The softball team has been off to a great start this season with a record of 23-12. Much of the credit must go to sophomore right-fielder Rylee Crouch who is currently tied for the most home runs in the nation (19) and leads the nation with RBIs (57). In fact, Crouch is on pace to break the single-season record for home runs (21) which was set by former two-time RMAC Player of the Year and Colorado Mesa University (CMU) Hall of Honor member Kelly Adams in 2001.
Crouch’s ascent to the top of the Division II world was sudden. Last year in Crouch’s freshman season, she was the team’s designated hitter and also served as a late-inning defensive replacement. She was able to play in 30 games as a freshman and ended up making five starts in the outfield.
Overall, she went 15 for 38 at the plate, with two doubles, two home runs and 10 RBIs. Crouch also recorded 13 runs scored.
Crouch talked about her freshman year and the strides she made to her game this offseason.
“I think it had a lot to do with taking a bunch of pressure off of myself and knowing that I earned a spot on this team just like every other player, and […] I learned to relax and just to trust myself and know that I’ve worked my whole life to be here,” Crouch said.
Her teammates and coaches had many great things to say about Crouch and her personality. Redshirt junior centerfielder Iliana Mendoza praised Crouch’s uplifting demeanor.
“She’s very positive. I love her, she gets her energy, she’s one of those people that when you’re down, she’ll bring you up,” Mendoza said.
Crouch played her high school ball at Horizon High School and her club ball for the Colorado Rockettes. Despite having success with both teams, Crouch flew under the radar in terms of her recruitment.
“I was not part of a big softball organization, so I had to do all the recruiting, just like with my parents and me. During the spring of my junior year of high school, we took the whole spring break just to travel around the RMAC schools and just talk to coaches,” Crouch said.
It was during these visits that she decided to commit to CMU. Crouch expressed that the university was a good distance from home and that it offered plenty of outdoor recreation. In fact, Crouch used to camp with her family not too far away from Grand Junction.
“She is a Colorado girl and has a tattoo on her ankle of a certain tree that is along I-70 near Glenwood which is her favorite tree. She’s done different camping trips with her family and that tree always made her happy,” head coach Mercedes Bohte said.
Aside from her home run prowess, Crouch leads the team with a .918 slugging percentage and sits at second with a .403 batting average, hits (54) and runs scored (40).
“I used to be a big power hitter in high school and during my freshman year, I got into a slump. One thing I try not to focus on is hitting home runs. [Now], I try to have solid contact [and] good base hits and the home runs just naturally come. It’s a crazy thing that I’m so close to breaking this record, but that’s one thing I’m actually trying not to like hyper-focus on” Crouch said.
Coach Bohte also shared a story about one of the games this season where Crouch hit three home runs.
“For one of the homeruns she hit, she showed a bunt and did kind of a half swing just to make contact, but she’s so strong it actually went for a home run,” Bohte said.“As she was rounding third, she’s like ‘I was just trying to put it in play’. I just said ‘hey, keep on doing what you do’. If I were to do that, it would have been a weak ground ball into the infield but Rylee’s so strong and had just good contact.”
Fans can see Crouch and her teammates play in Grand Junction is against #14 Colorado Christian University on April 22 at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. and Sunday, April 23 at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. This series will be a big one, as CMU looks to close the 6-game gap between themselves and CCU who sit at first place in the RMAC with a 31-1 conference record. Perhaps Crouch could break the home run record during that series.
