Freshman Alexia Lacatena, left, has seven wins -- the most of any UK pitcher -- this season. (Photo by Vicky Graff)
Kentucky senior outfielder Renee Abernathy has enjoyed playing with freshman Alexia Lacatena, a member of last year’s Italian Olympic team, this season.
“Alexia is awesome. Everyone has these unique experiences. Erin (Coffel) played in Peru and Columbia (for Team USA). Kayla (Kowalik) went to USA tryouts. I think that is awesome for this team,” Abernathy said.
“We all bring something to this team. We are all unique in our own ways and that makes this team so strong. We are very close and just play for each other and we all love Alexia.”
Lacatena, a New Jersey native, has been a valuable pitcher and third baseman for Kentucky (29-11, 9-6 SEC) just as coach Rachel Lawson thought she could be. Lacatena was an all-state player in New Jersey and was a top 40 player in the 2021 signing class. She has pitched 46 innings this season with a 3.35 earned run average. She has 29 strikeouts and has a 7-2 record in 15 games. At the plate, she is hitting .417 in 21 games.
Her mother was born in Italy and her older sister played softball for Italy’s national team. Lacatena made Italy’s under-22 national team at age 15 and made the senior national team at age 17. She stayed in Italy for her high school senior season to train with the Olympic team.
“I just did school online so I could stay and play in a league there (in Italy). The time difference helped because I could do classes in the morning and then pitch and hit in the afternoon. It gave me a lot of time to hone my skills.”
She says softball “runs in my blood” and even though she did track in middle school, it was not the same as softball. She says she grew up watching two older sisters play and dedicated her time to make herself a better player.
“I had a goal and wanted to reach that goal. I always had the goal of playing in the SEC. When I went to camp at Kentucky, they had a lot of interest in me and I loved the energy and people. I just like it was right for me,” Lacatena said. “Everyone here is so talented and meshes together so well. I think everyone is just great and southern people are always happy and easy going. Life in Lexington is kind of similar to Italy.”
