A catcher has a lot to do with the outcome of any softball game. They position themselves behind home plate, where they can see the entire field and be part of all the action. Elle Pottorf, junior catcher, takes pride in that and tries to contribute as best she can as a team leader for the Kansas Jayhawks.

Pottorf has played softball for a long time. She said she started when she was about 6 years old.

“I was always really big into sports because I had four other brothers and I was the only girl,” she said.

Pottorf said that after she began playing softball, her stepfather began to see her talent.

“My stepdad saw that me and some of my other friends had potential,” she said.

Pottorf said her stepfather put together a competitive traveling team after noticing her talent.

Pottorf continued to play through high school and to perform well. Pottorf said she verbally committed to Kansas very early, in her sophomore year of high school. She said the University of Missouri, the University of Nebraska and the University of South Carolina were all still trying to recruit her after she had committed to Kansas.

But there was a reason she chose the Jayhawks.

“I met with the coaches and just had an instant connection with them and felt very comfortable with them,” Pottorf said.

Pottorf admitted her parents were a factor, too. Pottorf said her parents loved watching her play, and being so close they could come watch a lot of her games.

Being able to participate in the camps and getting individual time with the coaches to improve herself as a player was a plus, Pottorf said.

Coach Tracy Bunge said that the team voted on captains this year. Pottorf said that in the past the team and the coaches were involved in that process, but this year the decision was put solely in the hands of the team. Pottorf was named one of the captains along with junior shortstop Stevie Crisosto and senior first baseman Addy Lucero.

Being a captain means a lot to Pottorf, and she does not take it lightly.

“I want to hold myself up to high expectations and make a great name for the program,” she said.

Pottorf, being a catcher, feels very involved in the success of the team.

“We always have a say in a lot of the decisions that go on and I think that carries off the field too in kind of a leadership role,” she said.

Pottorf also tried to gradually improve her game. She said she was trying to improve her consistency batting and to have a better attitude at the plate.

“I’m trying to look at more of the positives than the negative,” she said.

Pottorf said the team is continually trying to improve from game to game. The Jayhawks are a young team with only two seniors on the roster, but Pottorf said everybody has tried to improve to benefit the team.

“Our pitchers have really done a great job offseason of working hard, knowing that they’re going to have to step up this season,” Pottorf said.

The Jayhawks won more than 30 games last season, but Bunge said that a team goal was to win 40 games this season. The Jayhawks continue to grow in the early part of the season and are proving they are not to be taken lightly.

“I think we are proving ourselves very well and showing everybody that we are underrated and we’re going to do what they don’t expect us to do,” Pottorf said.

The Jayhawks started off well with a tournament victory at the Central Florida Invitational and three victories at the UNLV Invitational with two losses, each by only one run in that tournament.

The team returned eight starters and Pottorf said that the team chemistry was great. The Jayhawks compete in the Houston Invitational tournament this weekend and look to continue to prove themselves on the diamond as they get ready for the Big 12 Conference season.

“Just being expected to finish almost dead last in the conference is more of an incentive for us to break out of that expectation,” Pottorf said.

— Edited by Patrick De Oliveira