MADISON- Madison Academy student-athlete Cataryna Schreiber is unique from the standpoint she has a dual citizenship as a citizen of both the United States and Canada, as her father was born a Canadian while she was born in the states. She’s also unique as an elite softball pitcher as being one of a few who doesn’t rely on a fastball to mow down opposing hitters. Instead, she confuses batters as she mixes up her seven different pitches, which are creating havoc wherever she steps to pitcher’s mound.

“Everyone at the plate is looking for the fastball so I throw a lot of spin pitches and keep them off balance,” said Schreiber, who was a Class 3A All-State pitcher a season ago as a freshman and who posted 311 strikeouts, which was tops in Alabama among Class 3A schools. “But I’m looking to be better every day.”

The sensational right-handed pitcher led the Lady Mustangs to a 35-10 season record while posting an individual record of 28-7 with 187 innings and a 1.82 earned run average. At the plate she batted .529 with 13 homers and 62 runs batted in, thus earning her All-State placement among the best in Alabama.

So far in 2024, the 5-foot-9, 160-pound pitcher is 12-2 with an ERA of 1.26 and 104 strikeouts in just 61 innings. On offense, she is hitting .381 with 22 RBIs in 14 games.

Dean Clark, in his tenth season as head coach and 25^th overall at Madison Academy, knows his star pitcher better than anyone. After all, she was placed on the varsity squad as a seventh grader and then began pitching for the Lady Mustangs in the eighth grade and it was at that time she began to mow down the competition. “She is a hard worker as she stays after practice numerous times to throw extra bullpen or take extra hitting practice,” added Clark. “She can throw a number of different pitches and is excellent on hitting spots. She is extremely coachable and very humble. She is a competitor who wants to win and is a great team player.”

A multi-sport athlete also participating in both swimming and volleyball growing up, Schreiber rotated to softball as a six-year old at Mayfair Park in Huntsville and at age 11 took to the mound and has never waivered from the position as pitcher.

“I found I loved it as pitching frees my mind, relieves stress and just overall makes me happy as pitching gives me confidence and satisfies me,” said Schreiber. “I feel I’m humble, remain calm, straight forward, very independent and hard working.”

Numerous colleges are waiting in the wings to grab this superb talent as she carries a 4.0 grade point average to go along with her being an elite athlete. South Carolina, USA, So. Miss, Miss State, Alabama, La tech, Memphis, Iowa State and College of Charleston have all shown interest in her enormous special abilities. Still a long way to go before graduating, Schreiber already knows she would like to concentrate her classroom studies of becoming a physical therapist. “I’m interested in human muscle movement,” she said, adding her engrossment of the human anatomy stems from suffering a left knee injury, which did not require surgery, but did feature a vast amount of physical therapy causing her to miss this past season of volleyball for the Lady Mustangs. “I attended a summer volleyball camp at our school and the extra reps I went through overused my knee. I missed my entire sophomore season of volleyball because of that injury. I actually still wear a knee brace.”

The offspring to Jeremy and Catina Schreiber, and sister to 13-year old Alena who does not participate in sports, but chose dancing instead, Schreiber has perfected her seven tosses at the plate with the help of her father who was a three-year team captain for the once prominent UAH hockey team and later played one year of professional hockey in Germany. She has a fastball, screwball, drop ball, changeup, rise ball, curveball and an off-speed drop ball she just recently developed. Hitters struggle against the right-handed pitcher and are many times baffled and frustrated by what they see coming at them while at the plate.

Summer provides Schreiber little breaks from staying busy. She plays travel softball for Impact Gold National-Wilmore based in Monroe, Louisiana and last year hit places like Chattanooga, Birmingham, Memphis and even as far away as Colorado. She plays for a squad that is ranked among the top 25 in the country as Schreiber is the team’s No. 1 pitcher. She also preps for the fall volleyball season, and to add even more to her busy schedule, this summer she plans on having a part-time job at Bridgestreet, which she knows will cut into her travels in 2024.

Away from athletics, Schreiber, who goes by the name of Cat, loves to sketch, write poems and bake. Her specialty is pumpkin cookies, which she said her family loves. Despite loving to spend time in the kitchen she tries to follow a strict nutritional regimen where she stays within the five main food groups. She eats fruits, vegetables, meats and adds pasta for energy since her schedule seems to be nonstop.

“My teammates keep me going as each member is very supportive as this group is my whole world, especially my catcher Breelyn Kilpatrick as she keeps me in tune with what I’m doing on the mound,” Schreiber added.

With her dual citizenship and her two sports she faces each school year, the Idaho-born 16-year old feels she has so much more to learn and show in her pitching. She added, “I see myself going big as the sky’s the limit for me. I feel I test the sky every day, but I know where I’m headed.”