IC's Conenna a hit with Indiana

If you're a high school softball player who can hit, colleges are going to find you.

Trust Frank Reaber when he tells you Katelyn Conenna can rake.

“She hits the ball hard,” said the Immaculate Conception softball coach. “No bloop hits for her.”

Conenna will take that big bat to the Big Ten in two years, as the Knights junior has committed to Indiana. A future business major, Conenna said she “fell in love” with Bloomington in her visit.

“It's always been one of my goals to play Division I softball. I never doubted that I could,” Conenna said. “I worked hard to achieve that goal and I did.”

Conenna has played high school ball for relatively small schools Driscoll and Immaculate Conception. But college coaches have been exposed to Conenna's skills during the summer, when she plays for the DuPage Diamond Dawgs travel team.

Last spring at IC Conenna hit a gaudy .535 with 5 home runs, 47 RBI and a .919 slugging percentage. Two summers ago with the U-14 Diamond Dawgs Conenna hit .575 with 10 homers and 85 RBI in just 179 at-bats.

“Her improvement has been drastic every year,” said Reaber, who also coached Conenna at Driscoll. “She was good at Driscoll as a freshman, but last spring her slugging percentage went up, her bat speed went up, she cut down on her errors and her leadership improved a ton. She's a committed kid.”