OXFORD -- Jessica Simpson has drawn quite a bit of attention over the past few years.
No,
not the singer/actress who cavorted with Dallas Cowboys quarterback
Tony Romo. But this Jessica Simpson turned some heads, just the same, as
a star pitcher for the Miami University Redhawks' softball team.
Simpson
has roots in Crawford County. She is the granddaughter of Bill and Barb
Kaple of New Washington. Her mother, Karen, is a 1980 graduate of
Buckeye Central High School.
As her grandfather, Bill is rightfully proud of Simpson, a 2008 graduate of North Canton Hoover High School.
"As
a freshman in 2009, she was (Mid-American Conference) tournament MVP
with a 4-0 record," Kaple said. "For eight years, at North Canton Hoover
and now this, it's hard to top."
The "this" that Kaple referred to was another MAC tournament MVP and a trip to the NCAA tournament for his granddaughter.
Simpson had a love of sports and played a number of them before narrowing her focus to softball.
New sport
"I really was into sports when I was younger," Simpson said. "I
played basketball, softball and volleyball. I always knew I wanted to
play a sport in college. It turned out that softball was my sport."
Was it ever.
Simpson
became a dominant pitcher, as indicated by the Miami and MAC records
she accumulated in her four years in the circle for the Redhawks.
She
holds MAC records for career wins (102) and career shutouts (46).
Simpson also established Miami records with 32 wins and 358 strikeouts
this season and career complete games with 117 and 1,021 career
strikeouts.
This year, especially the post-season, demonstrates what an iron woman she has been.
To get to the NCAA tournament, the Redhawks had to battle their way out of the losers' bracket to win the MAC tournament.
The
Redhawks lost 1-0 to Central Michigan to open the tourney. The next
day, they beat Kent State at 11 a.m. and defeated Ball State -- the No. 1
seed -- at 7 p.m. The following day, Miami beat Western Michigan in an
11 a.m. game, before facing defeating Central Michigan twice, at 1 p.m.
and 4 p.m. with Simpson toeing the rubber in each. She pitched 42
innings in three days, giving up just three runs.
"Thursday we
went to Knoxville and had to play Tennessee," Kaple said. "They were
like the fourth ranked team in the country and Jess shut them out, 1-0.
The next day, she lost to Virginia Tech in 100 degree heat. The team
started to run out of gas."
Ready for college
Simpson was well prepared for Division I college after having played
on state championship teams her sophomore and senior years at Division I
Hoover.
"A lot of things stand out," Simpson said, looking back.
"I loved my career, both high school and college. Shutting out Tennessee
was big. We were only the third team to do that. It was a huge upset.
It's something I'll remember for a long time."
Her athletic
prowess is not surprising, considering her pedigree. Grandpa Kaple was a
multi-sport athlete at New Washington (Class of '58) and her uncle,
Brett Kaple, was a prolific scorer in basketball at Buckeye Central and
now coaches at Colonel Crawford.
For her efforts, Simpson was mentioned in Sports Illustrated's Faces in the Crowd in the June 4 issue.
Next step
Though her playing days are over, Simpson has no intention of leaving behind the sport she loves.
"I
can't imagine my life without softball in it in some way, shape or
form," Simpson said. "I plan to be an English teacher and coach
softball, along with giving pitching lessons."
Simpson will
graduate in December and, as she put it, "Try to find a job wherever
life takes me." She did indicate she would prefer to go somewhere
warmer, which would be better for her softball coaching aspirations.
With her resume, it's easy to believe that Simpson will succeed wherever she goes.
dmessers@nncogannett.com
