AMHERST — She played baseball with the guys through the eighth grade and was backup quarterback on her junior high football team, for crying out loud. Talk about an athlete.
She made the switch to softball in high school and, sad to report, few local fans got to see her play over the next four seasons. She might be in a league of her own, but her school is in a league that had her playing against Cuyahoga County opponents most of her high school career.
No matter where she played, no matter who saw her in action, she excelled. And in the process, she helped lead the Admiral King softball team to a new level of success: a Lake Erie League championship, a tie for third and a second-place finish in the LEL — in short, more than an Admirals softball team had accomplished in years.
On Monday night, in front of a full house at Sliman’s Diamond, Admirals center fielder Jillian Van Wagnen was honored as Lorain County Miss Softball for 2008. She received the award before the start of the annual Senior All-Star Game sponsored by the Lorain County Softball Coaches Association. The award is given by Coca-Cola of Elyria.
Van Wagnen, the first from Admiral King to win the award, was shocked when her name was announced by Amherst coach Bill Matthews.
“I’m very, very, very, very surprised,” Van Wagnen said. “All my efforts paid off. I really don’t know what to say. Man, I’m kind of shaken right now.”
She obviously was.
“There are so many great girls this year, I never thought I’d get it,” Van Wagnen said. “This is unbelievable. For four years, this is what I’ve wanted. I just started playing softball four years ago. I played baseball for 10, but everyone said, ‘Go to softball, go to softball.’
“I didn’t want to,” she said. “But I eventually switched, and I’m glad I did. I probably batted around .600 in baseball. I was the only girl, but freshman year, my mom told me I had to switch over. If it wasn’t for baseball, I’d be nowhere close to where I am now.
“Actually, the transition was easy for me, because the ball in baseball is a lot smaller. It’s much faster and the ball curves a lot more. When girls say, ‘Is it rising? Is it a drop?’ I don’t know, because I’ve already adjusted to it.”
No one was happier about the selection than Admirals coach Pam Jackson.
“This has been a goal of hers since she’s been a freshman,” said Jackson, whose Admirals finished 14-6 this spring. “She asked what does it take to get this and I said she just had to be the best in the county. I think she was totally surprised and very happy to get it, because she had no idea that she was even up for it. We never talked about it.”    
Van Wagnen was a standout from the time she first pulled on an Admirals uniform, putting together gee-whiz statistics over the next four seasons. She might have worn No. 13 on her shirt, but she was No. 1 most of her four varsity seasons in virtually every offensive category.
In her remarkable senior season, she produced 38 hits — about 20 percent of the team’s total — in 71 at-bats for a .535 average. She hit three doubles, eight triples and eight home runs. And she had one in every four (33) of the Admirals’ RBIs for the year. She played in 132 of her team’s 136 innings.
Van Wagnen also excelled in the outfield. She recorded 20 putouts and five assists in a sport where outfielders often have time to finish homework assignments. She made just two errors all year.
Van Wagnen’s career numbers are just as impressive. She compiled a .490 batting average in four varsity seasons with 145 hits in 296 at-bats. She scored 111 runs. One of the Admirals’ all-time leading sluggers, she drilled 17 doubles, 16 triples and 15 home runs, and put up 93 RBIs. Her career slugging average was .807 and she had an on-base percentage of .514.
In 525 total innings, Van Wagnen recorded 74 putouts and 11 assists and committed just seven errors over four seasons. She also threw the ball away three times in four years, but no one’s perfect.
She’ll enroll at Ohio University in Athens in the fall.
“I’m going to try to walk on there,” she said. “My friend Katie Svat from (Elyria Catholic) and I are going to condition together all summer and try out together next year. I’m not going to be overconfident about it, but everyone has the same chance I do. I’m just going to take my chances and go in equal with everyone else.”
Van Wagnen’s dad, Mickey, was as pleased as she.
“I just got here from work and I didn’t even know she got the award,” Mickey Van Wagnen said. “For all the hard work she’s been doing, she deserves it. She put a lot of time into most all her sports. It’s good.”
So is she. She graduated from Admiral King with 16 varsity letters in four sports.

Lorain County Miss Softball 2008

Jillian Van Wagnen, Admiral King

Special Mention

Megan Bashak, Elyria
Megan Krueger, Amherst

Honorable Mention

    Clare Sullivan, Keystone; Katie Ohle, Southview; Katie Svat, Elyria Catholic; Erin Phillips, Firelands; Brit Athey, Vermilion; Elizabeth Fazekas, Midview; Sarah Petras, Columbia; Andi Nicholson, Avon Lake; Melanie Conklin, Wellington; Nicole Myers, Clearview; Jaime Frindt, North Ridgeville; Alex Hansen, Lake Ridge; Stephanie Albright, Brookside; Christie Mingo, Avon.

Previous Miss Softball Winners

2007    Sarah Stromack, Keystone
2006    Kristie Malinkey, Keystone
2005    Alex Boros, Elyria
2004    Christina Swierz, Amherst
2003    Brittney Robinson, Keystone
2002    Jess Jesko, Firelands
2001    Megan Meyer, Vermilion
2000    Lacey Reichert, Amherst
1999    Amie Leffew, Keystone
1998    Rachel Beran, Firelands
1997    Kim Evans, Keystone
1996    Laura Dragan, North Ridgeville
         Tammy Yount, Elyria
1995    Jamie Cendrosky, Keystone
1994    Amy Johnson, Keystone
         Sarah Martin, Keystone
1993    Ashley Anderson, Elyria
1992    Heather Zehel, Amherst
         Cassie Wilmoth, Firelands
   
 

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