Lucas Gebhart

Sports Editor

Katelyn Marquez has never stolen anything in her life, except for a base. She is a southern California girl that is not only respected by her peers and teammates but by anybody who has the opportunity to meet her in person. Marquez has never given anybody any reason to not have the utmost respect for her.

A standout in the classroom and on the softball diamond, Marquez finished high school with a 4.28 GPA out of a prep school in Signal Hill, California.

“Academics have always been important in my life,” Marquez said. “I have always pushed myself.”

In addition, Marquez notched 64 hits her freshman season, good enough for a .348 average and a spot in the ISU record books – third most hits in a single season.

“I just came in super aggressive as a freshman,” Marquez explained. “I felt like nothing was stopping me. My goal my entire career has been to do my job.”

Marquez is a team player, she considers it her job to do whatever the team needs, whether that be moving runners, stealing bases or simply getting on base.

“Whatever it takes to be a good teammate,” Marquez said, adding that she is more concerned with the team’s ability to win than her own stat line.

Despite Marquez’s first impressions of southeast Idaho on her drive up from the Salt Lake airport, she still decided to commit and become the new starting centerfielder for the Bengals.

“On the drive from Salt Lake I was like, ‘Oh no, I am not coming here. There is nothing out here,’” Marquez recalled. If it wasn’t for Marquez’s father encouraging his daughter to give the school a chance, Marquez may have been on the next flight back to Orange County.

Good thing she listened.

“When I got onto campus I fell in love right away and I wanted to commit,” Marquez said.

Marquez comes from a strong family, which instilled values that have formed her into the person she is today.

“I am such a goody-two-shoes,” Marquez said, laughing. “I am so afraid to get into trouble. I get mad at myself. My parents never really got mad at me for anything.”

Marquez has a brother that is 10 years younger than her and as a result has been not only a big sister, but a mom.

“Sometimes people confuse him for my kid,” Marquez said.

For Marquez, failing is not an option, always giving 100 percent into everything she does in life, whether that be on the softball diamond or pursuing her dream of working in an emergency room.

“I came here to learn and that is what I am doing,” Marquez explained. “I am taking advantage of all the opportunities I can.”

Marquez hopes to attend Physician Assistant school where she can then work her way up to the excitements that emergency rooms offer.

“I have done a lot of shadowing hours in California,” Marquez said. “I keep going back to it and I love it.”

Marquez has seen similarities of working in an emergency room and playing softball that she believes will benefit her down the road.

“When I’m up to bat in a pressure situation, I have learned to control my nerves,” Marquez said. “I think that is similar to working in the emergency room when you get a trauma patient and they are not very stable and you need to stabilize them. It is the same thing, you need to learn how to calm yourself down and get the job done.” 

Her favorite part about Pocatello is the community.

“In California, you really don’t get a lot of people who will just say hi to your randomly,” Marquez said. “I like that about here.”

Part of the reason people in southern California don’t say hi to random people is that they are always sitting in traffic.

“It is bumper-to-bumper,” Marquez said, adding that a 20 minute drive can take upwards of an hour with traffic. 

“I was really confused especially driving. I would always get to places like 45 minutes early,” Marquez said, adding that it was to account for the gridlock traffic jams that she is used to coming from California. “I am always early just in case.”