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Five for signing on Tonganoxie High softball team

By Shawn Linenberger - | Mar 14, 2018

Shawn Linenberger

This year's Tonganoxie High softball team features a senior class that will entirely be playing at the collegiate level when their high school careers conclude. Pictured, from bottom left, are Makenzie Sample (Fort Scott CC), Lauren Willson (Hutchinson CC), Delainey Fenoglio (Butler CC), Audrey Miller (Labette County CC) and Torrissa Hootman (Barton CC). All will play softball at the next level except for Willson, who will play volleyball for the Blue Dragons.

Stephanie Wittman’s Tonganoxie High softball team has made some exciting runs in recent years.

Take this year’s senior class for instance. The group has been a part of three straight Class 4A Division I regional runner-up teams. Every year of the group’s high school career, the girls have been part of a team that has just missed out on a string of state appearances.

With a talented senior class leading this year’s squad, a state berth is a definite reality.

It’s also a determined class that wants to continue competing.

With a signing last week, the entire THS softball senior class will continue with their careers at the senior level. All but Lauren Willson, who plans to play volleyball at Hutchinson Community College, will play softball after high school.

“These five seniors have had the utmost dedication to the sport of softball and our program for the last four years and all five are so deserving at getting to play a sport at the collegiate level,” Wittman said. “I can take no credit for their work ethic and competitiveness.

“Those two things drive this senior class and I am excited to see them compete one more season together.”

Here’s a closer look at each of the seniors:

Delainey Fenoglio, Butler

Fenoglio ultimately wants to play softball at a Division I school.

For her, Butler Community College made the most sense in trying to reach that goal.

The Grizzlies are back-to-back National Junior College Athletics Association national champions. BCC finished 53-4 in 2016, ending the year on a 38-game winning streak. Last year’s squad won the national title after starting the year 50-0. That team finished 58-1 with another national title. The Grizzlies are 17-3 so far this season.

“That’s what they do,” Fenoglio said about the team’s winning ways. “And they’re a really good feeder school for Division I schools.”

Fenoglio said she didn’t necessarily have a preference for her next step after Butler, “just somewhere D-I.”

She’s worked as a pitcher, first baseman and designated hitter for the Chieftains.

Fenoglio looked at several schools before picking Butler. Hutchinson and Barton community colleges, Emporia State and Ottawa University all were Kansas schools she considered. Cameron University in Lawton, Okla., also made her short list, but in the end, she went with the El Dorado school.

She plans to major in exercise science and enter the medical field.

While at THS, Fenoglio has been second team all-state, honorable mention all-state, honorable mention all-Lawrence Journal-World and second team all-Kaw Valley League as a sophomore and first-team all-KVL as a junior.

She’s also involved in the Health Occupation Sciences Association, an international student organization.

Torrissa Hootman, Barton

Tonganoxie’s fifth senior will land at Great Bend this coming fall.

Hootman plans to play at Barton County Community College.

She also looked at Allen Community College, LCCC and Hutchinson, but Barton’s facilities helped her sign with BCCC.

“They had really nice facilities indoors and I just wanted to be further away,” she said. “It’s not too far, but it’s far.”

She will play center field for the Cougars.

Hootman also was drawn to Great Bend because of Barton’s nursing program, though because of her plans for nursing, she said she likely would not play softball after Barton.

The Cougars currently are 7-9 on the season.

Last year, Hootman was first team all-league as an outfielder.

Audrey Miller, Labette County

A familiar face drew Audrey Miller to Labette County.

The THS senior said she already had a friend at the school in Parsons. She told Miller the team was in need of a catcher.

After blowing out her knee nearly a year ago and missing all summer with rehab, Miller was ready to find a team.

“I took a visit and liked the coach,” she said.

Miller also looked at Ottawa, Benedictine and Emporia State as potential schools, but eventually selected Labette County.

Miller was first-team all-area for the Lawrence Journal-World as a freshman and then first-team all-area and first-team all-KVL her sophomore year as a catcher.

Miller missed out on postseason accolades last season thanks to the injury.

She will look to give the Cardinals some immediate help in 2019. LCCC is 3-11 so far this season, though the team has had its share of success. The Cardinals won the 2016, 2015 and 2011 Region VI championships.

Makenzie Sample, Fort Scott

One of Tonganoxie’s most powerful bats in recent years, Sample will continue on at Fort Scott Community College.

“When I went on the visit, I really liked the campus and the coach,” Sample said about first-year coach Lana Ross. “I felt liked she could make me into a better softball player and get me to play at a four-year school or the next level.”

Sample also looked at Labette County, McPherson College and Ottawa University to continue her softball career.

The senior plays third base and outfield for the Chieftains.

She was first-team all-league and honorable mention all-area for the Lawrence Journal-World as a freshman.

Her sophomore season, she was second team all-league and junior year second team all-league and first team all-area for the LJW.

Fort Scott went 19-34 last year, but Ross already has the team going this year with a 13-6 record.

Ross comes from Iowa Western where she she compiled a 544-238 record. She has the all-time victory record at Iowa Western.

Sample plans to focus on her general studies at FSCC, as she’s undecided on a major.

Lauren Willson, Hutchinson

Willson has known her college destination for some time.

She signed a National Letter of Intent this last Thursday to play volleyball at Hutchinson Community College.

“When I went for the campus visit, I just kind of fell in love with it,” she said back in the fall.

She also was excited about her new coach.

“Coach Hall, I really liked him,” Willson said about coach Patrick Hall, who is 168-69 in six seasons at Hutchinson and 293-195 overall in 13 seasons overall coaching at Pratt, Barton County and now HCC, all in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference. “He was tough, but he taught me a lot while I was down there. I just know he would be a good coach for me.”

Johnson County offered her a scholarship and she also was looking at Cowley County and Sterling College. But Willson decided she wanted to go the community college route so she could decide in a couple years whether to continue on as a student-athlete or a student at a four-year school.

Willson was all-Kaw Valley League honorable mention as a sophomore, first-team as a junior and second-team as a senior in volleyball.

She also was all-area for the Lawrence Journal-World as a junior and senior and was a second team all-league selection in softball as a shortstop.

The outside hitter/back row player helped Tonganoxie to two consecutive Class 4A Division I state appearances in 2015 and 2016, including a fourth-place finish in 2015.

Willson also played basketball for two years and will try to help THS to a state appearance in softball after several regional runner-up finishes the last few years.

The Blue Dragons have registered 25 or more wins in each of Hall’s seasons as HCC coach, including a 34-9 record and ninth-place finish at the NJCAA Tournament in 2015.

Academically, Willson plans get her general studies out of the way at HCC before deciding where to continue her education.

Whether that includes a volleyball scholarship to a four-year college is up in the air, but Willson is set on her career path.

She always wanted to play at Kansas State, but even if she were to go to K-State exclusively as a student, she knows one thing for sure: she wants to go into something in the forensic science realm.