Fahey Bank Athlete of the Month: Elgin's Alyvia Roth dominates in pitching circle
MARION — Alyvia Roth's life to date has revolved around two things: softball and academics.
The Elgin senior holds a 4.56 grade point average and will graduate as her class salutatorian. She's also the unquestioned leader of a softball team that won a fourth straight Northwest Central Conference championship.
"It’s taken up most of my summers every year and my weeknights,"" she said of her dedication to softball. "I would spend four nights a week at our high school gym when I was in the third or fourth grade, just going over and pitching in the winter. It’s been most of my life.
"I have a pretty good social life now, but for a long time I was missing birthday parties and all that stuff, but it was definitely worth it."
The time and attention to her schooling and softball has paid off. She will join the Bowling Green State University softball team next year with academic and athletic scholarships paying the bulk of the bills.
"That’s always been my biggest goal ― Division I softball ― since I was probably 5 years old," she said of choosing BGSU over Toledo, Tiffin and Ohio Dominican.
She couldn't help it. With Ashley, a 2019 Elgin grad, and Amber, a 2021 grad, as older sisters and elite pitchers, softball came naturally to the youngest Roth.
"Having them do it, I was expected to do it, but I always wanted to do it better," she said. "My goal was to keep up with them at whatever age I was at. I wanted to be as good as they were at that age."
Not only did she tag along, but she absorbed the knowledge and the skills needed to succeed.
"I was at everything," Roth said. "Every high school game when I was in middle school I was at. I played with my older sister in travel ball, so I was always the youngest on the team trying to catch up all the time. I wouldn’t change it. It made me better."
Roth is a coach's dream. Not only is she a standout in the classroom, but she's a go-to player on the field without ego.
"Liv does an amazing job. We’ve let her this year call her own pitches. She’s very knowledgeable, not only on the pitching end of things, but in the game of softball — period," Elgin softball coach Wendy Muselin said.
But Roth doesn't take advantage of her standing. She's no prima donna. Just the opposite.
"We had a situation earlier in the year where she wasn’t pitching, and she said if you need me to play someplace else, I’ll go play someplace else," Muselin recalled. "I don’t have to play just first base. If you need me, I’ll do what I can to help. I’ll track a fly ball down in left field if you need me to. Her understanding of the game and the team aspect, that has brought a lot to the other girls on the team."
Since joining the NWCC in 2017-18, the Comets are 43-1 in the league and riding a 40-game winning streak. At 12-0, they managed a four-peat in the conference. A major reason why is because Roth is in the pitching circle and the batter's box.
She leads the area in wins with 13 and strikeouts with 234, and she holds a 0.61 ERA. In NWCC games, her ERA is just 0.30 with 164 strikeouts and 12 walks. Teams are hitting only .054 against her in the conference, giving up just 12 hits.
"I have the two younger pitchers and they’ve pitched the majority of our non-league games for us, getting them quality time when we can," Muselin said. "Liv has done a fabulous job of working with them in practice, working with them as well as with our JV pitcher, too."
At the plate, she's just as effective. Roth hits .414 with a .469 on-base percentage, a .643 slugging percentage and a 1.113 on-base plus slugging percentage, which leads the team. She's batted 10 doubles, two triples and two home runs for 28 RBI and 10 runs scored. In the field, she's committed just one error for a .970 fielding percentage.
In April, she threw 197 strikeouts and just 27 walks, tossing five shutouts, two no-hitters and two perfect games. She was 10-2 with a save and a 0.65 ERA, plus batted .403 with eight doubles and 25 RBI for a .610 slugging percentage.
It was enough for her to win the Fahey Bank Athlete of the Month Award for April among Marion County girls. It is her second time earning the award.
"This was one (goal)," she said of the Fahey Bank honor. "I didn’t know for sure if you could win it twice. Then I heard that (former Elgin standout athlete) Tiffany Hix had gotten it twice, so it was definitely something that I wanted to get in my senior year."
Roth hopes more wins will follow as the Comets embark on the Division III district tournament this week, going to No. 2 seed West Jefferson on Monday at 5 p.m.
Regardless of the outcome, she knows she's given both softball and academics her all.
"I just feel really blessed with everything I’ve received this year and all the support I have. I’ve had such a great senior year, and I wouldn’t change any of it for anything," Roth said. "I’m very grateful."
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Fahey Bank Athlete of the Month
April Girls Nominees
Winner: Alyvia Roth, senior, Elgin softball.
Lainey Wooten, junior, River Valley softball.
Abrianna Smith, senior, Marion Harding track and field.
Abby Bridges, senior, Ridgedale softball.
Gracey Staley, senior, Pleasant softball.
This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Fahey Bank Award: Elgin's Alyvia Roth dominates in pitching circle
