For leading the Northampton softball team to the District XI 6A title as co-captain and being awarded the EPC Northampton County Division MVP, Kate Stuhldreher has been selected as the Northampton Press Female Athlete of the Year.

Kate became interested in softball by watching older sisters Lindsay and Emily play the sport. She joined the Moore Township T-ball team when she was 6 or 7 years old and has been playing ever since. However, It has only been during high school that her athletic focus narrowed to playing only one sport.

She played basketball up to her freshman year and entertained thoughts of joining the swimming team. Kate also had an interest in wrestling from watching her brothers. Perhaps it has been softball’s gain that the movement to make girls high school wrestling a sanctioned sport in Pennsylvania is only gaining traction.

As one of 8 siblings, it might have been easy for Kate to get lost in the crowd, but she relishes being part of a large family.

“There was always someone around to do things with,” she said. “We were competitive with each other which helped push us to get better. I’m so appreciative of my parents for doing all the work to give us opportunities to play. They had this print out of all of our schedules each day and somehow they got where we needed to be.”

Head coach Kristy Henritzy explained Kate’s character.

“I was talking to Kate’s Mom and she told me, ‘Kate is the rock of the family.’ That’s the way she has been for the program too,” she said. “She has that presence in our dugout and is always there to pick up and encourage a teammate.”

Henritzy went further.

“She has such a passion for being a great player and a great person,” she said. “I’ve talked to former teachers of hers and they all mention how much they loved having her as a student.”

When asked about her accomplishments off the field, Stuhldreher noted that she was a member of the National Honor Society, finished with 4.2 GPA, and was a consistent qualifier for Distinguished Honors on the Northampton honor roll.

Kate started at second base as a freshman and moved to shortstop for her final three years. She amassed 76 hits over her career and would have almost certainly eclipsed the 100-hit milestone had her junior season not been erased by the COVID pandemic. Stuhldreher expressed no regret of missing the century mark and in fact was unaware of any of her high school statistics.

Unsurprisingly, her favorite memory of her high school playing days was the district championship the team won last month.

“We worked so hard all season and to accomplish what we did as a team was amazing,” she said. “Just being in that dogpile after the game was incredible.”

This fall, Kate will continue her academic and athletic careers at Kutztown University. She is looking forward to playing for longtime coach Judy Lawes, who just completed her 34th season at the school.

“Coach Lawes is a legend,” she said. “She just got her 1000th win this past season. She coaches hard and that’s not for everybody, but I think that style will bring out the best in me.”

Stuhldreher plans to major in business with a focus on marketing.