UTC adds Brazilian catcher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga softball coach Frank Reed believes you can never have too much of a good thing. To that end, he’s added a third catcher to the Lady Mocs lineup for the 2011 season.

Brazilian player Vivian Morimoto signed last week after playing for two seasons at Miami-Dade College, where she was part of last season’s National Junior College Athletic Association national championship team under coach Carlos Caro.

Morimoto led the Sharks last season with a .420 batting average, and she had 33 RBIs and scored 44 runs.

Caro and Reed are friends, which led Morimoto to learn about UTC from her coach as well as fellow Brazilian and Lady Mocs commitment Simone Suetsugu, a middle infielder at Miami-Dade.

“I don’t know any of the players, but I know (Reed). And I know he’s a really good coach,” Morimoto said. “I have heard about some of the things his team has done, and I think it will be a good team next season.”

Reed initially didn’t offer Morimoto a scholarship because the Lady Mocs already have two catchers in the incoming freshman class in switch-hitting Natalie Powers from Glenpool, Okla., and Stephanie Rieck, of Chandler, Ariz.

But when freshman infielder Ashley Canara decided early in the summer that she didn’t want to return to UTC, Reed had more scholarship money and decided Morimoto was too good to pass up.

“I was so impressed with her hitting, and her work ethic is impeccable,” Reed said. “When Ashley left, that opened up some scholarship money. And we really wanted another left-handed bat, so we talked to Vivian, who had talked to some other pretty big programs. And she said she wanted to play here.

“I’m looking forward to having her as far as her bat, and she’s going to give us some college experience because she’s already played for two years and has won a national championship,” Reed said.

In addition to her play at Miami-Dade, Morimoto has represented Brazil in national competition. She was a member of Brazil’s national team at the 2007 Pan American Games and has played on her country’s under-17 and under-20 national teams.

“People think that I must be so good because I played for my country,” she said. “I think I may have more experience because of playing for my country, but I’m not as good as players on the United States’ national team.”

Despite Morimoto’s humility on the subject, Reed said her international experience really is impressive.

“Although they may not have the talent that the United States has, it’s still something pretty special to be chosen to play on a national team,” said Reed, who has coached on the Dominican Republic’s national team. “It says a lot about her that she was picked to represent her country.”