Brookstone’s Katherine Snavely named 2017 All-Bi-City Fall Softball Hitter of the Year

Brookstone catcher Katherine Snavely knows as well as anyone that it’s not about how you start a season but how you finish it. Fortunately for Snavely, her bat stayed hot from the onset of the 2017 season all the way to its end.

Snavely was the hardest out in Muscogee County this fall, hitting .657 with 10 home runs and 48 RBIs. The senior’s efforts were huge for Brookstone as the Lady Cougars won 19 games and reached the second round of the Class 1A-Private state tournament.

Thanks to her year-long hitting spree, Snavely has been selected as the 2017 All-Bi-City Fall Softball Hitter of the Year.

Snavely’s season got off to a hot start, which caught the attention of those outside of Columbus. After going 6-for-6 with 2 home runs, 10 RBIs and a 2.500 slugging percentage from Aug. 14 to Aug. 20, Snavely was named the MaxPreps/NFCA National High School Player of the Week.

It was an accolade that totally caught Snavely off guard.

“I was honestly really shocked,” Snavely said. “Is this really me, or is this a joke? It’s exciting to know I’m being honored with this type of thing.”

Four days later, Snavely again showed why opposing pitchers were better off just giving her a free walk to first.

With two runners on in a 3-3 game against Taylor County in the bottom of the seventh inning, Snavely stepped to the plate. As she watched Snavely settle in, Brookstone head coach Stasha Joyce said she could tell something was different.

“It was her demeanor,” Joyce said. “She looked down at third base and said, ‘I got this.’”

Snavely promptly hit a walk-off, three-run home run.

Thanks to Snavely’s huge senior season, she will play collegiately at West Georgia. Snavely said she chose West Georgia because she had visited it a lot and felt like she was at home there.

Snavely explained there were certainly sacrifices made to help her softball career flourish like it had.

“It took a lot of travel ball, a lot of extra work by myself, and a lot of practice on weekends,” Snavely said. “I had to give up extra things to do to play softball. It took being with my team and my coaches and working hard.”

Having said that, there’s no doubt her efforts paid off in a big way.

This story was originally published December 24, 2017 at 2:00 PM with the headline "Brookstone’s Katherine Snavely named 2017 All-Bi-City Fall Softball Hitter of the Year."