Athlete of the Week: Menlo-Atherton’s Dani Koo

Having singled, homered and tripled in her three previous at-bats, Koo checked into the batter’s box thinking two-bagger.

“I’m always just trying to get a hit,” Koo said. “But I was definitely thinking about the double when I was going up.”

The Daily Journal Athlete of the Week has certainly been a hit machine this season. Batting .590 on the season, she enjoyed a brilliant four-game stretch last week, even by her standards. With the Bears going 4-0 over a six-day stretch, Koo led the way hitting at an 11-for-15 week with five doubles, a triple and a home run.

And, yes, one of those doubles came in her final at-bat last Tuesday against Tennyson.

Koo seemed destined to hit for the cycle. In her previous at-bat, she cruised into third base with a standup triple. Her next time up, when she drove a fateful line shot over the center fielder’s head, it could have allowed her to leg out another easy triple — under ordinary circumstances, that is.

But fortunately for those in the M-A camp rooting for the cycle, the Bears had a runner on first base in the person of Emily Travers. And when Koo batted the ball in the air, Travers had to wait halfway between first and second to make certain the ball wouldn’t be caught. As a result, Travers had to hold at third base, with Koo stopping at second base for the first cycle she has ever hit for in her life.

“It’s pretty cool,” Koo said. “I hadn’t even thought about that before. It’s definitely not something I do often. I’m pretty sure it’s the only one. So, it was definitely pretty exciting and a pretty cool experience.”

Even M-A head coach Steve Griggs had never witnessed a softball player hit for the cycle. Granted, he has only been coaching softball for three years. In upwards of 30 years coaching baseball prior to taking over the softball program at M-A, he witnessed two players hit for the cycle on the baseball diamond, he said.

Griggs nearly witnessed two cycles in the game though. In addition to Koo’s four-hit performance, junior Hannah Blunt went 4 for 4 with a single, double and triple in her first three at-bats. Needing a home run in her final at-bat to become the second M-A player of the day to hit for the cycle, Blunt settled for a single.

“She needed a home run for her last at-bat, so she was definitely swinging hard in her last at-bat,” Koo said. “I definitely wanted it for her. I think it would have been really cool.”

The Bears are now on quite a roll. Monday afternoon, M-A resumed Peninsula Athletic League Ocean Division play with a 16-1 win over El Camino, extending the current winning streak to five games. It is the program’s longest winning streak in modern history, dating back to 2005.

Koo is in a contingent of young players fueling the current streak. As a sophomore, she has earned the distinction of team captain, a role she shares with senior Ate Tovo. And while Tovo is one who leads by example, Koo is the vocal leader in the dugout, Griggs said.

“That’s the reason I made her one of the captains,” Griggs said. “She’s a leader, she’s outgoing, she’s personable with everybody … no matter what their role is on the team. So, she’s the other leader on the team.”

The captaincy came as something of a surprise to Koo, who earned the “C” on her jersey midway through the season. The sophomore had a good sense of humor about the whole process, which Griggs tried to keep on the down-low by asking Koo to return her jersey to him following a non-league game just prior to the start of PAL Ocean Division play.

“I definitely was very confused when he asked me for my jersey because I thought he was going to kick me off the team,” Koo said. “But when I started to think about it, it started to dawn upon me. But it was still definitely surprising.

“Which is an honor for sure,” Koo said. “He was very nonchalant. He just gave me my jersey with the captain’s patch on it.”