In this year’s softball season, all five seniors signed with a school to continue their careers at the collegiate level. The familiar faces are Peyton Renzi, Maddie Redman, Katie Reeg, Kori Stonestreet and Hannah Maurer.

Peyton Renzi

Senior Peyton Renzi grew up with a love for a different sport: basketball.

“[Basketball] was my favorite sport and then I stopped growing,” Renzi said. “I realized that basketball was not my sport. I’ve always loved playing softball. I started playing softball when I was like 3 or 4.”

Renzi said her dad put her in a youth softball league and when she was in sixth grade, she visited a college and realized she could potentially have a future in the sport.

In the following years, Renzi signed with the University of Kansas to further her softball career. She said she wanted to stay close to home and that she has always been a KU fan.

“I really like the culture, the history and the traditions that they have there and the softball team, they’re on the rise,” Renzi said. “They’re getting pretty good; they just got a new coach and she’s super cool and I’m just excited to play with a different group of people.”

Renzi said she is excited to play with new people, but also said she has played with most of her teammates from a very young age and is going to miss the friendships she has grown up with.

“I’m definitely going to miss that and also the family feel,” Renzi said. “Obviously it’ll be kind of the same, but a little bit different at KU. I’m just going to miss playing with all of the girls and the coaches.”

Maddie Redman

When senior Maddie Redman was two months old, she was on a softball field. When she was 9 years old, she started club ball.

“I feel like I was kind of just born into this sport, into this family and when I started club at 0 years old, that’s when it hit me that if I have potential, then I want to play for as long as I can,” Redman said.

Redman signed with Butler Community College. She said tearing her ACL last January changed her opportunities.

“I decided that I was go on a visit to Butler Community College and they offered me the best scholarship and the best program to go to further where I want to be,” Redman said. “[I’m most excited about] meeting new people, making new friends. I think the girls that I might go in with will be lifelong friends.”

However, Redman said she would miss her Southwest family.

“The family here has stepped up a lot for my junior to my senior year and I wouldn’t trade any of these girls for the world,” Redman said.

Katie Reeg

In seventh or eighth grade, senior Katie Reeg’s father asked if she wanted to play softball in college. Now, she has signed with the University of Dayton in Ohio.

“I really decided like freshman year,” Reeg said. “I just I didn’t want to think about not playing.”

Reeg said she chose Dayton because of the coaches, girls and atmosphere.

“It’s not too small and it’s not too big,” Reeg said. “I’m most excited about traveling with the team and getting to go a bunch of places because most of the teams we get to play are on the East Coast — we get to go to New York City and Washington, D.C.”

Reed said she is excited for the new rivalries, but the ones in high school are what she is going to miss most about high school ball.

“I know there will be new ones in college, but we get to play Aquinas,” Reeg said. “I’ll also obviously [miss] the girls and coaches.”

Kori Stonestreet

After her dad and brother both played in college, senior Kori Stonestreet said it had a huge impact on why she decided to play softball in college.

“It’s like kind of a big family thing and my dad has always been my coach, so he’s kind of like the reason that I wanted to play and, like, kept me going to play,” Stonestreet said.

Stonestreet signed with University of Nebraska Omaha. She said she is excited to have a new instant softball family and new experiences.

“Some people say ‘you know when you know’ and  I always thought that was a joke, but when I walked on campus at Nebraska Omaha, I was like, ‘this is where I want to be,’” Stonestreet said.

She said she is excited for this change, however she said she has strong friendships with her current teammates.

“The family that we have here now — and especially with our incoming freshmen, too — we’ve already made close bonds with all of them, so it’s going to be hard leaving that,” Stonestreet said.

Hannah Maurer

In eighth grade, senior Hannah Maurer said she was going to quit softball. However, a few people helped change her mind.

“My parents and actually my friend Peyton and her dad Joe … convinced me to keep playing and then right before the fall of my junior year, like this inclination that this was something I want to do and I did enjoy and wanted to keep pursuing,” Maurer said. “I wasn’t really ready to give it up yet.”

Maurer signed with Baker University. She said she likes the environment of the community and the small classes.

“[I’m excited for] my teammates and the coaching staff, they’re very caring and they care more about,” Maurer said. “They don’t just look at you as an athlete; they actually care about your well-being and academics and everything.”

Maurer said she will miss the people, specifically the coaches at Southwest.

“I have been here the past three years now; it’s my fourth year,” Maurer said. “It’s kind of just something that I’ve gotten used to and now I’ll have to get used to something else.”