Meredith Gatto Shatters Clarke Softball’s Strikeout Record

Meredith Gatto is a sophomore on the softball team who grew up in Clarke’s hometown, Dubuque, Iowa. Her softball career started at the ripe age of 8 and she has dedicated 12 years of her life to playing the sport she loves. Her contribution to the team over the past two years has led to countless wins and she now holds the most strikeouts in a season with 145 strikeouts. Her success along with a few other players has led the team and program to be extremely victorious for the 2025 spring season and will continue to extend in the coming years.

Picture Credits: Brett Tudela/Athletic Department

Training for the sophomore pitcher started at the age of 8 when Meredith started seeing a pitching coach once or twice a week until she was 12. After not seeing much progress, the sophomore tiered to a new coach, Arin Opperman from Madison, Wisconsin, who introduced a whole new pitching style to her. She visited Arin every other week and saw an immense amount of progression from age 12 until now, which supplied her potential to start travel ball at 13. Once Meredith started high school, her dad pushed her to work out with a trainer who conditioned her body-building abilities. Her schedule revolved around improving as an athlete as she trained three times a week and pitched three times a week outside of practices. Meredith recognized more success in her skills once she began improving her strength and mobility at a program in Dubuque at age 15 throughout high school. Her high school and travel ball career were successful for the athlete and her pitching caliber grew vastly.

Meredith started appearing in the Dubuque Newspapers during high school ball when she was being recognized for shutouts and no-hitters she performed. Additionally, she was consistently the number one pitcher for every club ball team she was on. Her most memorable club ball moment occurred during a Nashville tournament her team participated in when she pitched 18 innings in one day and won second place out of 20 teams. Her experience in college has been different from freshman to sophomore year; while freshman year was a year of figuring things out for herself, sophomore year has been one of much growth in confidence, being the ace for the team. Meredith broke the single-game strikeout record in early February against Viterbo with 14 strikeouts in a 7-inning game. The following game against Trinity College, she broke the record again with 16 strikeouts in an extra-inning game. She added even more strikeouts that day, when she entered the second game during the fifth inning, finishing the day with 21 strikeouts in 11.2 innings out of 35 outs. The athlete now holds the highest strikeout record in a spring softball season during a 4-3 win against Calumet College after she ended the day with 139 strikeouts. The record was previously set by Jill Slater in 2007 holding 135 strikeouts which Meredith met during the second inning of that game. Her favorite softball memory is traveling with her dad to all her softball games growing up and her favorite part of the sport are her teammates and spending quality time with them. Meredith’s success at Clarke wouldn't be possible without her teammates supporting her.

The Clarke Softball team has an overall record of 21-21 with a 7-13 record in conference. This year has been a little different for Coach Garland Shirley and the softball program as 7 of the 9 starters have not been common starters in the past two years. A contributing factor is the culture of the team which is stronger than ever. The junior class currently carries 14 of the players, while there are only two seniors on the team. The captains, Sydney Haas, Alicia Casas, and Harlee Makue-Vasconcellos, have created a strong foundation and culture for the team that they hope to turn into victory in the future. Currently, the team is in the race to make the conference tournament, most of it being decided by the results this weekend. But no matter the outcome this year, the team is confident going into next year as they are only losing two seniors. With great prospects to look out for, the team shows strong chances of being very successful in the 2026 season.

The sophomore, Meredith Gatto, has been the strongest ace for the team this season with a heaping 145 strikeouts and an ERA of 3.02. With the junior, Payge Pyszka, right behind Meredith, with 36 strikeouts and an ERA of 4.60, the team gains much success from the strong abilities of the two starting pitchers. Lauren Hefel, a freshman from Asbury, has one of the strongest offensive capabilities, with a batting average of .322, 25 RBIs, and 37 hits for her first spring season. Kaylie Holtam, a junior from Moline, Illinois also contributes strongly to the team with 35 overall hits for the season, 11 doubles, and a conference slugging percentage of .413. The cleanup batter, Kynadee Harris, a junior from Temecula, California, supports the team with an overall record of 28 hits, and an overall .331 on-base percentage.

With only four games left for the softball team, facing the tenth-placed team in the conference, Graceland University, and number two Grand View University, the softball team has a chance to make it to the conference tournament depending on the success of these last games. Senior night will be held on Saturday, April 26th to celebrate the two seniors Sydney Haas, who has played four years on the team, and Alicia Casas, a two-year Clarke Softball player. Overall, the season has looked very well for the softball program, and with the season coming to a close, they are already looking forward to the next season.