By DAVE O’SULLIVAN
Staff Writer
On X @GDsullysays
sullyglorydays@gmail.com
The NCAA transfer portal can be a weird, wacky place — almost like a Twilight Zone of college sports where standout athletes hoping for a better or different opportunity sometimes get caught in the wind and lost in the breeze.
There are plenty of horror stories, but also plenty of success stories.
One such story is that of former Atlantic City High softball star Katie Master, who had a brilliant career as a Viking, which landed her a scholarship to play for Division I Central Connecticut State University back in 2020.
Master could write a book about what’s happened to her in the last five years — and who knows, maybe one day she will. The Cliffs Notes version? She blew out her knee right right before starting college, an ACL injury that sidelined her for the entire 2021 season (this after losing her senior year of high school because of covid). After having a decent year for Central Connecticut in 2022, the 2023 campaign was basically a lost season as she was relegated to being the Blue Devils’ emergency pitcher, even though she was recruited to be a position player. She then transfers to East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania, sets the school’s career home run record in just two seasons and leads the Warriors to a conference championship.
AND, her story isn’t finished just yet. She recently was granted an additional year of eligibility by the NCAA, giving her back that 2023 season because she only appeared in six games the entire season. So, Master is back in the Poconos getting set for 2026, which will now officially be her final season of college softball. She said she’ll be working on a second bachelor’s degree during the next 10 months while also playing softball.
“I felt like I was overlooked in a way (at Central). I think sometimes with college coaches, they see you one time and they have an agenda of who you are, the player and the person, rather than what you can do and how you can grow. I feel like (CCSU) saw the version of me that was injured a lot; they didn’t see the real Katie Master — who I was as a player,” said Master, a 23-year-old Ventnor native. “I made some great friends there and had the best memories. The school was great, I just think in softball I wasn’t given the kind of opportunity that I wanted, and I thought it would be better for me to find another opportunity somewhere else.
“This past year was the most special year of softball in my entire life. We won the conference championship this year and breaking records, it was awesome.”
When Master decided it was time to move on from CCSU following the 2023 season, she said she really didn’t have a plan in place for her next move. She looked at schools throughout New Jersey and even New York before settling on East Stroudsburg.
“I got into the portal and I really didn’t have a single idea of where I wanted to go or what I wanted to do. So that was definitely scary, but I just put a lot of faith in God. I was like, ‘I don’t know where I’m going, God, but I know you’ll lead me to the place where I belong.’ I truly believe everything happens for a reason, and the way it’s supposed to happen,” she said. “I saw a couple of schools. I stopped by Kean, they were on my list; The College of New Jersey. ESU, to be honest, wasn’t really at the top of my list but I got to know the coach and I loved the campus. I was like, ‘maybe I really do like this school. Maybe it’s a fit.’ I went to Georgian Court, my mom’s alma mater, and that was cool. I looked at Montclair and Wagner.”
Master said she felt kind of pigeon-holed as a pitcher at Central, basically out of necessity. Because of transfers and other situations, she said, the Blue Devils were light on pitching and needed her in that reserve role. Always a team player, Master said she wanted to do what she could to contribute. But halfway through her collegiate career she had just a handful of at-bats, and wanted to really show what she could do with the bat.
“I never really had any training on pitching, I would just go out there and throw my pitches,” said Master, who pitched a lot in high school out of necessity, too. “I’m a very passionate player with a lot of intensity, so that was my way of getting us through games in high school. I love softball and would do anything to win and get my team where it needed to be. But college is a whole different experience.”
Master said there was some trepidation about starting all over again at ESU. She wanted so badly to prove that she could be a middle-of-the-order bat at the Division II level. And boy, has she ever proved that. This past season she hit .288 with 40 RBIs and a team-high nine home runs, giving her a school record 19 for her career. And in 2024 she had 10 dingers, 33 runs scored and 25 RBIs. She put up all those numbers after really not playing much for more than three years due to injury and being stuck as a reserve player at Central.
“It was an adjustment. I really had to find out who I was as a player again. It was scary coming back. I didn’t want to mess up or make mistakes because I wanted to be out there proving myself. Sometimes it worked out, sometimes it didn’t,” she said. “But the biggest thing was giving myself some grace and remembering who I was and what I was capable of out there. I think everybody puts a lot of hype into college softball and I get it. But for me, when I was in high school, I wish I would have known not to put as much pressure on myself.
“My first year at ESU I was so nervous, we were playing in Florida and I just really wanted to be that player. When it all started clicking, I was crying, honestly. I felt like everything was coming true and happening the way I wanted it to. I was so grateful,” Master added. “It made all the times at Central feel like something that had to happen so I can be who I am today and the player I wanted to be. Sometimes through the hard lessons you become a better person and a better player. It was a dream come true winning a conference championship and being nationally ranked, and also hitting the personal goals I always wanted to hit.”
Master said that after a dominating high school career, she may have underestimated how good every player is at the college level, and how much it takes to earn a starting position. She won’t be taking anything for granted in the next 10 months as she’s got a new lease on life, so to speak — at least in terms of softball.
“(College softball) was a wake-up call, for sure. Playing in South Jersey, I was one of the best players and I was super confident. But then I took a look around (at Central) and I was like, ‘oh, my God.’ I mean, I know I’m a good athlete and can be a good addition to a team, but something that I did have to remember, playing next to all these really good players, is why I stood out. You’re thinking this person is really good, or that person is really good, and you have to remember what you bring to the table.”
East Stroudsburg giving her the opportunity she was craving has certainly reminded Master of the kind of player she has always been — and gets a chance now to show at the college level.
“I always wanted to win a championship and get a ring, and we got rings for winning the regular-season championship, and then this year a ring for winning the (conference tournament) championship,” she said. “ESU helped me become the person and player I always dreamed of being.”
