DLN ALL-AREA: Downingtown West’s Coker leaves incredible legacy with Whippets
DOWNINGTOWN >> Want a challenge? Find something negative to say about Downingtown West’s Caitlin Coker. Take all the time you need. But you’ll be wasting your time, because there’s virtually nothing to dislike. She can hit, she can hit for power, she can play defense—probably at any position on the field — and she is a natural leader. And if you do find something and let her know, she’d probably just flash that 1000 megawatt smile and inform you that she’d get to work on it.
Caitlin Coker is the 2019 Daily Local News All-Area Softball Player of the Year.
Coker put up some mind-boggling numbers this season as she led the Whippets to a Ches-Mont National crown, along with the first-ever district championship in softball in program history when they edged North Penn for the District 1, Class 6A crown.
The Whippets catcher hit out of the lead-off spot and flirted with a .700 batting average throughout the regular season, before finishing at .611, with an on-base-plus slugging percentage of an absurd 1.906. Coker had 44 hits, including a whopping 27 for extra bases—18 doubles, 3 triples, and six home runs. She scored 49 runs in 25 games for the Whippets, and despite hitting out of the one hole, knocked in 25, good enough for third in a high-octane West offense.
“Her versatility on offense is unmatched,” said West coach Joey Germani. “She can hit a homerun or lay down a bunt the next at bat. She could slap if you creep up on her as well and then if you walk her, she steals second. She has scored over 150 runs for us the past four years.”
That versatility extends to defense, as well. Coker, who will play third base collegiately at Boston University, and plays the hot corner on her travel team as well, dons the tools of ignorance as catcher for the Whippets, simply because that is where she can best help her team. Naturally, she is one of the top catchers in the state, calling pitches for West ace Natalie Beebe, and totally shutting down opponent’s running games with her rifle arm.
“One thing I love about catching is being so involved in every pitch and every moment,” said Coker. “I love calling pitches, figuring out hitters and making adjustments in how we approach them.”
Coker and Beebe developed an incredible relationship over the last few years.
“Me and Nat have always had a really special relationship,” said Coker. “She is so easy to get along with, and is one of the hardest workers I’ve ever seen. She pitches inning after inning, game after game with no complaints, and always with a smile.”
Despite her obvious talent at the high school level, Coker knows that complacency is the enemy of success.
“I can still get better at everything,” said Coker. “You can never be satisfied or think you can’t improve. The difference in moving up to the college level is huge, even just in life, let alone as an athlete. You have to constantly work to improve.”
Coker will have her hands full with the academic side of college life, majoring in biology, with a concentration on cell biology, molecular biology and genetics.
“I want to do something in the health field, but not necessarily a doctor or a nurse,” said Coker. “Maybe something like genetic counseling.”
Family is important to Coker, so getting to play with her older sister, Casey Miller, as a Whippet assistant coach, has been special.
“I can’t even put into words how much my family has meant to me,” said Coker. “My parents taking me all over the country to play, and my sisters and brother always there supporting me means the world. Even just sitting around talking about softball and baseball, or watching a baseball game is great. I wouldn’t be half the person I am without them and I hope I can be half as good a person as they are. I always wished I could have gotten to play with my sisters, so having Casey here as coach meant the world to me.”
