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Three Southeast Missouri area softball players are ready for the next step at Three Rivers
POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. — Three Southeast Missouri area softball players signed on the dotted line Saturday afternoon to Three Rivers College.
Kelly’s Alaney Moore, Perryville’s Ann-Marie Simpson, and Poplar Bluff’s Audrey Rahlmann signed to continue their academic and athletic careers for the Lady Raiders at the Libla Sports Complex. In total, all three made-up a nine-player class.
Suffering an injury during the offseason, Moore missed the first part of her senior campaign recovering.
Even though she missed time, the Kelly shortstop still managed to put together great numbers, leading the Lady Hawks to the Class 2, District 1 Tournament championship and the Class 2 final four. She batted .359 in 64 at-bats, adding four doubles, four triples, two home runs, and 17 RBIs. She also had a team-best .641 slugging percentage and scored 21 runs.
Heading into college, Moore said that she is looking forward to playing with teammates that are equivalent to her skill set, along with playing for a team that was coming off of back-to-back 40 win seasons before the pandemic canceled the remainder of the season.
“Everybody is above-average,” Moore said. “I think that’s going to push me to become a better player myself. I liked the campus, and I liked the coaches. It’s close to home, but far enough away, and the team is just really good. They have a really good program here that I can’t wait to be apart of.”
Helping her team to a district championship in her own right, Simpson batted .474 for a Lady Pirates team that won the Class 3, District 1 title — the second district crown in three years.
Simpson added five doubles, eight triples, 12 RBIs, and was 27-of-30 in stolen bases. She also scored 37 runs and said that she is familiar with some of the players currently playing for the Lady Raiders and some of the ones that are planning to play there in the 2022 season.
“I’ve played with a lot of the girls that are at Three Rivers and are going to Three Rivers, and I’ve seen the other girls play,” Simpson said. “I know that they play with heart, and they play just the way that I do, which is 100 percent all the time, and they want to win, and they’re all about success and having fun. That’s what I’m all about, so I’m excited about that.
“I love the coaches. I connected with Coach Null, and they also have a really good program, and they care a lot about their players. I just fell in love with it from the first time that I talked to Coach Null.”
As for Rahlmann, the Poplar Bluff native isn’t heading too far down the road.
This past season for the Mules, Rahlmann batted .390 in 25 games. She had nine doubles, six triples, 14 RBIs, and a .646 slugging percentage.
Additionally, she was 23-of-24 in stolen bases, had a .433 batting average with runners in scoring position, and scored 32 runs.
“It was a good program, and the opportunity was just there,” Rahlmann said. “There was no point in me going off somewhere when I could get the same opportunities here.
“He [Coach Null] said he was looking for a bunch of athletic, powerful players, and that I would fit that, and that he needed that.”