Katie Cimusz contributing as a freshman as Texas softball rebounds from a slow start

Just before the season started, Mary Iakopo had both a prediction and a problem.

Iakopo, a senior, had been asked which one of her young Texas teammates was poised for a breakout season. She immediately thought of someone who "does all the right things."

Iakopo thought this freshman fit the definition of being under the radar. The kid also was just as solid academically as she was athletically.

The only problem: Iakopo couldn't pronounce Katie Cimusz's last name.

"Simmons. I think it's something like that," Iakopo said.

Iakopo wasn't alone. Janae Jefferson, the all-time leader in hits in Texas softball history, swung and missed while trying to say Cimusz's name at a press conference a few days later. Longhorns coach Mike White has gotten the pronunciation down, but that's almost a moot point since "I can get away with a lot with my (New Zealand) accent."

Cimusz herself recalled an away game in high school when her name was badly mispronounced. Her father yelled a correction to the public address announcer from his seat in the stands.

"Everybody knows his voice because he's from Brooklyn," Cimusz said. "From the dugout, I couldn't even see him, and I just knew it was him. Then the next time they got it right, so I was like, ‘Hey, it worked.’”

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Cimusz's name — listed in UT's pronunciation guide as "CIH-muhz" — has been said plenty of times this season. Defensively, she has given the Longhorns reps at first base and catcher. Offensively, she has provided a spark.

Cimusz ranks fifth on the team in batting average (.333) and runs scored (18). She's six RBIs shy of Iakopo's team-high 27. And her seven home runs — one of which was hit against Alabama All-American and Team USA member Montana Fouts — are tied with Courtney Day.

Earlier this month, Cimusz went 9-for-21 and homered against four different teams during a weeklong tear. That effort led to her being recognized as the Big 12's player of the week, the first Texas freshman to win that award since Kaitlyn Washington in 2017.

"My parents have always told me nothing's given in this world. So when I first came in, I wasn't just expecting to start in the lineup." Cimusz said. "I've just worked super hard throughout the last semester. It's been great to have this impact as a freshman because I know not just anybody who can do it."

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Cimusz got into softball when a teammate on her youth basketball team dragged her along to a tryout in the third grade. In high school, she won the 2018 Class 6A state championship at McCombs Field while playing second base for Humble Atascocita. In September 2019, she committed to Texas.

Cimusz isn't the only UT freshman who has made immediate contributions. Infielder Mia Scott is hitting .350, and her 13 stolen bases are among the top three in the Big 12. Pitcher Sophia Simpson boasts a 5-2 record.

"For her size, she's got a lot of pop in her bat," White said of Cimusz. "I hate to praise (freshmen) too much because then they may not hit their expectations, but we're expecting big things from Katie over the next four years."

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Texas aspired this season to contend for a Big 12 championship and a spot in the Women's College World Series but stumbled out of the gate. Marred by the third six-game losing streak in school history, the Longhorns got off to a 12-9 start and were not ranked March 7.

They appear to be back on track, though. An extra-inning loss to Louisiana on Wednesday snapped a 16-game unbeaten streak. Texas (26-10-1, 3-0) has climbed back to the No. 21 spot in the NFCA poll.

Texas will host a three-game series with Iowa State starting Friday. The Longhorns opened conference play last week with a sweep of Kansas.

"I think we're at a really good place," Cimusz said. "We've definitely come together a lot more after the losses, that little streak. I think it's only up from here."

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas softball gets a good first impression from freshman Katie Cimusz