Outgoing senior catcher Courtney Loe has been a mainstay on the Eastern Michigan University softball team since transferring to EMU from West Liberty University, in West Liberty, WV, following the 2011 season.
Loe appeared in 40 of the team’s 41 games, starting 39 of them. She finished the season with a .276 batting average, two home runs and 15 runs batted in.
In the field, Loe was just as strong. She threw out 17 would-be base stealers and had a stellar .967 fielding percentage.
Teammate and two-time Mid-American Conference West division Player of the Week, Amanda Stanton, said Loe stood out on the field for EMU.
“She has a great arm and a great bat,” Stanton said. “When she’s up to bat, I have full confidence that she’s going to get a hit. She’s just got that ‘I’m going to get the job done’ attitude. Behind the plate, I’m very confident that she can throw people out. She’s pretty much always positive, always picking us up.”
Loe has been playing softball for roughly half her life.
“I’ve been playing for about ten years,” Loe said. “I started with t-ball, but I really started softball in junior high, so about ten years.”
Loe was a two-sport athlete, playing both softball and soccer.
“I played soccer in high school and I played travel soccer,” Loe said. “But in Michigan soccer and softball are in the same season, [so] after my freshman year I had to choose,” Loe said.
Loe said her choice came pretty quickly.
“I was ready to pick one and it just so happened to be softball,” she said.
When Loe goes home to Temperance, Mich. (about 45 minutes due south of Ypsilanti) she said the first thing she goes to see is her new dog.
“I got him last year at the end of the season and he’s a year old and he’s what I look forward to when I come home,” Loe said. “And laundry.”
After she spends time with her dog, Loe likes to spend time with her family, especially her dad.
“I’m really close with my dad, so we hang out,” Loe said. “We watch softball and he’s an umpire so
it’s nice to hang out with him and get different perspectives on everything.”
Her favorite food is one which is very popular on grills in the summer.
“I love steak.” Lowe said. “I’m a steak person.”
Loe isn’t very picky when it comes to how she likes her steak cooked.
“I just like it good,” she said.
Loe is a big movie fan. She said her favorites are the recent musical-esque comedy “Pitch Perfect” and the hit comedy “Bridesmaids.”
Loe is very diverse when it comes to her taste in music, something she credits to her time in college.
“I listen to pretty much anything,” Loe said. “My taste has grown quite a bit ever since I got into college. I’ve gone through country to rock, through pop and rap, so I’ve heard it all.”
She said she didn’t really have a favorite singer or group, but mentioned she was a fan of pop artist Beyonce.
Loe graduated with a degree in exercise science and is hoping for a career as a physician’s assistant.
Junior pitcher Lauren Wells said Loe takes the game seriously.
“I think we have a different relationship because we’re pitcher and catcher,” Wells said. “There’s been a few times where we’ve yelled at each other. Well, not yelled, but we’ve gotten frustrated with each other, but it all seems to go away after.”
Wells said that off the field, Loe is very easygoing and carefree.
Another one of the team’s pitchers, hard-throwing sophomore Lindsay Rich, chimed in on Loe’s character on the field.
“She is always there to give me the pick-up I need,” Rich said. “If I’m being negative or if I’m over-thinking things, she’s always there to get me out of my own head. So she’s always there to yell at me if I need it. Not many other people would do that, so that helps.”
Off the field, Rich said Loe is a very loyal friend.
“She’s like my best friend and we do a ton of stuff together,” Rich said. “She’s gotten me out of my comfort zone with a lot of different things…she’s gotten me through a lot of definitely tough times off the field. She’s always there if I need to call her and talk about something; she’s always there for me and I love her.”
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