VanEe to continue pitching duties at Iowa Central

Jordan VanEe is officially going to be taking her talents to Iowa Central after finishing out her last year at Sigourney. She inked her letter of intent on November 7 with her family, current coach Shelly Streigle and future coaches from the Iowa Central softball team.

                Her future head coach, Rick Sandquist, was given a suggestion by a local pitching coach to consider recruiting VanEe, with her also being interested in the program up at Iowa Central. Sandquist first saw her in person at a camp in January, and he was impressed.

                “She came to camp and was throwing really hard and really good,” Sandquist said. “We offered her a scholarship on the spot. We’ve liked her ever since we first saw her.”

                Sandquist made it down to see her pitch in the season opener earlier this summer and saw her pitch in Oskaloosa. She began her junior campaign by pitching four solid innings against English Valleys, allowed two hits and struck out four in a 15-3 win. She didn’t fare as well against a high-powered Oskaloosa squad, but did strike out three in 5 2/3 innings.

                She finished out the year with 136 2/3 innings pitched, striking out 109 batters and being responsible for 32 scored runs, leading to a 1.64 ERA. She will be expected to play a role on a roster that was looking to add more pitching talent going forward.

                “We think that Jordan cane come in and be an impact player for us right away,” Sandquist said. “She’s got good size and good potential. She can throw hard and she hasn’t even reached her peak yet. She’s going to get a lot of innings her freshman year and it’ll be up to her if she’s our top girl, second or third girl.”

                For VanEe, this opportunity has been something she’s been dreaming about and now it’s a reality. She will still have one more year left to make an impact at the high school level, which has already included making it to the State tournament her sophomore year.

                “Next year I hope we can fill in the spots the seniors left last year along with the main goal being to make it back to State,” VanEe said. “I had a leadership role being our pitcher and now I’ll have two roles to fill with leadership as a pitcher and leadership for the team as a whole.”

                She made her visit earlier this Spring and the area left an impression and seemed to be a good fit for her.

                “They needed pitching for the 2019 class and they kept telling me that,” VanEe said. “It’s a good feeling to know that all my hard work throughout the years has paid off. Ultimately, I hope I can bring to the table what they expect me to and succeed.”

                In addition to contributing on the field for the Tritons, VanEe will pursue her A.A. and A.S. in exercise science, with plans on finishing up at a different school for physical therapy.