Entering her junior year at Hauser, Hannah Taylor didn’t wait long to make her college decision.
It wasn’t too far away from home, either.
Taylor announced Wednesday night that she made a verbal commitment to continue her academic and softball career at Eastern Illinois University.
“I really like the coaches there,” Taylor said. “I felt that it was really the right fit for me.”
Taylor said she plans to make a formal visit to EIU later this month.
Eastern Illinois is a Division-I school located in Charleston, Illinois, which is about an hour drive west of Terre Haute. The Panthers play in the Ohio Valley Conference.
Last weekend, Taylor went to a softball camp put on by EIU. She mentioned she has been to several camps previously conducted by EIU.
“I went to multiple camps before that, but I kept going because I just really liked the staff and players a lot,” Taylor said. “My hitting coach (John Kotzelnick) teaches me the same style of hitting as they do, and they get a lot of the drills from him. They know because my hitting coach has talked to the coaches about me before. The (EIU) coach (Tara Archibald) talks to me, and I knew a couple of the players from the recent times I’ve gone, so they talk to me, too.”
This spring as a sophomore, Taylor led the Jets with a .624 average, 16 doubles, five triples, one home run, 50 RBIs and 53 runs scored and helped them to their first softball regional title since 2018.
Taylor also mentioned St. Francis and Kentucky Christian as other possiblities she had considered before deciding on EIU.
With her college decision out of the way, Taylor can put more focus on her upcoming junior and senior seasons of softball.
“Now I can relax more and not be stressed about the whole recruiting process,” Taylor said.
