Softball journey ends on positive note for Burlington Central grad Scheffler

Burlington Central graduate Ashley Scheffler has been on a collegiate softball odyssey.

And it's an odyssey complete with a happy ending.

Scheffler, a Daily Herald All-Area selection at Central who played for the 2009 Class 3A third place team at state, started her college career at Elgin Community College. Her last season there was marked with uncertainty after coach Anne Vogt left to take the Larkin High School head coaching position.

"A lot of people on the team quit because she wasn't the coach anymore," said Scheffler. "We had to run around and find people to play and we had to find a coach."

Scheffler, who earned all-conference and all-region honors at ECC, moved on to McKendree University in downstate Lebanon.

Scheffler hit .243 with a homer and 12 RBI in 2013, but earned a pair of academic accolades from the Great Lakes Valley Conference and the National Fastpitch Softball Association.

After that 2013 season, Scheffler made a tough decision and left the team.

"I felt like I needed to take a year off and focus on school and figure out what I want to do with my life," she said. "It was hard for me. All my roommates were softball players so I was always by myself."

Scheffler, who roomed with 2010 South Elgin alum Catie Stredde at McKendree, said after watching the team as a spectator, the urge to play hit her again.

"After watching them I went back home and that's when I decided to play again," she said. "I definitely got the itch again."

Scheffler added that she went through a range of emotions after coming back to the team.

"It was tough for me to quit, but it was far better for me to go back," she said. "I regained my love for softball again. I made a good choice. The team welcomed me back. I was a little nervous about that because there were a couple of returners from my first year. But I hung out with the team all the time last year and had a feeling they would welcome me back."

The toughest part for Scheffler was getting back into softball playing mode. She worked with her dad, Mike, a lot back home, joined the Pekin Lettes 18-and-over travel team (that has made many appearances over the years at local Northern Illinois Lightning-run tournaments at the Elgin Sports Complex) and even made a few visits to Vogt for some hitting advice. Vogt had been her longtime hitting coach.

"It was tough," Scheffler admitted. "I started throwing with my dad. He was great. He worked with me a lot. We would go back to the high school field and work on things. I played with the Lettes with two girls from McKendree. That helped me to see live pitching and get back into the swing of things and I saw Anne a couple times over Christmas break and she helped work out the kinks."

All that off-season work paid dividends for Scheffler. She finished the season leading the team in hitting with a .354 batting average. She had 51 hits (11 extra-base hits including 8 doubles and 3 triples), 29 runs scored and 14 RBI. She also led the team in stolen bases (21 of 22 on stolen-base attempts) and sacrifices with 11.

In her final collegiate game recently on senior day, Scheffler went 2-for-2 with a pair of doubles, a run scored, an RBI and a stolen base. McKendree downed William Jewell to close out the season at 15-33 overall.

"I felt my first year here I didn't do as well as I would have liked," said Scheffler. "This year, I didn't have a scholarship. I was playing for only me. I also didn't have a starting position so I had to work for that. I did what I had to do and worked my butt off at practice in hopes of getting a starting positions. I got one. I was very thankful for that."

Scheffler played left field this year a departure from her infield duties in previous seasons.

"Outfield was kind of a change," she said. "I hadn't played out there in a long time. The coaches worked with me and helped get me back into it."

Scheffler will graduate from McKendree May 9 with a degree in health and wellness. She earned academic President's List honors and did an internship at Belleville Health and Sports Center last semester.

"I would like to work in a hospital setting," she said. "I've also thought about doing wellness counseling. I would eventually like to be a physical trainer and coach softball."

She will get her first taste of coaching this summer as an assistant for the Northern Illinois Lightning 16U team, where Stredde is also an assistant for a team managed by St. Edward head coach and former Elgin High star Jaci Corn and also assisted by former Larkin and Valparaiso standout Courtney LaFerle, also a St. Edward assistant.

Looking back, Scheffler said she couldn't ask for a better final chapter in her college softball career.

"I had a lot of fun this year," she said. "The girls on the team were great. Our season didn't end the way we wanted it to, but we all worked hard and we all had a great time. I made the right decision. I wanted to play again and went out and did it. It really couldn't have turned out any better."

Menken at Winthrop: South Elgin product John Menken is now an outfielder on the Division I Winthrop University baseball team.

Through midweek, Menken was hitting .297 with 33 hits in 111 at-bats. He had 5 doubles, 1 triple, a team-best 6 home runs and 24 RBI. He was slugging .523 and had a .394 on-base percentage thanks to 8 walks and a team-high 11 hit-batsmen. A senior at Winthrop, Menken, who started his college career at Elgin Community College, had not made an error in 77 chances through midweek. In a recent game against Davidson, Menken was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and was hit by a pitch. Winthrop was 32-15 overall and 10-8 in conference play.

Romano at Miami: Dundee-Crown alum Jake Romano is a junior left-handed-hitting outfielder on the Miami-Ohio baseball team. Through midweek Romano was hitting .288 in 38 games. He had 38 hits in 132 at-bats and had scored a team-best 27 runs. Among those 38 hits, he had 5 doubles, 1 triple and 2 home runs to go with 11 walks. Romano also had 14 walks and was hit by a pitch six times. In addition to 6 stolen bases, Romano has been perfect in the outfield this year, leading Miami in fielding percentage at 1.000 thanks to 91 putouts and 1 assist against no errors. Miami was 9-31 overall and 7-11 in MAC play through midweek.

Off at College wants your help: Send information and/or statistics on Fox Valley area athletes playing collegiately to Mike Miazga at mjm890@gmail.com.