It's rare to find a softball player who has hit over .400 in every season of her college career to date.
It's also not common to find a softball standout who has stolen over 40 bases in a college career.
However, Shawnee State's Ashtyn Saunders isn't your ordinary student-athlete.
A four-year starter who plans to exercise her extra year of eligibilty as a result of the NAIA's granting of an additional year of competition to spring sport athletes, Saunders will get to continue her journey toward two goals -- claiming the school's all-time stolen base record and, more importantly, pushing Shawnee State to new heights as a program.
For the 5-5 utility player, however, simply playing softball at SSU has been a blessing in and of itself.
"I'm grateful that I got to continue playing the game that I've loved since I was little," Saunders said. "Playing at the collegiate level has not only pushed me mentally and physically, but has also brought so many new friendships and experiences into my life that I'm blessed to have."
At Lancaster, Saunders immediately played a pivotal role for the Golden Gales, helping lead the Lancaster softball program to its first OHSAA Division I District Semifinal appearance in 11 years as a sophomore in 2014. In 2015, Lancaster improved its overall record to 15-11 while going on a spirited run to the OHSAA Division I Central District Championship game against perennial powerhouse Gahanna Lincoln.
While Saunders and the Golden Gales didn't have the same tournament success in 2016, Lancaster improved its overall record to 19-8 as Saunders finished second on the squad in batting average (.449), posted a .910 on-base-plus-slugging percentage, and stole a ridiculous 23 bases in 25 attempts to lead a Lancaster squad that stole 67 bases in its 77 attempts on the year. She also led Lancaster with 32 runs scored from her leadoff position.
"My coaches have always given me the green light to steal," Saunders said. "I knew my speed and how to time up the pitcher. It just became natural after a while."
The success of Lancaster's softball program as a whole over the final two seasons of Saunders' career, which resulted in a 34-19 overall record for the Golden Gales, came due in large part to a tight-knit senior class that also proved to have a strong work ethic.
In addition to Saunders, Brooke Lambert, who signed with Tiffin, along with Maddie Wyant, Justice Ogg, Annie O'Dell, and Cassie Hamilton, all played on Lancaster's varsity squad for four seasons.
"Early on, I certainly surprised myself," Saunders said. "I stepped into the program at the bottom of the totem pole and had to prove myself quickly. I knew that I wanted to play varsity in all four years of my high school career, and I set that as my standard. The biggest difference maker for me was the upperclassmen who believed in what the program stood for. I watched them closely and modeled my work ethic off of them. I surprised myself at how quickly I grew as an athlete. Once I earned a roster spot, I gained a lot of confidence and was able to make a big impact for my team. The lessons that I learned as a part of that process shaped who I was off of the diamond. When I looked back on my high school career after it was over, my personal growth throughout the journey was the part that surprised me the most."
Drawn to Shawnee State because of the campus size as well as a hands-on coaching staff, Saunders immediately thrived as soon as she made it to Portsmouth.
"I met Coach Whittaker during my last season of summer ball when Shawnee State recruited me," Saunders said. "A few weeks later, I went down and fell in love with the small campus and the coaching staff, and knew that was where I wanted to be."
From the outset, Saunders obtained a starting position and wasted little time proving herself. The Fairfield County native led SSU with a strong .441 batting average and stole 19 bases in 22 attempts in her inaugural season with the Bears, then, despite missing 22 games due to injury the following year, led Shawnee State again with a .453 batting average and still stole six bases in eight attempts despite having her steal opportunities limited due to injury.
With her injury fully healed in 2019, Saunders spent the entire year making up for lost time.
For the third time in as many seasons, led SSU in batting average with a .448 batting average, stole 11 bases in 13 attempts, and set career highs in doubles (seven), triples (two), and walks (15). In addition, Saunders posted a career-best slash line of .524/.512/1.036 to help the Bears, who had won only 21 games combined in 2015 and 2016, to 24-24, 27-22 and 23-22 seasons in 2017, 2018, and 2019. As a result of Saunders' production as a junior, the SSU softball program clinched its first back-to-back winning seasons since Shawnee State put together three consecutive plus-.500 campaigns from 2012 to 2014.
"The transition to college is hard on everyone, and I went in with a lot of uncertainty about what to expect," Saunders said. "Thankfully, I had great seniors and teammates to look up to as a freshman. That made it a lot easier for me to adapt. With that being said, I felt like I was able to step into the collegiate playing field with a little extra confidence."
Realizing how much players like Tara Duncan, Miranda Melvin and Miranda Pauley helped Saunders when the latter was a freshman, the 5-5 utility outfielder has tried to set up a similar culture for the younger players on the roster.
"I've tried to set an example and act as a role model for others since Day One," Saunders said. "With the underclassmen, I don't want them to look at it as a job rather than getting the chance to continue to play the game that they love. I've tried to instill in everyone to take pride in what you do, whether it's on or off of the field."
That pride was evident in Shawnee State's strong start to the 2019-20 season, where Saunders, along with fellow senior Haley Rawlins, helped lead the Bears to a 7-3 start with wins over NCAA Division II foes Barton (N.C.) and Chestnut Hill (Pa.), NCAA Division III Rivier (N.H.), Midway and Brescia, and a home-opening sweep of Kentucky Christian before the season was called.
At the time of the season's cancellation, seven players, including Saunders, Sunterius Armstrong, Andrea Little, Gracie Keplinger, Ashton Rankin, and Jaymee Sommer, were all hitting above .350 while freshman pitchers Hannah Oliver and Madison Sifford were showing a great deal of promise inside the circle.
Saunders, individually, was hitting .412 -- good enough for the second-best batting average on the unit -- and had committed just one error in 39 defensive chances for a .974 fielding percentage. She had also stolen six bases in just 10 games, and as a result, was just three steals away from tying the school record prior to the stopped season.
"It was definitely unfortunate that we had to end the season early," Saunders said. "The atmosphere and attitude of this team made it that much more fun to be around, and I couldn't ask for a better team to play alongside for my senior year. With the season being cut short, it made the team that much stronger and ready to compete moving forward into next season."
Luckily, the NAIA's ruling on spring sports eligibilty will give Saunders another chance to show folks what she can do.
However, Saunders has already proven that to those who know her well with both her ability on the field and off, as proven by her .443 career batting average, 42 stolen bases, and 3.57 GPA as an exercise science major.
"We definitely have one of the most challenging conference slates in the country," Saunders said. "I believe that this fact has pushed not only myself, but the entire team to work that much harder. With the team that we have going into next season, I feel that we have a chance to place higher than we have in previous years if we continue to play for each other."
For more information on SSU Bears Athletics, visit www.ssubears.com or visit the Twitter and Facebook pages at https://twitter.com/SSUBears and https://www.facebook.com/SSUBears. For more information on how to join the SSU Bear Club, visit https://givetossu.com/bear-club.
