Some prep athletes agonize over their college choices, but not Beecher softball’s Ava Lorenzatti.
The junior pitcher is officially committed to Florida State and unofficially made up her mind years ago.
“I always had Florida State in mind since I was like, 7 or 8 years old,” Lorenzatti said after the Bobcats’ 6-1 win over Wilmington on April 24.
“I went there with my parents. We were just driving by on a vacation and we stopped to check it out. And ever since I saw it that one day, I knew that I wanted to go there. So it has been my dream since I was just a little girl.”
Lorenzatti has been back since for camps and only became more sure of her plan.
“Just working with the coaches, getting to know them more personally and then engaging with the current team. I just knew it was the perfect fit and that it had just all fallen into place.”
Florida State is one of the nation’s elite college programs, with a national championship in 2018, 36 NCAA Tournament appearances and an all-time winning percentage of .763.
But Lorenzatti is no stranger to success either. Beecher was 21-0 through last week and 89-7-1 since the start of Lorenzatti’s freshman season.
She’s part of a powerful 1-2 pitching combo with Colgate commit Taylor Norkus, making the Bobcats the rare program with two Division I hurlers. Lorenzatti is 11-0 with an 0.83 ERA and a 116-16 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 59 1/3 innings.
“When she was a really young kid you could see that she was pretty special,” Beecher coach Kevin Hayhurst said.
What makes Lorenzatti elite?
“Definitely the way she takes care of herself and the way she works out,” Hayhurst said. “She’s got the fast-twitch muscles. You can see that with her hitting as well as with her pitching skills. Her bat speed is awful quick and her pitches are 65 (mph).”
She’s also having a big season as Beecher’s leadoff hitter, batting .485 with 15 extra-base hits, 17 runs and 19 RBIs in 21 games.
“What’s nice about her is she’s a really good alleys hitter,” Hayhurst said. “She lets the ball get deep and she kind of sprays the ball all over, more of a line-drive hitter.”
Lorenzatti was 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI against Wilmington and actually had some bad luck. A hard-hit liner up the middle was speared by Wilmington’s pitcher. And the wind blowing in turned her deep drive to center into a flyout.
The individual numbers are eye-opening, but they’re not Lorenzatti’s top priority. Getting back to state after losing in the Class 2A supersectional last spring is job one.
“Just going really far,” she said of her focus. “Making sure that we achieve what we should. … This year we all know what it takes and we’re more comfortable playing those high-stress games.”