Girl behind the mask: McKenna Hogan brings love and energy to Austintown Fitch softball
Austintown Fitch catcher McKenna Hogan is surrounded by her family at senior day. left to right - Garrett Hogan (brother), Lisa Hogan (mother), McKenna, Steve Hogan (father). (Photo provided by McKenna Hogan)
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Whether talking about actual batteries or pitching batteries in softball, neither works without chemistry.
And the positive energy created by Austintown Fitch senior catcher McKenna Hogan has certainly helped the battery of herself and sophomore pitcher Sydnie Watts as the Falcons prepare to play in the OHSAA Division I state semifinals on Friday at Akron’s Firestone Stadium.
The chemistry between pitcher and catcher was almost immediate, as Hogan took Watts under her wing when the pitcher moved to the school a couple of years ago and hasn’t let go of her since. The two even have a pregame ritual of chugging energy drinks before each game.
“My relationship with McKenna is very strong,” Watts said. “When I moved to Fitch at the end of eighth grade year, we just became friends right then and she kind of took me on as a little sister then and it's just kind of stuck.”
That’s nothing new for the catcher, who has such an outgoing personality. Her pitcher in travel ball, Juli Stachowicz of South Range, is more like a sister than a friend to Hogan and her family.
“I love her,” Stachowicz said. “I've been playing with her since I was 10. She's been my catcher ever since and we've just got this special bond. She's literally my sister. I think of her family as my family and my family as her family. I love working with her.”
The bond is so close between the two that after Fitch defeated Berea-Midpark 2-0 in the regional semifinals at Youngstown State on Wednesday, May 24 that started at 2 pm in a game where Hogan caught a no-hitter thrown by Watts, Hogan and her parents – Steve and Lisa – jumped in the car and made the hour drive to Canton to see Stachowicz and her South Range teammates play Triway in a game South Range won 4-3. The duo can routinely be seen at each other’s game cheering the other on.
“That's my best friend, so I knew I had to be there to support her,” Hogan said. “She supports me all the time. And I would never miss a game if I could help it.”
That was a fun drive for the Hogan family. But not all of the drives after games have been like that throughout McKenna’s career. Some of the car rides home from games with her dad were not always pleasant but those rides are what has helped her become the player she is today.
“They weren't always pretty, we were brutally honest with each other sometimes,” Steve Hogan said of the rides home with his daughter. “That's the only way that we believe that you can learn from mistakes. We celebrate our victories, we learn from our defeats, and we learn from our mistakes and sometimes brutal honesty is the way we do it.”
Those rides just made McKenna work even harder, and she eventually got the opportunity to play at the next level when she signed to play at Notre Dame College this past November. The pride in Steve’s voice when talking about McKenna’s success was evident, as he was holding back his emotions.
“Man, you're gonna get me all choked up,” Steve said. “I couldn't be prouder of her. The time she puts in not only during the times that people see here, but also the time that people don't see her that she goes out and works. Her work ethic is just unbelievable. I cannot be prouder than I am right now.”
It was also an emotional subject for McKenna’s mom, who wears her emotions on her sleeve, as does McKenna.
“I can't tell you how proud I am of her,” Lisa Hogan said. “It's been a fun ride. I am proud of the way she carries herself on and off the field. She's a good student also and it's just so much fun to be along for the ride with her to see where she's going.”
McKenna’s emotions were flowing the night she signed her national letter of intent, and she couldn’t wait to share the news with her pitcher, who was out of town at a tournament.
“She FaceTimed me crying saying she committed,” Watts said. “It was so nice. I was so happy for her.”
It’s that kind of connection that makes McKenna Hogan so special. Everyone seems drawn to the catcher with the loving personality and her dad knows where the credit goes for that.
“She gets her heart from her mom, her mom's heart is as big as anybody's,” Steve Hogan said. “Her mom teaches her to love everybody. There are no bad things about people. We raise our kids to love everybody and treat everybody with respect. And McKenna's just took that to the nth degree.”
Another thing McKenna shares with her mom is ink – the mother and daughter have matching tattoos that say “I love you.” McKenna’s is in Lisa’s handwriting and Lisa’s is in McKenna’s handwriting. It is one of two tattoos McKenna has and both have significant meaning as the other is angel wings with the year her grandparents on Steve’s side – who are both deceased - were married.
The tattoos are visible as Hogan crouches behind the plate to accept pitches. The other thing that is visible, even through her catcher’s mask, is the face paint under her eyes. There’s a blue cross under her left eye and a red cross under her right eye, the Fitch colors.
“I do the crosses for God,” Hogan said. “I have to do red on my right side and blue my left. I started one game and it works so I can't switch it up.”
What has really worked for Hogan is the hard work she puts in and the dedication she has to her team and its success. It has not been lost on her coach.
“(McKenna) is one of the most humble, hardworking players I've ever met,” Fitch head coach Steven Ward said. “Catchers don't usually get a lot of credit, but the amount of time she dove in the past week and a half, just trying to do everything she can to get her pitcher’s back, how she comes up and gets pitches or she threw out a base runner earlier in the week. She is just an amazing player. I cannot say enough good things about McKenna and how she's grown throughout the years.”
Hogan's hard work and dedication to her craft are appreciated by her batterymate.
"McKenna is great behind the plate and she's able to control my pitches very well,” Watts said. “That's one thing that is good for catching me is just being able to just frame it. And she's very good at that.”
When asked to describe her daughter, Lisa Hogan thought for a moment.
“Loud, dramatic, lots of fun,” Lisa said with a smile.
Those qualities have helped McKenna Hogan be the energy her team – and battery – needs.
