Columbus native and former Ohio State coach has nationally-ranked Bearcats on the rise. Read more. In other words, it has been quite the week for Piper. Head Coach – Carlos Bernaldez. At the plate, Clark is batting .355 this year while slugging .687. BN: You were selected by the Cleveland Comets in the third round of the 2019 NPF Draft, one pick before your college roommate and fellow All-Big Ten infielder Emily Clark. Senior shortstop Lilli Piper and senior second baseman Emily Clark have shared quite a bit as two-year roommates at Ohio State. Which obviously I don’t. Drafting an athlete gives an NPF affiliate team rights to that athlete for two full seasons. It’s kind of showing that right now, especially professional sports for women, isn’t really working. Describe your first professional season together: LP: It's an athletes' dream come true. All rights reserved. https://buckeyeswire.usatoday.com/2019/04/22/osus-lilli-piper-named-b1g-softball-player-of-the-week/, Kirk Herbstreit 'shocked' if Ohio State doesn't make College Football Playoff, Black Stripe Alert: Ty Hamilton next to receive honor, WATCH: Wide receiver Julian Fleming sheds his black stripe, NCAA issues COVID-19 guidelines for college basketball season, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Obviously, those are important, but as a 16, 17, 18-year-old, you’re starting to realize you’re going to college, you’re playing at the next level. Due to NCAA regulations, an active college senior athlete may not sign with her respective franchise until their 2019 college season is over. Especially with everything being canceled, I’m just blessed to have the opportunity to still get to play. Piper is batting .394, the fifth-best mark in the Big Ten, while registering 50 hits to rank seventh. Notable results and performances involving Ohio State football commits from Friday evening! What better way to make that happen than playing in different areas with different people than to just switch up the teams every week. In other words, it has been quite the week for Piper. National Pro Fastpitch (NPF), an Official Development Partner of Major League Baseball since 2004, provides elite female athletes with an opportunity to pursue a professional career in fastpitch softball beyond their collegiate and amateur success. She’s batted over .400 each the last three years and is on pace to do it again this year. Ups and downs of being a 16-year-old, but also every up and down of being a 22-year-old. We just grew together and understood how we played the game, and it’s kind of why we bounced off each other. The way that our individual point system is, you still get more points for team wins, winning innings and things like that. But for me it’s exciting to be able to take that break from the real world and having a real job and things like that to be able to go play softball. “Emily was a captain last year, while Katelyn is new to this role. I was playing with Emily since we were 16. BN: How excited are you to begin Athletes Unlimited’s inaugural season on August 30 in Chicago: LP: I’m just excited to be able to go back and play softball. We started at a young age playing the game, but when you turn 16, you start to learn more of the mental and fine-tuning side of things, instead of the fundamental things. Jane and Walt Dennis Golf Perfomance Center, Jennings Family Wrestling Practice Facility. She was just selected in the National Pro Fastpitch Draft last Monday by the Cleveland Comets. League will play a six-game schedule beginning in early November. One of those popular online sportsbooks is BetMGM. Lilli Piper is one of Ohio State’s most legendary softball players during the program’s most successful era. And that’s what I did as my career. Check out the simulated games here. The 7/12/19 matchup between the USSSA Pride and Cleveland Comets presented by Rawlings is available now on www.profastpitch.com!. Clark has been tabbed as an All-Big Ten selection twice and placed on All-Region Teams three times in her career. They don’t want to take it away from the team aspect of the game, but they’re trying to do something to where it’s both.