A picture perfect week for the Athlete of Week Katie Johnson

by Nick Lenz, Sports Anchor/Reporter
September 17, 2012 6:40 PM


It starts with practice off the field, but is finished on the diamond. You've heard the saying "practice makes perfect."

Katie Johnson says, "It's just an amazing feeling, you know that every effort you made into that pitch has paid off. Every extra pitch that you've thrown in practice has really paid off too."

Pitching a perfect game is rare, but Washington's Katie Johnson did just that last week, striking out 19 of 21 batters.

Scott Powell says, "That's unbelievable. I can't say that I've been involved with too many perfect games."

But even though rare, lightning can strike twice and did three days later in her next start, pitching her second perfect game within less than a week.

Scott Powell says, "Katie is just an all around just a good kid. She's a great leader. She would be great on anybody's team."

Katie Johnson says, "I love my team. I love my catcher Kat. She's been a great supporter and so have might team mates and so it's a lot of fun."

Kat Merrideth says, "We're always communicating with one another. Talking about what's working, what's not. Just always supporting one another."

And the practice shows. Katie is 9-0 on the season with 63 strikeouts. But she gets it done in the batters box as well batting a blistering .702 on the year and is heading to play softball at Iowa State next year for the Cylclones.

Scott Powell says, "Oh yeah, Katie is one of the hardest workers, along with the rest of the team. But yeah she's, when she's not practicing at practice she's practicing off the field. I saw her up at the park many times this summer, she's got a great work ethic and she's fun to watch, she's a lot of fun to watch and she's just fun to be around. She's a super person."