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Canfield bowler, softball pitcher pick schools
Canfield bowler, softball pitcher pick schools where they will continue careers
By charles grove
canfield
Two Canfield High School seniors have chosen to continue their athletic careers.
Bowler Andrew Letscher will be attending the University of Pikeville (NAIA) in Kentucky while softball pitcher Kayla Troxil will be heading to Westminster College (NCAA Division III).
Letscher has racked up numerous high school achievements. He finished second individually in this year’s Division I state tournament, has twice been named to the first team all state, was named All-American Conference Most Valuable Player this year and was The Vindicator’s Player of the Year in 2015 and 2016.
Letscher is receiving an athletic and academic scholarship. He was named twice to the Ohio All-Academic team as a member of the National Honor Society with a 3.91 grade-point average.
Pikeville head coach Kyle Wilson, who attended Friday’s ceremony, said Letscher may be asked to fill some big shoes right away after his team graduates many of its top performers this spring.
“He’s probably going to step right into the varsity program,” Wilson said. “He’ll be right there in the thick of things come next year.”
Letscher has known Wilson since his freshman year at Wilson’s Junior Tournament Bowlers Association events and the recruiting process took off from there.
“He’s a tremendously disciplined bowler,” Wilson said. “He competes on the state and national level and has proven himself to be a very good bowler.”
A small-town feel is what Pikeville offers in terms of a campus and Letscher felt like it was a suitable fit for him. Letscher will be majoring in business administration.
“Probably about a year ago is when we really started talking about me coming down there,” Letscher said. “It’s beautiful down there. It’s a small town, kind of reminds me on Canfield and there’s a really homey feeling to it.”
Troxil, a three-year letter-winner Canfield’s 6-0 softball team, will attend college in New Wilmington, Pa.
The Cardinals have 1 49-14 record in Troxil’s years on varsity and won the Division II district championship the past two seasons.
In 2013, Troxil participated in the Junior League World Series where Canfield (representing Ohio) finished third.
She made a verbal commitment to Westminster a few weeks ago.
“I didn’t want to have to stress out about it for the rest of the season,” Troxil said.
She will major in Westminster’s biology program while minoring in Spanish. She plans to attend graduate school to earn a Master’s Degree of Science as a Physician’s Assistant.
Her decision was between Westminster and Mount Union.
“When I did my overnight visit I just felt like a part of the team already,” Troxil said.