Today’s player spotlight takes us to the East Coast where we learn about an Underclass All-American who’s as equally accomplished in the classroom as she is on the softball field…

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Name: RAEANNE GEFFERT
High School: Seymour
City: Seymour
State: 
Conn.
Grad Year: 2016
Club: CT Charmers 18U Gold
Position(s): pitcher
Height: 5-9
GPA: 4.43
SAT/ACT: 1830/30
Class Rank: 3 out of 173

High School Stats: 2014 (soph) – 188 innings, 26-1 record with 312 strikeouts and 25 walks and 0.71 ERA; career – 315 innings, 42-5 record with 450 K’s and 39 walks and 0.76 ERA
Club Stats: 2014 (fall) – 53.1 innings, 7-4 record with 65 K’s, four walks and 2.50 ERA; 2014 (summer) – 61.2 innings, 7-1 record with 60 K’s, 14 walks and 1.60 ERA.
Honors: 2014 – MaxPreps Underclass All-American, MaxPreps Small Schools All-American, 1^st Team All-State, Class M State Championship MVP, New Haven Register All-Area MVP

Other Sports: Raeanne is also a very good swimmer and was named captain of her high school swim team for 2015; she has qualified for the Class S State championships in Backstroke and 100 Freestyle.
Off the Field: the junior holds a free week-long annual pitching clinic for the local Little League to introduce new pitchers to the proper mechanics.

College: Bucknell (Patriot League)
The Recruiting Process: as told by Raeanne’s father, Jim Geffert:

“The Bucknell softball coaches saw Raeanne pitch for the CT Charmers 18U Gold in Florida at Diamond 9 in Orlando in November. Coach (Bonnie) Skrenta contacted her while we were in Florida and we had an unofficial visit in December (‘We’ means the whole family: Mom (Rhonda), Dad (Jim) and younger sister Jenna).”

“After meeting with Coach Skrenta and Coach Marissa Myers, Raeanne felt very comfortable with their message, program philosophy and training. As for the school, she loved the campus, indoor and outdoor facilities, location and the student athlete atmosphere at Bucknell.”

“Academics are extremely important to Raeanne and Bucknell has a great structure to support their student-athletes’ challenges of balancing academics with athletics. Bucknell ranks second in the nation in student-athlete graduation rate (behind Stanford) and Raeanne plans to major in Bio-Chemistry.”

“Bucknell and the Patriot League cannot make verbal offers until completion of the second semester of the junior year. Raeanne submitted her updated official transcripts when her mid-term grades came in, then Coach Skrenta called this past week and offered Raeanne a pitching spot on her team for 2016.”

“Raeanne has had other Division I offers since January 2014, before throwing a pitch in her sophomore year. It was very difficult for her to hold out and wait for the perfect fit while seeing other players signing early. She also has very high interest from several Ivy League schools.”

“In the end, Raeanne knew after her unofficial visit that Bucknell University was the perfect fit for her and exceeded all expectations for her academic and athletic requirements. It was the right fit and Raeanne verbally committed to Coach Skrenta over the weekend.”