Ellie Austin hadn’t played softball since middle school but her friends convinced her to play her senior year at Howland’s Penobscot Valley High School.
Austin was coming off state titles in soccer and basketball and was a Bangor Daily News All-State Schoolgirl basketball third team selection. Her participation in AAU basketball had previously prevented her from playing softball.
“They were begging me to come out,” Austin said of her friends. “They said it’s your senior year, so just do it.”
She signed up to play, then backed off because there could have been another conflict with AAU basketball. When she realized there wasn’t a conflict, she asked coach Jessica McKechnie if she could come back to the team.
McKechnie said yes.
“It all worked out and I’m glad that it did,” Austin said.
Her coaches and teammates are also glad it did. Austin is hitting .490, second only to Lauren Veino’s .604, and she leads the Howlers in runs batted in with 25.
She is one of eight finalists for the Miss Maine Softball award that goes to the state’s top senior player.
The Howlers are 17-0 and will take on 18-1 Buckfield in Saturday’s 12:30 p.m. State Class D championship game at the Pierre and Catherine Labat Softball Complex in Orono.
The irony is Austin, by her own admission, wasn’t a good hitter in middle school. She started hitting the ball well during the preseason and her confidence grew.
She never expected to have the season she has had and be one of eight finalists for the statewide award.
“I expected to struggle to hit at the beginning. I knew I was going to have to work on it,” said Austin, who plays center field and didn’t have the early struggles she expected. “I just wanted to play one last time with a group of girls I’ve grown up with.
“It couldn’t have gone any better,” said Austin, who was also one of the leading scorers for the soccer team. “There’s still stuff to work on but not as much as I thought.”
McKechnie said Austin has a lot of natural talent and brought a healthy attitude into the season.
“She figured she had nothing to lose, it was her senior year and she was going to go out and have fun,” McKechnie said.
Austin has 25 hits, including four doubles and a triple, and hits third in the lineup. She has walked 11 times and has an impressive on-base percentage of .590 to go with a .612 slugging percentage.
Austin is one of five players who also played on the state championship soccer and basketball teams this school year and she would like nothing more than to conclude her career with another state title.
“That would be amazing,” said Austin, who will play basketball at Husson University in the fall. “There is a family aspect to it and to bring home another state title would be truly special.”
