Ed. Note: This is a companion piece to the feature on Ohio Softball pitcher Emily Wethington that appeared in Thursday's copy of The Post.
During the spring of her freshman season, Ohio pitcher Emily Wethington watched her teammate and mentor Michelle Sauter set the record for career strikeouts.
The day Sauter broke the record, Wethington spoke to her mother Nancy, who makes the four-plus hour commute from New Palestine, Ind. to Athens to attend nearly all of her daughter's games.
"When (Sauter) broke the record Emily said, 'Mom, I'm going to break that record,''' Nancy said. "I said, 'that's a good goal to have.' But by gosh, now she's done it -- and then some."
Heading into this weekend's two-game series with Akron, Emily has amassed 486 strikeouts -- eclipsing Sauter's mark by over 60 Ks. And, there are still 20 games left in the regular season.
Her father Carmen isn't too surprised.
"I knew if she could stay healthy, she would have a shot at it because she just doesn't let up. She just has a drive to her," Carmen said. "If I was a betting man I would've said she would do exactly what she said she'd do."
With 34 career wins, Emily sits tied for fourth with Annie Hare on the school's all-time list. Though breaking Sauter's record 48 'W's may be a long shot, it's a testament to the determination and ambition of the 21-year-old.
Lest anyone forget, Emily also does a helluva job at the plate.
"After she got to be good at pitching she said she wanted to be a better hitter. She just wouldn't accept striking out or not getting good hits," Carmen said. "She just hates to lose."
Emily has spent hours upon hours -- routinely staying late after practice -- to perfect her swing.
"I love to hit. I could hit forever," Emily said. "They have to kick me out of the batting cages when I'm here because I just like to stay late and get some reps."
Against Canisius on March 26, the right-handed cleanup hitter broke the school record for home runs when she launched the 23rd of her career.
Both her parents made the trip to California and watched their daughter blast her way into the Ohio record books.
"To see that, it was pretty awesome," Nancy said. "It was a good feeling to see her accomplishment because she has a passion for the game, and I think that the team feeds off that passion."
Ohio coach Jodi Hermanek said that Emily's accomplishments are a reflection of her work ethic on and off the diamond -- and on an off the clock.
"To be honest, this is a kid that I have to tell to back off of doing the extras sometimes. I have to put a seat belt on her to get her to sit down -- rest her body a little bit -- because she wants to keep doing and doing," Hermanek said. "It's not the flip-side where the coach has to motivate the player. Right now it's the coach has to pace the player because she wants to do so much and be so much for her team.
"Everything she's given us has been amazing so far. We just want her to stay relaxed through the conference play and not try and take everything on herself -- offensively and in the circle."
-- bl245106@ohio.edu
Twitter: @bart_logan, @ThePostSports
