try out again,” Hunter said on a blustery day in early April. “We didn’t feel comfortable going back.”
Instead, she took to proving herself in travel ball, and then again in high school. After pitching JV her first two seasons, Hunter got an opportunity last year.
That chip was on full display during the NJSIAA Group II tournament, as Hunter threw five straight shutouts in pitching Robbinsville High to the state title. She allowed just 16 hits and six walks in 39 innings and struck out 41.
Hunter finished the season 21-5 with 209 strikeouts in 172.2 innings. She walked just 39 batters and allowed only 23 earned runs (34 total). She also hit .344 with 20 RBI.
After the Ravens beat Ramsey for the Group II championship, her teammates talked about the confidence Hunter gave them. In looking back on it, coach Lisa Rich felt it worked both ways.
“She was really on, (catcher) Shea (Walsh) was really awesome,” Rich said. “And even when she struggled, our defense behind her gave her the confidence that she didn’t have to strike them all out. I think that’s when a pitcher throws her best, knowing they don’t have to rely on just themselves to get all the outs. I think that really brought her to a whole other level.”
Indeed, when a pitcher does not have to be perfect, she usually gets closer to perfection because she’s throwing free and easy. Mix in the fact Hunter was trying to put past disappointments behind her, and you have the perfect combination of talent and desire.
“I think I came out guns blazing because of my past,” she said. “I really wanted to show people what I was about. There was pressure but because of the year before and how that turned out (a loss in the Central Jersey Group II quarterfinals), I didn’t feel that there was that much pressure for us to have to come back and repeat or anything.”
There was pressure to repeat as Mercer County Tournament champions, which Robbinsville did. When it came to the states, Hunter was feeling confident and unhittable.
“Definitely,” she said. “It was a great groove. Coach Rich and me and Shea had a good vibe going. The whole team really bonded.”
The season ended with a 2-1 loss to Cedar Grove in the Tournament of Champions, leaving the entire team in tears. But the returnees seem to have gotten over it as the Ravens opened this season with eight straight wins. Hunter was 5-0 in that span, allowing just two earned runs while striking out 21 in 24 innings. She was struggling at the plate but confident she would break out soon.
‘Every day we’re going to get her a little better, for our sake here and for her sake after she graduates.’
Hunter was a three-sport athlete in middle school, but gave up basketball after eighth grade and finished field hockey after 10th.
“I knew softball needed to be it if I was going to get anywhere,” Hunter said.
She has honed her game by playing high-level travel ball, and is currently with the Vienna Stars from Virginia. The Stars travel the country for games, playing as far as Colorado and California. Since her freshman year, she has been under the tutelage of pitching coach Tony Catalano.
“I can throw pretty much everything, or at least get it in the spot it needs to be,” Hunter said. “I can mix pitches up when some of them aren’t working. I have a big arsenal.”
She also has a great catcher, as Walsh has been solid behind the plate for three years and is one of the top athletes in Mercer County.
“I love having her back there,” Hunter said. “She’s been amazing. We have a good chemistry, we talk to each other. She doesn’t let much go by her. And she’ll keep me calm. She just looks at me like, ‘Hey, calm down.’ It’s great.”
In looking at what Hunter has done as the starter in one-plus seasons, it might be easy for Rich to second-guess herself about not putting her in the circle as a sophomore when she first took over the Ravens. But the coach feels everything worked out as it should.
“She’s so tall and so long, she throws hard and sometimes it really takes time to get yourself reeled in and start mowing down people,” Rich said. “I had three pitchers that year, and it was really tough to give everybody the looks they needed. Looking back on that, I’m happy with the way things turned out because she really came in with a fire to prove herself. It worked out in everybody’s favor.”
Not to mention, it takes a certain maturity and attitude to start for a successful program like Robbinsville, especially at a young age.
“I was talking about that with a couple of my teammates,” Hunter said. “To come up and play for this team is definitely a little nervewracking with the history behind it. You have to forget about it all and be in the present.”
This year, the Ravens must deal with being defending champions of two different tournaments.
“Obviously there’s a little pressure, you want to have a great year,” Hunter said. “There’s pressure, but this team is great. And my confidence has gotten so much stronger from my sophomore year to now. I feel like I can go out there and command the mound. It’s a good feeling.”
Hunter will take that feeling down to North Carolina in the fall, as she committed to Division II Queens University of Charlotte last year. She was seen by Queens coach Stacey Schramm playing travel ball in the Diamond Nine Tournament in Florida. Coincidentally, Hunter was pitching against the Vienna Stars team she now plays for, and tossed a shutout.
“It was one of my best games,” Hunter said. “It was a scoreless tie. She fell in love with me, I went and visited and she offered me on the spot. I love the school. It’s a nice little school, it’s beautiful. I’m really excited.”
Rich feels her hurler has what it takes to make it in college.
“We’re working on a couple things to make her better,” the coach said. “We work on those in practice. Every day we’re going to get her a little better, for our sake here and for her sake after she graduates.”
Robbinsville High pitcher Kate Hunter has picked up in 2018 right where she left off during the softball team’s run to the 2017 Group II title, going 5-0 and allowing just two earned runs in 24 innings. (Photo by Rich Fisher.),
