Rio Grande News
Brittany Fernandez of Ross High School is the latest Rio Grande softball recruit
Brittany Fernandez of Ross High School is the latest Rio Grande softball recruit
Tue, Jun 15, 2010 - [Softball]

RedStorm softball inks another Ross standout

Rio Grande --- University of Rio Grande head softball coach David Pyles ventured back to one of his most fertile recruiting areas to bring in his latest recruit. The RedStorm have landed another standout from Ross High School in pitcher/outfielder Brittany Fernandez. Fernandez joins former Ross standouts Emily Cooper, Shannon Abbott, Anna Smith and current recruit Rachael Connaughton who have all made Rio Grande their college choice. 

Fernandez, like those before her, brings plenty of accolades to the college game. She was Fort Ancient Valley Conference Player of the Year this past season and has been the FAVC's Pitcher of the Year three years running. She also earned 2nd Team All-Ohio honors this season. Fernandez was named Ross High School Most Valuable Player as both a junior and senior. In addition to those honors, Fernandez was named 1st Team All-City for the Cincinnati area in each of the last three seasons. 

She also played in the 2010 Ohio/West Virginia game on the Rio Grande campus. 

"I feel good about signing with Rio Grande," Fernandez said. "It is a nice school and I heard people saying they liked the school."

"The sports (at Rio Grande) are good and I heard it was a good place to get an education," she added. 

In 2010, Fernandez was an impressive 17-4 in the pitcher's circle with a 1.61 earned run average. She fanned 158 batters in 143 1/3 innings and posted five shutouts.  At the plate, she was just as dangerous, hitting at a staggering .521 clip (49-for-94) with one home run and 28 RBI's. The .521 average set a new school record, previously held by current RedStorm pitcher Anna Smith (.483 in 2007). 

Her career numbers at Ross are equally impressive. She posted a 57-12 record in 71 career outings with 27 shutouts and nine no-hitters (which is 27th all-time in Ohio). 
She struck out 531 batters in 451 1/3 innings.  Her three-year totals at the plate show a .404 average (114-for-282) with two home runs, 89 RBI's, 21 doubles and 12 triples. 
 
Coach Pyles is pleased to be able to snare another standout player from Ross head coach Paul Fernandez, Brittany's uncle. "She is well-coached. Coach Fernandez does an excellent job down there. Of course they were state champions last year and Brittany was in the circle for them while they were state champions," Pyles said. "So, hopefully she can bring some of that success with her to Rio Grande."
 
Fernandez is an outstanding athlete as she was also the FAVC Player of the Year in basketball this past season. 
 
Pyles talked about what he liked about Fernandez in the recruiting process. "She's kind of in the same mold as Anna Smith," he said. "She throws a lot like Anna. Brittany's a little bit backwards and I think she was looking for a small school and we fit that."

"Having said that she's backwards, she's also been in pressure situations obviously, she pitched her team to a state championship and not only is she a good pitcher, but Brittany can hit."

"She played in the Ohio/West Virginia All-Star Game here last week and was 2-for-4 against some of the best pitching in West Virginia," Pyles added. "The kid can really hit the ball." 

Rio Grande returns both pitchers from 2009 and with Fernandez in the fold the RedStorm will have five top-notch pitching prospects for the 2010 season. "This is an excellent pitching staff," Pyles said. "With the Mid-South (Conference) being as strong as it is, we needed to strengthen the pitching staff and we've definitely done that. I think we're going to have, what I would consider, five quality pitchers and probably the biggest thing is going to be finding them all innings." 

Fernandez credits herself with being a hard worker and just wants to continue to improve as a player. "I am a hard worker. I hope to improve as a softball player, to get better and help the team get better," she said. 

Fernandez plans to major in Early Childhood Education.

She is the daughter of Charles and Linda Fernandez of Ross, Ohio. 

Fernandez joins Connaughton, Amber Myers of Cuyahoga Falls High School and Piketon High School's Shella Zimmerman and as the current members of the 2010-11 softball recruiting class for Rio Grande.

The RedStorm finished the 2010 campaign with a 30-23 overall record. Rio was fourth in the Mid-South Conference compiling a 17-11 mark.