Antich enjoys time as M’s ball girl
G-Prep graduate learned of Safeco job from coach
Katie Antich is living the dream.
The Gonzaga Prep softball standout currently starring at Seattle University is spending part of her summer at Safeco Field snagging foul balls at Seattle Mariners games.
Pretty good work for someone who has a tradition watching the Mariners’ 1995 playoff victory over the New York Yankees with her dad, John, a Spokane Valley pharmacist.
When Redhawks softball coach Dan Powers brought applications to the team, Antich said she thought it would be fun.
“It was always something I wanted to do,” she said. “I tried out, took ground balls at Safeco Field and got the job. Pretty cool.”
She sits along side the stands in foul territory, engaging with the crowd and fielding baseballs that come their way. A couple of weeks ago, she was the one on television who fielded a ball Ken Griffey scorched at her on the first-base side.
“It was a one-bouncer that shot at me,” Antich said. “I stuck out my glove and prayed to God. I caught it and everyone cheered.”
Antich will be a senior at Seattle University this fall. She was initially a walk-on but has started in right field for three years. The three-time All-GSL outfielder for the Bullpups, twice first team, was Seattle’s second-leading hitter with a .380 average this year. She batted .311 and .353 her first two seasons and set a school record with 26 stolen bases as a sophomore.
The Redhawks moved from Division II, where they were a perennial NCAA regional qualifier, to Division I last season and finished 18-20. They won the championship of the national D-I Independent softball tournament and next year move into the Pacific Coast Softball Conference with schools such as Portland State and San Diego.
“(The experience) has been even better than I thought,” she said. “Basically, Coach said there was not a spot for me, but he’d put me in as a pinch hitter. I ran with it from there.”
An ultrasound major working summers at Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle, she’s part of a 12-member ball girl contingent and will work 16 to 18 games.
“I get to see the ins and outs of Safeco,” Antich said. “It’s a place I’ve loved and now being in the best seat in the house watching the Mariners, especially having a good year, is great.”
A related story can be found on the Seattle University Web site, www.goseattleu.com/