Emily Sauvageau, who caught Shohei Ohtani’s 300th home run, auctioned the ball to help fund her and her brother’s future.
DENVER — Emily Sauvageau has been to 837 Rockies games in her 21 years, but she never imagined one swing at Coors Field would change her life.
The Adams State University softball player caught Shohei Ohtani’s 300th career home run in June, and now that baseball sold at auction. According to Lelands, the ball sold for $44,322 Saturday night.
“I figured I’d catch one at some point,” Sauvageau said. “But I didn’t think it’d be, you know, Ohtani’s milestone 300th home run ball.”
Sauvageau said she was focused on making a clean play when the ball came her way.
“I was mainly worried about interfering, so I was trying to really focus on not reaching over or anything,” she said. “I just waited for it, and as soon as it went over the fence I just basket-caught it right on the other side. I threw my hands up because I was so excited.”
At first, she didn’t realize what she had.
“That was just my first home run ball that I caught, so that’s where all the excitement came from there,” she said. “Right after I caught it, like 30 seconds later, I had a Japanese reporter ask if he could interview me. One of the first questions they asked me was if I knew that it was his 300th, and that’s when I found out.”
Deciding what to do with the ball wasn’t easy.
“It was still difficult because it is the first one I’ve caught, and so obviously it’s something that I would have liked to keep,” she said. “But as a college student, I just couldn’t pass up that opportunity.”
Sauvageau said she’ll be splitting the money with her younger brother, who is about to graduate from high school.
“He’s always been my best friend, so we just take care of each other,” she said. “That was one of my biggest things when I found out I’d be getting some money for it.”
She admits watching the bids climb has been a thrill of its own.
“Just that excitement of refreshing every time and thinking, oh maybe somebody else will bid again, it’s fun just seeing the number change,” she said.
Baseball runs deep in Sauvageau’s family. Her father has caught 117 home runs at Coors Field, and she takes pride in her own defensive skills — earning the first Gold Glove in Adams State history.
Outside the ballpark, she drives a Rockies-themed car she designed as a fourth-grade art project.
“I get asked a lot if I work for the Rockies, and I tell them not yet,” she said. “Someday, we’re working on it.”