Salina Journal Story 

April 23, 2007

By Larry Moritz, The Salina Journal

SALINA, Kan. - Though she was only a few hundred yards away at the time, Ashley Coker couldn't make the short trip to watch her sister Katie throw a no-hitter Friday.

Ashley was a little busy tossing a gem of her own.

In a most unusual set of circumstances, the Coker sisters threw near simultaneous no-hitters at Bill Burke Park -- Ashley pitching for Kansas Wesleyan University on diamond No. 3, Katie for Sacred Heart High School on diamond No. 6.

Ashley, a Coyote senior, blanked McPherson College in a 9-0 victory. Katie, a senior for the Knights, shut down Concordia in an 8-0 win.

"I was really excited to hear we both had no-hitters on the same day," Katie said. "After the game coach told me I had a no-hitter, and later that night I found out that my sister did too. That had never happened before, and I was excited that it happened on the same night for both of us."

"It's pretty exciting because we've worked together on pitching since we both started," Ashley said. "It's nice to see that all of our hard work is paying off."

Because of the timing of the two games -- Ashley's game started at 5:30 p.m., Katie's a short time later -- neither player was able to watch their sister's performance Friday. Their father, Tom Coker, did his best to take in both games.

"We were actually on the field at the same time, and our dad was going back and forth between them," Ashley said. "I didn't really know what was going on until after it was over because I try to keep my focus on our game, but it was kind of exciting later."

"My dad was really excited," Katie said. "I'm sure he was going from field to field, keeping tabs on both of us.

"He's gotten both of us where we are today, getting us into camps and clinics. Seeing both of his daughters throw no-hitters on the same day is not something a lot of parents get to see."

It was nearly a full week of no-nos for the Cokers. Ashley struck out 13 batters while holding Southwestern College hitless in a Wesleyan victory Monday. Katie was the winning pitcher Tuesday in a 1-0 Sacred Heart victory over TMP-Marian, and gave up only one hit -- a one-out single in the seventh -- in that contest.

"I just felt really focused this week," said Ashley, who is now 6-8 this season. "We knew we had big games this week that meant a lot for us as far as where we stand in the conference. Everybody stepped up and we brought our whole game together."

Katie's preseason workouts got off to a slow start. As a member of the Sacred Heart basketball team, she suffered a severe ankle injury only minutes into the Class 3A state championship game last month.

Early season rainouts gave the younger Coker a chance to ease into her senior season. She is now 4-0 with two one-hitters and a no-hitter in four starts.

"The ankle injury set me back, but as the season goes on I'm getting better with each game."

This is Katie's first season with the Knights, transferring from Russell to Sacred Heart following her junior season. In fact, Katie was the last pitcher to beat the Knights before they started their current 53-game winning streak, picking up the win in a 7-6 Russell victory over Sacred Heart in April of 2005.

One of the reasons she made the move was to be closer to her older sister, who was already in Salina attending Kansas Wesleyan. Ashley, a 2003 graduate of Russell High School, was a first-team all-conference selection in 2006 for the Coyotes.

"She was probably one of the main reasons I came to Salina," said Katie, who wears the same uniform number (14) as Ashley. "We were really close when she left for college, and I missed not having her here when I was in high school. I wanted to be around my sister so I chose Salina."

"We've been real close for a long time and did everything together," Ashley said. "It's been great for me to have her here because now I get to watch her play more games right here in town."