Extra Star Power: The Three Talents That Define 2025 Athletics Outfielder Kate Sarago

 There is tough and then there is tough.

During the club season opener back in February at the Florida Fastpitch Classic in Newberry, Fla., Kate Sarago started the season with a bang… and some blood.

During a close game with Unity – Bridger, the then-junior raced home to score a run and was met by the opposing catcher causing a massive collision at home plate. The umpire signaled “out,” but that wasn’t the worst part of it for Kate, who groaned in pain. Sensitive folks: beware of this next statement—chunks of her teeth were knocked out and scattered around the hitter’s box.

However, after an inning in the dugout resting with a bloody towel stemming the damage to her mouth, Kate returned to get a clutch hit during the last inning and scored the winning run on a walk-off hit by a teammate.

For the entire event, the centerfielder batted .471 and had a .550 on-base percentage and, yes, had successful dental work upon her return home and is fine now.

Head Coach Stacy Tamborra, who manages the newly formed Athletics – Tamborra 16U team based out of Atlanta, says that there are three aspects to Kate’s play on the field and actions off it that define the person she is.

“Grit,” the coach says simply of attribute No. 1. “She will do what it takes to win and won’t let anything slow her down.

Not even some unplanned dental work at home plate.

“Athleticism” is the second aspect to Kate’s story that makes her special, Coach Tamborra explains.

“As a five-tool player,” the club coach and former Florida State player adds, “her speed and defense cannot be overlooked. Defensively in centerfield, she covers territory extremely well as evidenced by several superman-diving catches during PGF and will literally do whatever it takes to run down a ball including running through a fence to rob a home run.”

And Kate has quickly become a pitcher’s best friend out on the field.

“Turning doubles into singles and gunning down players at bases as well as backing up bases makes pitchers happy that No. 34 is out in the grass,” Tamborra laughs. “I call her my ‘retriever’ in centerfield as there is literally nothing that hits the grass on her watch.”

On offensive, the senior has the speed to successfully bunt from the right side to add to her athletic tools and mental strengths.

“When Kate is up to bat,” her coach explains, “something is bound to happen. During the last three spring/summer travel seasons versus the best in the country, she has had 630 at bats with only 34 strike outs, a five percent strikeout percentage and her batting average during that same stretch was .404.”

She’s not just putting up big individual numbers, either; the current senior is helping her teams win too. During Kate’s freshman and sophomore seasons at Chamblee (Ga.) High, Kate helped lead her team to the Elite 8 tournament in Columbus and has posted a career .523 batting average.

That athleticism extends to the track as well where she won her school’s Girl’s Track & Field MVP as just a sophomore. That honor came because she is a standout in relays as well as the triple jump.

“I want to place Top 8 in triple jump this year in the Georgia State Championship Track & Field meet,” Kate says, “break my triple jump personal record of 35 feet, 11.5 inches and also repeat as Dekalb County 4 x 200-meter champions.”

Each year, the Peach State phenom has set personal bests in her jumps and has made State both freshman and sophomore years.  At State, she competed in both jumps and set a school record this year on her 4 x 200-meter relay team.

And showing her impressive leadership skills and tenacity in seeing a project come to fruition, Kate also pioneered her high school’s inaugural flag football team.

She approached the principal and athletic director, set meetings with interested students, marketed, and set up the program… as if she didn’t have enough going on in the classroom and on the track and softball fields.

“Kate’s days are long,” her club coach marvels, “but she gets it all done with unwavering dedication and intensity. The academics, the jumps, the hits, the bunts, the diving catches—that is all just Kate being Kate.”

That leads us to the third aspect that makes Kate special in the minds of coaches at the high school, club and college levels: her academics.

When asked what her goals are, Kate says without hesitation:

“I want to continue making straight A’s in school, I’m looking to play at a Power 5 school with high academics because I love the thrill of competing in big games and I am also planning to become a surgeon when I am older.”

As a junior and a three-sport student athlete (softball, track & field and also flag football) she manages to balance her performance successfully on and off the fields of competition.

As a junior at Chamblee’s Magnet Program, she has compiled a 4.28 GPA, taking an AP course load since freshman year, and is a member of both National Honor Society and Beta Club.

Medical goals notwithstanding, there’s still a lot of softball to be played now and in the future.

Kate led the then-Atlanta Vipers team in three big national tournaments—PGF Nationals, Boulder IDT and the Patriot Games—as she batted a smoking .535 with 13 RBIs and only one strikeout.

Her proficiency in getting on base has put her in the leadoff or No 2 spot and, on defense, she sparkles in centerfield. Not surprisingly, the first day (Sept. 1) that college coaches could contact prospective student-athletes, Kate received calls from top programs in the ACC and Big Ten.

The college experience and medical training will come in time, but first the athlete has some unfinished tasks she wants to accomplish first.

“My goal on the field is to win a PGF National Championship with Athletics Gold – Tamborra,” Kate concludes. “I’m just excited to compete with such an elite group.”

— Brentt Eads/Extra Inning Softball