Katie Burkhart and Katie Cochran go way back.
The duo played on the same traveling softball team as teenagers before leading ASU to its first NCAA softball title when the Sun Devils won the Women’s College World Series in 2008.
Now the pitcher-hitter combo that put ASU softball on the map has reunited again — but on a slightly larger stage.
Burkhart and Cochran have spent their summer playing for the U.S. Women’s National Team, where they have been part of the squad that won the Canada Cup and KFC World Cup earlier this month.
“It’s been a dream come true,” Cochran said. “I’ve always wanted to play for Team USA, and it’s everything that I dreamed it would be. Getting to play with the best, getting to play in front of the best crowds and getting to represent my country has been such an honor.”
While Burkhart and Cochran aren’t strangers to USA Softball or international play, as both were members of the 2006 World University Games Team that won the gold medal in Taiwan, this is each player’s first go around with the U.S. National Team.
“In a sense, it’s kind of like you feel like a peacock,” Burkhart said. “You spread your feathers and you finally made it and you’re like ‘Yeah!’ There is a sense of pride that goes along with wearing those colors. I have a responsibility that I’m going to represent this country as best as possible, and that means my actions on the field and outside off the field.”
Cochran added that she felt a “burst of emotions” when she was notified that she made the national team after tryouts.
“I kept jumping up and down, and I just couldn’t believe it,” Cochran said. “I kept looking at my name on my list. The big thing for me was when I got to put on the uniform for the first time. It’s one thing to go to the tryouts and play with some of the best for a week or two, but to actually put on the uniform, that really got to me.”
Being on Team USA means Burkhart and Cochran get to share the field with players like Jennie Finch, Cat Osterman and Natasha Watley, who have all had stellar careers and the college and professional levels.
“[I’ve] been watching them for years, and they’re such amazing players and such great representatives of our sport,” Cochran said. “It’s kind of weird, but it’s also really great, because then you can learn from them and understand what they go through and just soak it all in.”
And observing some of softball’s greatest players firsthand has helped Burkhart and Cochran improve their own games.
“I’ve grown a bit more mature on how to handle myself, especially in pressure situations,” Cochran said. “That’s what some of the girls do so well. They play the game very professionally and they stay within themselves, and I feel like I’ve learned a lot by watching that and by playing with that, so it’s been a great experience in that regard.”
But being a member of Team USA has also allowed Burkhart and Cochran to reconnect on the field for the first time since the 2008 WCWS.
“I’m sure [Cochran’s] like, ‘Oh Gosh, Burkhart again?’” Burkhart said with a laugh. “We’ve always been pretty close and have been playing on the same teams together. It’s been really cool to be able to play and have a friendly face on the team.”
The U.S. National Team was selected in June and had to quickly mesh as a group before departing for Surrey, British Columbia for the 2009 Canada Cup that began on July 3. Both Cochran and Burkhart said the jersey with the letters “USA” on it is what brought the team together most.
“I feel like we all always come together when we put on the jersey, because we feel like it’s such an honor to play and there’s so few of us that get to wear the jersey and have that privilege,” Cochran said. “That’s where we really bond, because we really understand what it means to play for USA and we want to continue the tradition.”
But Cochran said that the team has also found other ways to bond away from the softball field.
“We get to know each other’s personalities pretty well, especially when we’re traveling on the road and we’re together all the time,” she said. “The girls and I went to see Harry Potter when it came out, and all of us are nerds about that. It’s a short time that we’re together, but we get to know each other through our little quirky moments.”
Team USA swept through all 12 games in the Canada Cup, including 3-2 win over Canada in the championship game in which the USA came back from a 2-1 deficit in the bottom of the seventh inning to earn the victory.
Cochran had the sacrifice fly in the seventh inning that tied the game before a Finch walk-off single gave the USA the win.
“It was just a crazy game from inning one [to] inning seven,” Cochran said. “I love games like that, where they’re really close [and] where they’re really challenging, because it kind of reveals our character as a team. I felt like having that type of dramatic win really showed what type of heart our team had."
Team USA carried that momentum into the KFC World Cup, where it won all six games to capture the gold medal. Burkhart notched her first win in a USA uniform in a 12-0 victory over Italy in her first trip back to Oklahoma City since winning the national title with ASU.
“Going back there, I felt really comfortable and I knew what I had done there,” Burkhart said. “It was so much more than just playing in college, because you’re playing for a whole new team [and] a whole new meaning — you’re representing you’re country. Right there, Oklahoma [gained] even more meaning to me.”
Team USA will now split up, with some members, including Burkhart, going to Sendai City, Japan to compete in the Japan Cup from July 31-Aug. 2, while others, including Cochran, will travel to Maracay, Venezuela for the Pan American Qualifier.
Japan is a country that Burkhart has become familiar with, as she has been playing for a Japanese professional team since her college career ended. And while she said she doesn’t know much about the specific area Team USA is going to, she is going to do her best to assist her teammates as they navigate through the country.
“I know at least how to ask where the bathroom is and simple little things, so hopefully I can help our team out,” she said.
Team USA will also be looking for a bit of revenge against Japan, as that team upset the USA in the gold medal game of the Olympics last summer.
“That’s definitely something that I know a lot of girls are looking forward to, because I don’t think it left a very good taste in anybody’s mouth after last year,” Burkhart said. “The rumor is they don’t have all their players this year, [so] in a way, it’s kind of bittersweet. I would like to be able to play on the team and know that we’re facing all of their best players, but I don’t know if that’s what we’re going to get over there.”
For Cochran, traveling to a Venezuela will be an entirely new adventure.
“I’ve never been there before, and that’s just going to be a great experience in itself,” she said. “There are so many new teams that I’ve never played before, and everyone just seems to be really excited for it. We want to soak it all in, because you never know if you make the team again.”
While softball will not be a part of the 2012 Olympics, both Burkhart and Cochran hope that this summer’s experience with Team USA is the first of many to come.
“I just hope that at 30 years old, I’m still healthy as a horse and not in a wheelchair,” Burkhart said. “This is something that I’m always going to keep in my heart, whether I’m still playing at that point or I’m in the stands somewhere cheering them on. Once you’re part of the red, white and blue family, it never leaves you.”
And even though Burkhart and Cochran will be suiting up for the USA in different countries later this month, they have both enjoyed getting the chance to take the field together again at the sport’s highest level.
“[Burkhart’s] made this experience that much better, and I’m so privileged to play beside her and to represent the jersey with her,” Cochran said. “It’s been such a blast. She’s still the same old Katie Burkhart, but she’s grown up as well, and I feel like I’ve grown up too.”
Reach the reporter at gina.mizell@asu.edu
