Tri-Valley grad Dawson left big mark on Grove City softball

GROVE CITY, Pa. — Janessa Dawson could have stayed closer to home when she chose Grove City College out of Tri-Valley High School.

Looking back, it was a decision she would make again without hesitation.

Dawson finished her career in fine fashion, earning Grove City College Senior Woman of the Year while being named first-team All-Presidents Athletic Conference in softball by conference coaches.

It was a record-breaking senior year on a personal level, as she recorded program highs with 60 hits and 128 at-bats, with a .469 average that was the fourth-best in school history. Her 27 RBIs and 14 doubles were team highs.

She also thrived as a pitcher, where she was 8-6 with a 3.54 ERA in 13 starts. Eleven were complete games.

She had two years of softball eligibility remaining, and could have left as a graduate transfer, but said she is "ready to turn that page in my life."

"I wanted to focus on my studies and my shoulder isn't the same as it used to be," Dawson said recently. "(Grove City) was the program I wanted to invest in. I wanted to finish where I started and I was very loyal to them. I'm ready. I don't want to play for another team."

Dawson left Tri-Valley as one of its most successful pitchers and was a solid bat on a team with a stacked lineup, led by Michigan State signee Riley Paxson.

She blossomed even more at Grove City, especially at the plate, where she ranks in the top 10 in single season (74) and career (186) total bases, career doubles (29), single-season doubles (14), single-season (.469) and career batting average (.420), career on-base percentage (.454) and career (.562) and single-season (.589) slugging percentage.

She also finished in the top 10 in six pitching categories — career games (56), career starts (46), career complete games (26), career wins (21), career innings (285) and career strikeouts (165). In the classroom, she was a member of the Dean's List.

Her senior season was one for the annals in a year those around the program won't forget anytime soon. The Wolverines won a program-best 21 games and made the PAC playoffs for the first time in 15 years.

Dawson said they key that season began in the offseason, where the team's devotion to Christ brought them unified peace, improved team chemistry and allowed them to focus on softball.

"We played with good sportsmanship, just being able to work hard, and work freely," Dawson said. "And to see the hard work pay off in the offseason, knowing our focus that softball season was on Him — we knew our work was rooted in Jesus.

"We could work hard and practice hard in complete freedom," she added. "That is definitely what I will remember the most, is practicing hard and giving God the glory and having great memories with my teammates."

The on-field experiences were pretty swell, also. Dawson was square in the middle of several that she said stand out.

"This year we played at Chatham at their place and went extra innings," Dawson recalled. "I was pitching and they had runners on second and third with one outs, and the last two hitters struck out. It was really cool to celebrate with my team."

Then there was the epic saga.

"We played Bethany at home, we're in the bottom of the 17th inning and we won," Dawson recalled. "I think I was on base and my friend hit me in in a walk off. We beat them in the 17th and it was such a grind. It was so sweet."

Dawson recently attended the Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City with her father, former John Glenn and Bowling Green football standout Troy Dawson. Her relationship with her parents remains strong.

"He means everything to me," Dawson said. "Both of my parents bought in and sacrificed for us. Lots of weekends, lots of nights going to pitching coaches. Just him being a Division I college athlete, I think he understood what it took. I think that's what we get alone so well. In our back yard he built me a batting cage.

"I'm just extremely thankful," she added. "I wouldn't have been the player I was without the work he put in or the woman I am. He taught me the importance of working through failure and what it means to have goals. I started playing when I was 4. I spent 18 years in softball with my dad."

Now it's time for the next chapter. She will move to the Pittsburgh area for grad school, where she will finish her degree at Chatham to become a physician's assistant.

She is thankful for her years at Grove City, where she grew spiritually, athletically and thrived in the classroom.

"I only applied at one school and I don't regret it," Dawson said.

sblackbu@gannett.com; Twitter: @SamBlackburnTR

This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Tri-Valley grad Dawson left big mark on Grove City Wolverines softball