Ellie Borst closing four-year varsity career at Unity Christian with an exclamation point

HUDSONVILLE -- When she plays her final Unity Christian softball game, Ellie Borst's absence will be definitely felt by the Crusaders.

Borst is a four-year varsity player who was all-conference, all-district, and all-regional last season.

“As a freshman, she got brought up to the varsity a few games into the season,” coach Dave Aukeman said. “She became my No. 1 and helped pitch us to the quarterfinals, where we lost to Wayland. She won the district championship game and won both games at regional.

“As a sophomore, she started out very well. She was one of my best hitters, and then she broke her hand 17 games into the season and was done for the year.

Last year, we finished second in conference and won districts, and were eliminated by Wayland in the regional finals. She pitched both district and regional games. By the end of the year, she was pitching very well.”

Borst also batted well last year for the Crusaders, hitting .345 with six home runs and 28 RBI. As a pitcher, she was 17-8 with a 1.58 ERA.

This season, Borst has started out 7-2 in the circle. Only one team has scored more than one run against her. She had three shutouts in those nine games and five where she's allowed just one run.

“She's really hitting her spots well, hitting the corners, and throwing her changeup, which she really needs to do,” Aukeman said. “The biggest thing is location and movement, which is better than it was last year.”

As the team's No. 3 hitter, Borst has three home runs and is batting .460 with 12 RBI.

Aukeman sees the possibility that this could be Borst's best pitching season.

“She's always been a good pitcher,” Aukeman said. “I had some pretty decent pitchers who were a senior and junior when she was a freshman. She came in and earned the No. 1 spot. She was good as a freshman. But her experience and maturity has made her a better pitcher now.”

Borst will be playing at Calvin College next season.