Kane County Chronicle Athlete of the Week: Kate Gambro, Aurora Central Catholic, softball, junior

Name: Kate Gambro

School: Aurora Central Catholic, junior

Sport: Softball

Why she was selected: In her first four games of the season, Gambro went 8-for-12 at the plate and recorded two home runs, scored seven runs and had seven RBIs. Gambro also excelled in the circle, going 2-0 with 10 strikeouts.

Gambro was selected the Kane County Chronicle Athlete of the Week in an online vote. Here is her Q&A with sports reporter Joel Boenitz.

What or who got you into softball? And why keep with it?

Gambro: I started playing softball when I was around 5 years old. My parents got me into softball. They coached all the teams I was on until I was 14 years old. And I just like winning with my teammates and most of my friends have come from softball, so it gave me a lot of friendships.

How does it feel to start the season off hot?

Gambro: It feels really good to start hot right out of the gate. The whole offseason I have worked my butt off. I just came off of a broken wrist that gave me a three-month setback. So ever since I got cleared from that, I worked every day for it.

Which do you prefer more: hitting or pitching?

Gambro: I think it just depends which I’m better at. But I like pitching more because it kind of puts you more in the spotlight and I feel like I’m working more with my team, like when my defense is behind me. Obviously not all the time, you’re going to strike someone out every once in a while, but I like when my teammates make really good plays behind me. It gets me really excited.

Do you have any special routines before a game?

Gambro: When I’m pitching, I try to lock in and I just worry about my warmup and everything. But when I’m [playing] in the field, I like to listen to music with my teammates on the bus. My teammates and I also like to go to Starbucks before the games.

The Chargers didn’t graduate any seniors from last season and even added your sister, Abbie Gambro, to the roster. What’s the dugout like for you?

Gambro: I love it. I have so many people on the team that I have known from when I was really little. And I have always played with my sister. This past travel season was our first year not together so I really like having my sister back on the team. And especially since we were with each other last year and then this year again, I feel like we’ve all gotten a lot closer and it just makes riding to away games, team bonding and even stuff in practice more fun because we’re so close.

What is your favorite movie or TV show?

Gambro: I really like “Modern Family.” That’s my favorite.

What was your favorite team to watch growing up?

Gambro: I really liked watching Alabama softball. I liked watching Montana Fouts.