College Notebook: Four area softball players producing in NCAA Division I ranks

Four former high school standouts are making their mark in the highest ranks in college softball.

Putting up the biggest numbers is sophomore third baseman Shelby Westler of River Valley. Playing at Ohio University, she has started in all 35 games for the Bobcats (17-18, 5-6 Mid-American), while producing 33 hits, 17 runs, eight doubles, four home runs and 18 RBIs. She is batting .311 with a .500 slugging percentage.

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Westler had three hits in a game with Miami, two doubles against Tennessee-Martin and three RBIs at Ball State. She ranks first on the team in doubles, second in hits and homers and third in batting average and slugging percentage.

Mount Gilead grad McKenzie Bump has a key role with Ohio State (19-12, 2-4 Big Ten) as a senior third baseman, too. She has started 30 of 31 games, connecting on 25 hits for 19 runs, five doubles, two homers, four steals and 16 RBIs. She's been hit by nine pitches and has a .400 on-base percentage and .439 slugging percentage, while batting .305. Bump leads the Buckeyes in doubles and is third in runs and fifth in batting average and RBIs. She's an OSU scholar-athlete majoring in marketing.

Also in the Big Ten, Cardington's Kiersen George is a senior outfielder at Purdue (14-18, 2-4), an Academic All-Big Ten pick a year ago. In 12 games, she's had three hits in five at-bats, knocking a double and triple. She put up two steals against Western Michigan and two hits against Illinois-Chicago.

Highland grad Savannah Fitzpatrick is a junior outfielder and catcher at Harvard (12-12, 3-5 Ivy League) where she is hitting .298 in 20 starts. She's put up a .298 batting average, a .404 slugging percentage and a .941 fielding percentage. Fitzpatrick has 14 hits, 11 RBI, nine runs and two doubles. She recorded four RBIs agianst Tennessee Tech, five putouts against UC San Diego and two hits against Sac State.

Here are some other Marion-area softball, baseball and tennis players competing in college this season.

● River Valley grad Alexis Stevens is going out with a bang at Ohio Dominican. The senior shortstop on the softball team is recording big-time stats in hitting .406 with 21 runs, 39 hits, 14 doubles, 32 RBIs and 14 steals in 16 attempts, while holding a .594 slugging percentage. Competing in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, she is No. 1 in the league in doubles, third in RBIs, fourth in steals, sixth in batting average, seventh in hits, eighth in slugging and ninth in on-base-plus-slugging. The Panthers are 21-7 overall and 9-3 in the league.

● Cedarville has Cardington softball products and sisters in senior Casey Bertke and sophomore Dana Bertke. Casey is a pitcher and first baseman who has thrown 103 innings, striking out 71 and walking 24, while going 8-6 with a 2.65 ERA and a .282 batting average against. She's appeared in all 31 games for the Yellow Jackets (12-19, 5-3 GMAC), hitting .278 with 27 hits, 16 RBIs, nine runs, four doubles, four homers and a .464 slugging percentage. She has a .967 fielding percentage with four errors. Among GMAC pitchers, she is second in innings, fourth in wins, sixth in strikeouts and seventh in ERA.

● Dana is an outfielder who has started in all 27 games she's appeared, batting .341 with 29 hits, 13 runs, 11 walks, nine RBIs, four triples and three doubles. She has a .471 slugging percentage and 417 on-base percentage. She ranks second in the GMAC in triples and eighth with her 11 steals.

● Makenna Waddell, a Pleasant grad, is wrapping up her college career in Indiana Wesleyan's softball program as a senior first baseman and pitcher. In 16 starts, she is hitting .295 with two homers, nine RBIs, 11 walks and nine runs. She adds a .429 on-base and a .500 slugging percentage. In the pitching circle, Waddell is 1-0 in five appearances, holding a 1.66 ERA, striking out six and walking eight in 12⅔ innings as opponents are batting .238 against her. IWU is 23-5 overall and leads the Crossroads Conference at 14-2.

● Aubrey Conklin is a junior utility player for Heidelberg's softball team. The Pleasant grad hits .250 with a .365 on-base percentage and .381 slugging percentage. She's started 18 of 20 games, with three doubles and 10 RBIs. She managed four RBIs against Johnson & Wales and three hits with two doubles in a game with Marian.

● Highland's Audrey Robinson is a softball utility player at Wittenberg (14-12) where in 17 games, the sophomore has four hits, four steals and a .240 on-base percentage.

● Mount Vernon Nazarene (12-12, 5-7 Crossroads) has a North Union freshman infielder on the softball team with Lanie Sparks appearing in 22 games, batting .226 with 12 hits. She has four RBIs, four walks and four runs.

● Wyatt Reeder is a senior outfielder from Northmor for Muskingum's baseball team, and he's stealing the show in the Ohio Athletic Conference where he leads with 23 stolen bases, six more than the second-best runner in the league. In 21 games so far, Reeder is batting .311 with 21 runs, 23 hits, six doubles and eight RBIs. He's been hit eight times and has a .388 on-base percentage to go with a .392 slugging percentage and .947 fielding percentage. He put up three hits against Wittenberg, four RBIs at Oberlin and three teams against John Carroll and Augustana.

● Pleasant grad Cadence Varner is a freshman outfielder at Notre Dame College, starting in 11 of 13 baseball games. He has two homers and seven runs to go with five hits. In a doubleheader with Lake Erie, he hit those two home runs and had three RBIs.

● Hocking College is a junior college in southern Ohio, and Marion Harding freshman Van Dutton has pitched in seven baseball games, recording 30⅔ innings for 35 strikeouts and 17 walks. He has a 6.16 ERA overall and a 5.06 ERA in league games for the Hawks (5-18, 3-8 Ohio Community College Athletic Conference).

● At Bluffton (9-12, 4-3 Heartland), Highland's Wyatt Groves is a junior lefthanded pitcher where in six games he's pitched 18⅔ innings. He has 11 strikeouts and four walks to go with a 1-2 record. His ERA in Heartland Conference baseball games is 5.56.

● Marion Harding grad Nicole Flock is a junior at Capital and the No. 2 singles player on the women's tennis team. In singles, she is 2-3, and at No. 1 doubles, she is also 2-3 this spring.

● Taryn Simmers, another former Marion Harding tennis standout, is playing at Otterbein where she is 7-6 as a singles player with a 4-0 record at No. 6 singles. In doubles matches, she is 4-4.

Anyone who wants to share news about a college athlete from the Marion area is encouraged to contact the Marion Star's Rob McCurdy at rmccurdy@gannett.com, 419-610-0998, X @McMotorsport and Instagram @rob_mccurdy_star. There will be more on track and field athletes later in the season, plus fall and winter athletes in future college notebooks.

This article originally appeared on Marion Star: College Notebook: RV's Shelby Westler putting up big numbers at Ohio