Yelm softball’s Austin Hitchner, a senior shortstop, has found her next home following the conclusion of her senior season with the Tornados as she committed to William Penn University on Friday, Oct. 25.
During her junior campaign last spring, Hitchner was voted to the South Sound Conference’s first-team all league list after collecting 29 hits, 25 RBIs and three home runs. She concluded last season with a batting average of .387, an on-base percentage (OBP) of .478, and an OPS (on-base plus slugging) of 1.172. She’ll receive $12,000 in annual scholarships to play at the university.
“It feels like a relief to be committed. I don’t have to be worried anymore about if or when I’m going to commit,” Hitchner told the Nisqually Valley News on Monday, Oct. 28. “I’m stoked [for the opportunity]. It’s awesome. It’s a really good league. It has really good competition. I’m pretty excited for this opportunity.”
She visited Oskaloosa, Iowa, on Oct. 21 and Oct. 22 with her mother to check out the campus and learn about life as a Quaker. On the first day of Hitchner’s visit, she toured the school and met with an admissions officer prior to having dinner with three members of the WPU softball team and some of the coaches. The YHS senior had a sense of familiarity while on campus, as she played travel softball with the three Quakers with whom she shared dinner.
On the second day of her visit to the university, she met with Quakers softball head coach Laura North. She already had a good idea that she wanted to further her education and continue her softball career at WPU prior to meeting with North, but the one-on-one meeting made her commitment reality.
“The coaches are super nice and respectful,” Hitchner said. “[Coach North] asked me if I wanted to commit. I really liked their athletic program and the education they offer, so I said, of course I want to commit. After that, I went to the cafeteria at the school and ate lunch with almost the entire team.”
Hitchner said that she’s always wanted to play softball at the college level, adding that all-conference level statistics and intangibles don’t happen overnight. To become a college level athlete, she said you have to put in work throughout the off-season.
“I put in extra practice, worked in the cage, and watched videos of myself to see what I’m doing good and what I need to work on,” Hitchner said. “I also had to stay up on my school work because being a student-athlete, being a student comes first.”
Entering her senior campaign this spring with the Tornados, Hitchner said she has high expectations for Yelm as it debuts in the 4A South Puget Sound League.
“I think our team is going to be pretty good. We lost Elissa [Dewees], Maddie [Erickson] and Miranda [Hunt] — those were three really good players — and Carley [Waite] was key in the outfield. But, overall, I think we’re going to do pretty good. We have most of our pitching staff, and Layah [Hicks] will still be behind the plate this season,” she said. “It feels really good to be in a program like Yelm because I have high expectations for myself and the people I’m playing with. When you have teammates that are just as competitive, it makes you feel good.”