MOUNT VERNON – As the boys and girls basketball teams held practices in Mount Vernon’s new Energy Fieldhouse on Nov. 11, six Yellow Jacket softball players signed their National Letters of Intent seated at six socially-distant tables on the far end of the gym.

Findlay University is getting two Yellow Jackets in Brooke Radermacher and Emma Jones. Carlena Fiorilli is headed to California University of Pennsylvania, Maddy Burdette will play at Ashland University, Alanta Spurgeon at Rio Grande and Mollie Pentz at Otterbein University.

It was a moment Mount Vernon athletic director Justin Sanford jokingly called “controlled chaos.”

The coronavirus pandemic had the state shut down last spring. Softball and other spring sports were canceled and the field house construction was delayed.

The cancellation of the season didn’t really impact recruiting as most colleges are in-season at the same time as high school ball. Most recruiting is done during summer ball.

But MV softball coach Ryan Pentz thinks the lost season impacted the players in other ways.

“I don’t know if not playing the season really effected them … except for reps,” he said. “College softball plays the same time high school softball plays. We don’t have tons of college coaches piling down at our fields. But those were valuable reps that they needed for this summer to play in front of college coaches.”

“It sucks that we didn’t get to play because we had a lot of unfinished business,” Radermacher said. “We needed those reps and stuff to get us ready for the summer and get us ready to get recruited.”

The recruiting process in a normal year is stressful, and signing on the dotted line lifts a weight off an athlete’s shoulders.

“It’s an awesome feeling,” Burdette said. “It’s a relief— everything’s done and over with. I’m excited for our upcoming high school season. But then, this is something to look forward to.”

“I did commit as a junior,” Jones said. “It’s a lot of pressure relief. It’s nice to know where I’m going and my plans. I’m just really excited.”

Ryan Pentz was beaming at the impact of the moment. Six of his players signed on to play at the next level. It’s a rarity. The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) estimates close to 400,000 players participate in high school softball and about six percent move on to college.

“It feels good just to be back with the softball players,” the coach said. “Seeing them in here working out; seeing them do their individual stuff. Then, to be able to see them— after losing their season and not knowing what their future would look like in the game of softball— to see them out here signing … to me, it’s a proud feeling.”

The chances decrease after the pandemic after programs like Wright State cut softball.

“If you were to ask me just nine months ago— I didn’t know what was going to happen to any girl wanting to go to the next level,” Coach Pentz said.

He felt the strain on a familial level with his daughter Mollie.

“I’m extremely proud of her,” Coach Pentz said. “She’s worked really, really hard to become a collegiate athlete. A year ago, she was questioning where she was at in the softball world and where her position was and just a lot about herself. To see her here shows her true commitment to this sport.”