Lady Superstition; Auger breaks records at SCCC
April 21, 2008

Luke Wempe
Online editor

Seward County freshman pitcher Courtney Auger has been on a tear and has broken every SCCC strikeout record.
Her success might be contributed to outstanding skill, or maybe just the perfect combination of skill and superstition.
Auger has many superstitions and rituals, all the way from not stepping on cracks to pregame rituals.
“I have a complete ritual that I do every single night before a game and every time I go to warm up,” Auger said. “The night before, after curfew, I have to polish my cleats, then I have to take a shower and then go to bed.”
Freshman teammate and roommate Alyssa Fandrick also knows of Auger’s superstitions.
“She uses the same pony tail holders and she counts out her bobby pins, too” Fandrick said.
Auger and sophomore catcher Melissa St. Clair have their same routine before the start of each game. St. Clair discussed their routine.
“I always go on the same side and we do six of the first wrist flips, and then five of the next,” St. Clair said. “Then we do long toss, and then come back in and I pitch to her five pitches. Then she throws it once to me and I throw it back and then we are ready to go.”
Whether her superstitions are good or bad, they are working. Despite having a shaky start to her freshman year, Auger is finding success.
“It has been really rocky,” said Auger. “In fall ball I wasn’t used to being here. And it was hard to be away from my family and to adjust to everybody and the different ways of coaching and playing. I just had to make a bunch of changes and adapt to everything.”
St. Clair noticed her change in the off season.
“I think Courtney got a lot better in the offseason,” St. Clair said. “She worked more and more on her rise ball everyday. She started out as a freshman pitcher in fall ball and now it looks like she is a sophomore pitcher with so much experience. And she knows what she is doing out on the mound.”
Despite being so far away from her home town of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Auger has made a smooth transition.
“I got to meet a lot of new people and they are a lot of fun,” Auger said.
Fandrick is also her teammate back in Canada and calls Auger “Pooky”, a nickname that her dad gave her.
“I call her ‘Pooky’,” Fandrick said. “It reminds her of her dad and keeps her playing hard.”
Auger has had a phenomenal season so far at Seward County. She is 17-6 on the season with a 1.36 ERA and has thrown 22 consecutive complete games. She has totaled 233 strikeouts this season, breaking previous single-season and career strikeout records at Seward County. Auger has also been named NJCAA pitcher of the week twice this season.
St. Clair said of Auger, “I wouldn’t want to have to hit against her.”