Softball
Favorite athletes: Chase Utley, Cat Osterman
Favorite team: Philadelphia Phillies
Favorite memory competing in sports: Meeting and getting to know new people through Carpenter Cup.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: At a tournament, one of my teammates sat in a big wad of gum while in uniform and had to play with that embarrassing stain for the rest of the day.
Music on iPod: Dave Matthews, Florence and the Machine, Beyonce, Macklemore, Adele
Future plans: Become a surgeon, maybe manage a physical rehabilitation center, and have a career in sports medicine
Words to live by: “And the point is, to live everything. Live the question now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live…into the answer.” – Rainer Maria Rikle
One goal before turning 30: I want to feel accomplished and be able to see the fruits of my labor.
One thing people don’t know about you: I’m afraid of sharks, especially those with lasers on their heads.
By Mary Jane Souder
Corinne Watson is the very definition of a student-athlete.
The Plymouth Whitemarsh senior, whose schedule is packed with Advanced Placement courses, carries a 4.7 weighted grade point average. On the softball diamond, the four-year varsity starter has excelled for the Colonials, hitting at a .450 clip during her senior season.
But that’s not what sets Watson apart.
“She’s arguably the best leader that I’ve ever coached, on and off the field,” coach Dana Moyer said. “Off the field, her academics speaks for itself. She is ridiculously smart and so earnest in her work ethic.
“One of the things we always stress to our girls is that they’re student-athletes and their classroom work comes first. That’s never anything I had to worry about with Corinne, not even as a freshman. She always knew that academics was her main priority.”
Watson is reaping the dividends for her commitment to excellence in the classroom. This fall she will be attending Tulane University, the recipient of an academic scholarship. Watson plans to double major in cell biology and Spanish, but she also has an interest in business and psychology.
After college, the possibilities are endless.
“I would like to go to medical school,” Watson said. “I envision myself being involved in sports medicine, maybe with orthopedic surgery, maybe some kind of hospital administration or maybe physical therapy administration so I could play both sides of the card – operate and then own the physical therapy/rehab place.”
Watson came by her interest in the medical field honestly. Her parents are both doctors.
“Even though everyone always jokes about them pushing me towards the medical field, I actually did that on my own,” she said.
Watson has an internship in the research lab at Fox Chase Cancer Center.
“I got to sit in on some operations, and that just really solidified my interest,” she said.
Watson has not only found a way to balance academics and athletics, she also has found a way to excel at both.
A softball player since she was a youngster, Watson developed an immediate love affair with the sport.
“My dad was always a coach,” she said. “He’s a big Phillies fan, so I grew up with softball and baseball. I guess I kind of inherited his love, but I definitely built some for myself as well.”
Watson’s father actually started his own travel softball team called Revolution, and as Watson progressed through the ranks, she went on to play for Odyssey and then the Horsham Banshees. She tried other sports, but softball was in a class by itself.
“I always thought it was the most difficult sport,” Watson said. “I don’t think anybody realizes how challenging it is, how much mechanics plays a role in it.
“I was lucky to have good teaching and was able to get the mechanics down. I think that’s why I appreciated it so much.”
As a freshman, Watson was the starting shortstop for the varsity, a position she held until this year when she moved to first base.
“She had never played it before, but she just took to it so naturally,” Moyer said. “It’s beautiful the way it worked out.
“She’s just a natural team leader, and she was just amazing there. She just took to it naturally.”
Her .969 fielding percentage confirms that first base was a perfect fit. In addition to hitting .450, Watson had a .640 on-base percentage, a 1.090 slugging percentage with 10 doubles, three triples and 11 singles.
“I can’t tell you the last time I looked at a batter before every pitch, and she looked down for the sign,” Moyer said. “She was just zoned into the ball and was ready to attack. You can tell, as a coach, looking at a girl who feels confident at the plate and knows she’s going to hit the ball hard. That’s what I saw in Corinne every single time she looked down for a sign.”
Moyer credits her senior captain for pulling the team together by providing positive leadership.
“We had a quiet infield, and she was always the one cheering on her pitcher when her pitcher had a tough game,” the Colonials’ coach said. “She’s the one pulling them together and giving them a little pep talk.
“She’s the one when somebody is not having such a great game will go over and talk to them and get their head back in the game. She took care of a lot of things that other coaches with lesser leadership would have to worry about. She took that off our shoulders.
“For as smart as she is and as much of a leader she is, she did have that soft touch to her as well. Kids really did take to her.”
Watson credits Moyer for making her high school softball experience a memorable one.
“She definitely made the last three years of my high school experience,” Watson said. “We just have a really incredible relationship, and I know we’ll be keeping in touch after I graduate.”
Off the diamond, Watson was the recipient of the 2012 AP Scholar Award and is a fixture on PW’s Distinguished Honor Roll. She tutors Spanish at Colonial Elementary School as well as at the middle and high school levels.
As a junior, Watson was part of a Spanish exchange program and spent two-and-a-half weeks in a suburb of Madrid.
“I took Spanish all four years of high school and in middle school, and I just fell in love with it, much like softball,” she said. “I just really found it interesting and important in my lifestyle.
“I want to officially become bilingual.”
When Watson enrolls in Tulane this fall, she will be returning to the area she spent the first two years of her life. She was born in Tulane Hospital.
“My family moved up here for my dad’s job,” she said. “I still have family down there. We go back almost annually. I fell in love with New Orleans and the south and the food there.
“When it came time for college visits, my mom just threw that out there. I was interested, and it turned out that I really loved the campus.”
Moyer expects big things from Watson in the future.
“Whatever she decides to do I know she’s going to be successful,” she said. “There’s not a doubt in my mind.
“She’s one of the hardest working and fun-loving individuals I have ever had the pleasure to coach. It’s been a pleasure to see her grow into the wonderful young lady she is today, and it’s ridiculously hard to see Corinne leave us.”
