Catching up with Brooklynn Hagerty is not easy.
For opposing high school hitters, it’s nearly impossible.
For friends and family, she’s on the road a lot so you often have to rely on a phone.
The Pharos-Tribune caught up with Hagerty recently via a phone call before one of her travel softball games Thursday. Her games this week are actually close to home as she’s competing in the Alliance Nationals, a 96-team tournament held in Kokomo and Hamilton County.
It’s Hagerty’s final tournament of the summer. She’s subbing in for the Texas Bombers Gold 18U team where she is joining two of her future University of Texas teammates and her pitching coach for the week is none other than Cat Osterman, a two-time Olympic medalist and Texas pitching legend.
Hagerty, 17, played up with the Lady Dukes Lamar 18U team for most of the summer. She’s played in tournaments in Kansas City, Florida, Colorado and Atlanta.
She said the teams she’s played for have enough pitching depth that she hasn’t thrown too many pitches. She’s been in more of a reliever’s role where she’s pitching on a nearly daily basis or at least every day the games are being held.
“I would say for the most part, the most I’ve thrown so far is four innings and that was yesterday’s game. But typically it stays between two to three,” she said.
Hagerty started off her travel softball career with the Logan Pride when she was 8 or 9. She then competed for the Indiana Magic Gold out of Hamilton County for a couple more years.
When she was 12 she joined an elite team based out of Georgia. She competed with them for three years before she joined Top Gun out of Kansas City. She joined the Lady Dukes program out of North Carolina this year.
It is common for elite softball players to travel far to compete to face the best of the best in national tournaments. One of Hagerty’s teammates on her Dukes team was Tecumseh’s Audrey Seiler, who missed the tournament in Kansas City due to competing in the IHSAA State Finals. Tecumseh won its fourth state title in a row, which included a win over Caston in 2023, and has bumped all the way up to Class 3A for next season. Hagerty no-hit Tecumseh in early April at the Castle Invitational in a 2-0 win in a game Seiler only pitched an inning and a third.
Typically southern teams in the NCAA dominate in softball and baseball and that’s where Hagerty is headed after high school when she competes with Texas in the SEC.
“People just know how to compete different down South,” Hagerty said. “It’s just a whole different ballgame. And you’ll learn that the more that you play.”
Hagerty credited her parents, Bobby and Lindsey, for providing her the opportunity to max out her softball career. Bobby is works for RWE in electric substations and Lindsey is the assistant principal of curriculum at LHS.
“My parents literally have invested so much,” she said. “I can think back to when I did play with my Georgia team, I would have a one-day practice on Saturday and it would be about at least once a month about every single month, especially in the offseason. We would go down, our practice would be usually between four to six hours, and it’d be an eight-hour drive where we leave at 1 in the morning, get there, go to practice. And then we’d haul back home another eight, nine hours to get back home and go to church the next morning. So it’s definitely a big investment. But it’s all worth it. I think a lot of people may think that it’s crazy and this, that, and the next. But at the end of the day, there’s so much more that this sport gives me than just getting to go out there and throw a yellow ball.
“I’ve learned so much. I’ve met so many people. As I get older and go through college, the amount of opportunities that will come from it because I’ve experienced so much, you can’t compare it to anything else. And it just gives you a whole different perspective on life. When I go to school and people ask me questions and just my feedback and what I’ve been through, it really just doesn’t compare. So obviously it’s not for everybody, but it definitely is a big deal. I’m eternally grateful for it.”
Hagerty had the opportunity to appear on ESPN Plus this summer with the Dukes. It’ll probably be the first of many times she’ll play in a nationally broadcast game.
Hagerty also talked about the opportunity to be coached by Osterman, one of the most dominant pitchers in the history of the sport.
“She’s been in all the big moments. She’s played in all the big games,” she said. “And so she really just brings a lot to the table, of course. But what I’ve noticed so far trying to get to know her and as she’s called my pitches, I’ve already thrown in some games where maybe the game was a little bit tight too. And knowing she brings the peace with you. She doesn’t apply pressure. She knows how to keep you zoned in and focused on the task at hand, not getting too over the top or not getting too low, staying pretty mellow in the game and knowing I know what I need to do in order to win the game or win the pitch.
“And so she brings a lot of just the calm, the energy. She zoned in as a player. But I think also it’s really special because she has a little girl. Her name is Jaycee and she’s about 3 years old. And it’s fun. I think Cat, obviously everybody knows her for being the softball player. She’s a Hall of Famer, all the things, and I see her also as this mom who brings her little girl to the field. And Jaycee, obviously she gets to look up to all these girls. And so to me, I think that’s just special to see that there’s more to life than just softball, because that is what everybody knows her for. But she has this little girl who runs around and it’s fun.”
Hagerty has one more year of high school left at Logansport before she heads off to Texas. She’s coming off a junior season in which she led the Berries to a 27-2 record and the first regional championship in program history.
“Our high school season was great,” Hagerty said. “I’m gonna miss all of our seniors. It was fun getting to play obviously for coach Molly (Sterrett). She’s a great coach. I’ve spoken about her so many times just how much I love her.”
Hagerty also plays travel softball during the school year.
“After this Alliance Tournament, I’ll be done and I’ll probably take a few weeks off just to rest from pitching and whatnot, because obviously it was a long spring season, a long summer. So allowing my arm to rest, prevent all injuries at all costs that we can, and then ramp it back up eventually for fall season.”
She said her fall season usually consists of five tournaments.
“We usually take a trip to Florida and then it kind of just bounces around from different places, maybe some in Georgia. But definitely they’re not quite a week long. They’re more like weekend tournaments versus the summer can be a full week. Usually it starts around late October I would say.”
She said she’ll be back to the travel grind in early 2027.
“In January, February, we’ll do lots of offseason workouts over the weekend. Maybe some in Florida, it just kind of varies on the location,” she said.
She said her mother, Lindsey, made sure she will have a difficult schedule of classes for her senior year at LHS, which adds to the challenge.
“It definitely can be a lot,” she said. “The fall season specifically, with having school and stuff and going into my senior year, and last year with junior year, you’re flying, you’re probably missing school Thursdays and also maybe Fridays too, depending on the schedule of tournaments and whatnot. And then playing all weekend long, trying to keep up with schoolwork and assignments that are due. And then usually taking red eye flights back. I can’t even count how many times I’ve made it on two wheels basically getting to school, busting my tail to get back. It’s definitely long, but I love it. I love all parts of softball, not just the parts where it’s like, ‘Oh, it’s fun and we’re winning.’ Everything that comes with it.”
