Student-Athlete Spotlight: Katie Scolese

Image Courtesy of Katie Scolese.

By Sam Bergstrom 

A few weeks ago, I sat down and spoke eagerly with Katie Scolese about her student-athlete experience at Catholic University. Katie is a senior politics major from Alexandria, Virginia. She is also the starting shortstop for the softball team. Katie has had a decorated career at Catholic, receiving numerous awards and honors. Notably, she is a 2x All-Landmark Conference Second Team Selection and a 4x Landmark Conference Player of the Week recipient. 

Katie’s path to get here is certainly a compelling one. Growing up a diehard Yankees fan, she insisted on playing Little League Baseball rather than softball in middle school. Katie was the only girl on her co-ed team, but that didn’t stop her from playing the game she loved. She also played soccer her entire life, but didn’t pick up softball until her high school years. From then on, she had an absolute blast playing and yearned for the opportunity to become a college athlete. Funnily enough, Katie never imagined that being a Cardinal would come to fruition. 

“I kind of emailed CUA on a whim. We used to have to email schools that were going to showcase tournaments. I emailed them, and normally, you never hear back from colleges. But then I heard back really quickly from CUA… The coach came to a few games, and he was super nice. It all worked out great.” 

Clearly, Katie coming to Catholic was a match made in heaven. Throughout her career, she has progressively improved as a player while providing a consistent level of production. In her Cardinal career thus far, Katie has collected 161 hits, 133 RBI’s, 304 assists, 400 putouts, and a 0.928 OPS.

Katie credits much of her softball success to Coach Tra, her old travel ball coach in high school. Specifically, she cherishes the motivation Tra instilled in her to work hard through fatigue and to never let her talent go to waste. As Katie put it, “She believed in me before anyone else did to try and play in college. She is totally my biggest role model, the best coach I’ve ever had, and a huge part of why I’m playing as well as I am now…When I feel like I’m down in a slump, sometimes I’ll call her, and I’ll be like ‘What can you help me out with?’ And she’ll always just be like, ‘you gotta have fun.’” 

With fun as her foundation, Katie has been nothing short of sensational in 2026. Along with her unworldly .779 slugging percentage, she has been garnering much attention in the home run category. The righty’s previous career high in homers was 4, which she hit in each of her first three seasons. At the time of our interview, Katie was sitting at a staggering 9 home runs on the year! 

On April 15, Katie clobbered her 10th homer of the season in Catholic’s 7-5 win over Elizabethtown. This tied Taylor Stockinger (Class of 2013) for the most homers ever hit by a Cardinal in a single softball season! 

On the cusp of officially claiming the throne, I asked Katie whether or not she coveted to become the Catholic home run queen. She shared, “When the number is creeping up, you know that it’s getting close, you’re kind of thinking about it a little bit. But the girl who has the record, she was a coach back my freshman year, so I think it would be kind of fun to break it. So, I’m hoping I can hit a few more over the fence to finish that. That’d be big.” 

Outside of her storied softball career, Katie told me how much she cherished going fishing with her dad growing up, especially on Chincotague Island, Virginia. She also has a love for reading, and it is one of her favorite pastimes during the summer. Her personal favorite book is Atonement by Ian McEwan.

Between classes, homework, team workouts, practices, games, and meals, she told me that it can be hard to find time for hobbies as a student-athlete. Nonetheless, Katie always finds time to live out her Catholic faith the best way she can. She is heavily involved with campus ministry at CUA and has led weekly women’s small groups for fellow students to engage in. She also helps run Alpha, which is a Campus Ministry program that teaches Cardinal student-athletes how to live out their Catholic faith. 

Katie shared how a fervent sense of faith has played a key part in the softball team’s identity. “We’ve been doing team Bible studies, which is super nice, and it’s a nice way to talk to each other about things that you wouldn’t necessarily talk about on the softball field,” she expressed. “We’ll go to Mass before games, we always pray before games, it’s a huge part of who we are as a team. And it really lends itself well to the relationships we have with each other.” 

In terms of her student-athlete life, being surrounded by her best friends is something Katie has never taken for granted. When watching the team play, you can sense an impeccable chemistry that radiates on the field, and this is formed by the passionate relationships everyone has with each other. As graduation awaits her, Katie conveyed how much she will miss this keen camaraderie. 

“Even if I had the worst day or the best day, I go to practice, and it’s the most fun thing. I see all my best friends, and that team aspect of seeing everybody around campus, and being around each other all the time, I’m gonna miss a lot. And that specific community of all of us playing softball together is gonna be a tough one to let go of for sure.” 

When asked what her favorite memory has been while playing softball at Catholic, Katie spoke about sweeping Moravian last season in a road doubleheader. This was the first time the Cardinals ever swept the Greyhounds, and it gave the team an exhilarating bus ride back to D.C. Before her final season ends, Katie expressed how she is still craving to capture a Landmark Conference Championship. In fact, she said this feat would feel sweeter than breaking the home run record, and it would be a testament to the hard work all of the seniors put into the softball program. 

At the conclusion of our interview, I couldn’t help but inquire about Katie’s iconic walk-up song, “Fly Me To The Moon,” by Frank Sinatra. In a March 25 matchup with Messiah University, Katie walked to the plate with Sinatra singing to all the spectators. She then proceeded to punish the first pitch, flying a three-run homer to the moon and beyond. While Katie’s walk-up song may sound a bit quirky, it plays as a splendid symbol of her Italian-American identity. Not only does Katie have a proud Sicilian heritage, but she is also an avid member of the CUA Italian club. 

“I’m definitely a big Frank Sinatra fan. It kinda started as a joke, I just thought it was funny. Like, ‘Oh, fly me to the moon!’ I wanted to use a little bit more of an unconventional song than some like rap song or some like hype song, so I kinda just picked that on a whim, and it’s my grandma’s favorite Frank Sinatra song as well, so it all just kinda worked out…It’s definitely the best walk-up song I have.” 

Throughout her career at Catholic, Katie has certainly played among the stars. She’s created constellations on the home run horizon and has twinkled timelessly with stellar defense at shortstop. Above all, Katie’s beaming joy and kindhearted charisma are what make her a true star in the Catholic U community. We wish Katie nothing but the best for the rest of the season, and with her journey beyond softball.