Kori Seidlitz commands attention. It could be her 6-foot frame, her outgoing personality, her quirky sense of humor, or her infectious smile. Whatever the reason, people notice her.
Nowhere is she more noticed than on the softball field, standing in the circle with the ball in her hands, as she challenges batter after batter. If you are one of the unlucky few who have to face her, be careful, she just might mow you down. And if you look closely, you just might see that smile as she does it.
She is a competitor and has been for most of her life. That competitive nature and her pitching abilities are why Seidlitz, a standout for Mountlake Terrace High, is The Herald’s Softball Player of the Year.
Since she began participating sports, Seidlitz has played softball, soccer, basketball, volleyball and even done a little Tae Kwon Do (both her parents are double black belts). In high school, softball has been her focus, but she also has played basketball and volleyball.
“Everything that has made me who I am has to do with athletics,” said Seidlitz, who was named Wesco South first-team this year.
Seidlitz admits that about 90 percent of her year is spent playing softball. What do they do when the weather gets bad? “We go inside,” she said.
Seidlitz completed her Mountlake Terrace High School career last Saturday in Tacoma at SERA Fields where she and her Hawk teammates finished second in this year’s Class 4A state softball tournament. Seidlitz has been the Hawks’ ace pitcher for the past three seasons and a member of the varsity team all four years of her high school career, but that was her first appearance in state.
Seidlitz pitched brilliantly in the first three rounds, giving up just three hits to Kentwood, two hits to Mountainview and four hits to Redmond. Against Mountainview, Seidlitz took a perfect game into the final inning. Mountlake Terrace lost the championship game to Kelso 13-2 in six innings.
“I just wish we would have had our best stuff, so we could say the best team won,” Seidlitz said of the championship game. “I just wished we went out on a better note.”
But Seidlitz knows the team accomplished so much.
“No one expected us to get that far,” Seidlitz said. “After the game ended, we weren’t having our heads down. We weren’t really crying until we realized that that was the last game we were going to play together.”
After the championship game, Seidlitz said she told her teammates: “I am glad that you’re the team that I am going home with.”
She described everyone on the team as really good friends who are all extremely close. Seidlitz has known catcher Kayla Watson since they started playing softball together at the age of five. Seidlitz’s sister Kelsi also plays for the Hawks and will be a senior next year.
In her high school career, Seidlitz put up statistics that any player would love to have. She pitched 31 shutouts, 11 no-hitters and totaled 467 innings, striking out 710, according to team stats. She has a career earned run average of 0.80, 1.25 strike outs per inning and her opponents’ batting average is .146.
Seidlitz also has thrown two perfect games, but even that has a story. She pitched her first against Mariner on April 7, her 18th birthday. She pitched her second one the very next day against Shorecrest.
“I guess I was just really determined to have my 18th birthday be a really good game,” Seidlitz said.
Although Seidlitz likes to win, she doesn’t want to embarrass the other opponent or make them feel bad.
“I think it is a good kind of competitive. I always want to give it my all and not regret things,” she said. “I like to win.”
In the fall, Seidlitz takes her game to South Dakota State University, where she will be attending on a full scholarship.
Seidlitz said she was impressed with South Dakota State’s interest in her and said the school and the campus are beautiful. She plans on being a pre-med student there. And although she doesn’t know what role she will play her freshman year with the Jackrabbits softball team, she looks forward to getting the chance to show what she can do.
“It’s fun to try and make a new name for myself in South Dakota and try to be just as competitive there as I was here,” Seidlitz said.
And if Seidlitz ever gets a little bored The Mall of America is just three hours away, she was quick to point out.
When asked if she liked shopping Seidlitz replied with a reluctant, “It’s a habit of mine.”
After college, Seidlitz believes her softball career probably will be over, although she never seems to rule anything out. She says that right now she wants to be an anesthesiologist after she gets done with school, but admits that could change too.
When asked why that career, Seidlitz jokingly replied. “Because they get to knock people out. What could be a better job than that?”
But before Seidlitz can start any sort of career, she has four more years of mowing down batters.
Seidlitz may command attention, but she certainly doesn’t ask for it. She is just an ordinary young woman, with an extraordinary talent.
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