O’Fallon Patch Spotlight Athlete Of The Week: Lexi Theis, St. Louis Angels Softball

For all her life, Fort Zumwalt North High junior-to-be Lexi Theis has been a bit of a softball phenom.

All through youth league, Theis was considered “a standout,” “something special,” and “a star in the making” by just about anyone that saw her play.  

And last fall, as a sophomore for the Panthers, Theis began to really show what kind of great heights she might reach as a player when she led North High to a 15-10 record in what was supposed to be a down year. She earned first team, all-conference honors, after leading North in almost every offensive category.

“I’ve been taking hitting lessons from Bob Furrer and Will Bradley at the Chaos Clubhouse, and they’re fun,” Theis said. “So it’s not like they’re always telling me what to do. But they make it fun, and teach me how (to hit). I go hit almost every day.”

And boy, has that hard work paid off.

As a freshman for the Panthers in 2009, Theis hit just .172, with only 11 hits and five RBIs all season.

Last year, Theis had one of the most impressive sophomore seasons of any player in the area, raising her batting average more than 200 points, and ranking in the top 10 in the GAC North in every relevant offensive category other than stolen bases.

“It’s just practice,” Theis said. “Practice makes perfect, I guess.”

And Theis was nearly perfect during the 2010 fall season, when she proved herself the best first baseman in the conference after ranking 10th in the league with a .392 batting average, fourth with a .635 slugging percentage, seventh with a .477 on-base percentage, and tied for eighth in RBIs.

But the aspect of Theis’ game that’s already got college coaches from the Big 10 and Missouri Valley Conferences interested in signing her to a scholarship is her impressive power at the plate.

Last year, Theis only hit one home run for North, which was another stat she led the team in.

But in the softball game, a better measure of a players’ consistent power stroke is how many doubles, or hard-hit balls into the gap they hit.

Those kinds of smash line-drives happen to be Theis’ forte.

Last year, she led the GAC North, and ranked among the best in the entire area, with 15 doubles, which was two more than the 13 singles she had for the season.

There’s no doubt about it, when Theis hits the ball, she hits it hard every time.

“She chooses her pitch very well,” said St. Louis Angels 16-under club team coach Kimberly Fowle. “She’s very patient, and she doesn’t swing at pitches that aren’t strikes.”

And just in case some coaches insist that home runs are the only way to measure a player’s power potential, Theis has already hit three homers this summer for the Angels. On more than one occasion, she’s smacked a ball home-run distance, only to watch it curve foul instead of stay fair.

“I like hittin’ ‘em out,” Theis said. “It’s fun seeing it go over the fence, then getting to go into your home run trot, and knowing everybody’s watching you. You get to be the center of attention. It’s great.”

Theis, whose helped the Angels to a 26-6 record this summer, was most excited about a homer she hit back in May, with St. Louis University head coach Christy Connoyer in attendance.

“That was really cool because I knew she was watching,” Theis said. “Hopefully, she took notice.”

Next fall, everyone will be watching to see if Theis can duplicate her magnificent sophomore season, while also trying to lead her talented North squad to their first conference championship in more than a decade.

Theis will have some help though. The Panthers bring back a number of top underclassmen next year, including senior Katelyn Pettit, fellow junior Sarah Sebastyen, and sophomores Abby Hlavaty and Abby Tillotson.

“You know, the cream rises to the crop,” Fowle said. “And Lexi is a better person than she is a ballplayer. She’s a great teammate, and she’s going to have a lot of success. Lexi’s the kind of kid that just gets the job done.”

She certainly did for Zumwalt North last fall. She’s doing it again for the St. Louis Angels this summer.

And getting the job done is why Lexi Theis is this week’s O’Fallon Patch.com Spotlight Athlete of the Week.