WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today's spotlight is the first of a new series highlighting recent graduates of Catholic Athletics and their career/athletic pursuits after leaving the university. Stay tuned throughout the school year as we continue to highlight various former student-athletes and their current exploits. 

Our first spotlight of the series features 2025 Catholic Softball graduate Amy Gastright. After transferring in from Gettysburg in 2022, Gastright completed three seasons as a Cardinal, developing into a consistent offensive force for Catholic. The 2025 All-Landmark Conference First Team Designated Hitter was named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District list and was a two-time Landmark Conference Athlete of the Week. In nearly 100 career games, Gastright hit .302 with 78 hits, 18 doubles, six homers, and 54 RBI. Gastright recorded at least six extra-base hits in all three of her seasons, logging a career-best 10 extra-base hits (8 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR) in her final season. 

Graduation Date & Degree - May 2025, Bachelor's Degree in French and English

What has life been like since graduating from Catholic? - I live with my parents and help run our family farm. On top of that I run the Brandywine Blue Wave Swim Team out of Brandywine Station Townhouse Association Pool in PG County, Maryland alongside fellow coach and board member Tory Reynolds, a rising Junior student-athlete at Frostburg State University. Our mission is to teach kids how to swim and to spread love and passion for the sport of swimming.

What is the next step in your future? - My contract with the United Stated Army activates in November. I will move to Ft. Rucker, Ala. to start Aviation BOLC (Basic Officer Leader Course) and then flight school. I hope to fly and command US Army helicopters for the duration of my career in the Army. 

What is one thing from your time as a student-athlete at Catholic that prepared you for that next step? - Being a student-athlete at Catholic requires time management, and playing on the softball team demands a competitive edge. It's not enough to just show up. You have to give 100% and you have no choice but to prove yourself to get on the field. In my career as an Army Aviator, being the best could be a matter of life and death. My mother told me during my senior softball season that the stakes of my softball career might feel like that, but in reality I will soon be handling not only my own helicopter worth millions of taxpayer dollars, but later in my career I will be in command and therefore responsible for the lives of others in the fleet as well. Being a student-athlete laid the groundwork for the life I am going to lead, because in college sports, everything is earned and nothing is given. You have to prove yourself every single day. The drive to be the best that I can be could be the difference between success and failure in flight. 

What do you miss most about Catholic/the softball program? - I already miss the closeness I had with my team. Adjusting to life away from home in my freshman and sophomore years of college was extremely difficult for me, so having people who had my back was a gift I did not take lightly. I miss the chatter on the bus and in the locker room, and being brought into conversation about people I barely know just because I was on the team, too. I miss people wanting the best for me because we wore the word Catholic on our chests, and it did not escape my notice that we didn't wear our last names on our backs at all. Being part of a college team was the best feeling in the world. As one of my teammates, Aubrynn Arcement once said: "teammate comes before friend 100% of the time." It might sound strange because we ARE friends and remain close through our phones, but there is something very base-level and deeply ingrained that I can't describe about dressing in the uniform alongside my teammates every single day, whether I performed my best on the field or whether I didn't even want to get out of bed. I know the connections I made with my teammates will last forever. I'd drop everything at a call from them and I know they would do the same for me because that's what being a teammate is for us.