Faith Hittle, Hamilton Heights senior, has signed a letter of intent to play softball for Manchester University in North Manchester, Indiana this fall. Manchester University is a member of the Heartland Conference and a NCAA Division III athletic institution. She is the daughter of Billie and Joshua Hittle.
Hittle chose Manchester because it was exactly what she was looking for in terms of the next step of her educational journey. Manchester’s smaller size, Pre-Med program’s high acceptance rate, and welcoming feel to the community along with the opportunity to play softball at the college level factored into her decision. “I want to take the Pre-Med path and major in Biology and minor in Spanish with the ultimate goal of becoming a Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon,” said Hittle.
Softball has been a part of Hittle’s life as far back as she can remember. Her mom played softball and Hittle was a natural who also played travel ball and took battling and agility lessons to help her be a stronger player on the field. As she likes to put it, “it’s in her blood.” She credits her parents as being a major influence in her development by pushing her to be her best self on and off the field.
Hittle is an accomplished student athlete. A four-year member of the Hamilton Heights Cheerleading squad and Girls Softball Team, she earned The Golden Rule, Sportsmanship, and multiple department’s awards. She is among Hamilton Heights’ Top 10% and involved in FFA, Business Professionals of America (BPA), National Honor Society, and the Spanish, Key, and Bring Change to Mind clubs. In addition, she is this year’s Senior Class Secretary and FFA Secretary.
“My next steps will require a great deal of study, focus, and discipline,” added Hittle. “But I have good preparation with a great support system that consists of my school, friends, and family which will help reach my next set of goals.”
“Faith is a testimony to perseverance,” said Ken Olovich, Hamilton Heights Girls Softball Head Coach. “She has battled injuries during her softball career but has put in the work to get herself back to her top form and ready to help co-lead our softball team this year with a good core group of seniors. Faith has led every team she has ever played on getting hit by the pitch, and she just takes it in stride and runs to first base and often steals second somewhere during the next batter. It takes a lot to get Faith down, she just keeps pushing and pushing and that is what we look for with players in our program. In addition to softball, Faith participates in many extracurricular activities including cheerleading, BPA, FFA, travel softball, honor society, and to top it off is an incredibly strong student. Faith serves as a notable example to our underclassmen of what we want from our Huskies Softball players, and we all wish her success at a great school like Manchester.”
“Faith has been one of those Hamilton Heights athletes who has received excellent coaching since she was very young,” said Kurt Ogden, Hamilton Heights High School Athletic Director. “Therefore, she is a very fundamentally sound player, but more importantly, she’s an outstanding person who leads by example. She has been passionate about the sport since she was very young. We wish her well as she takes her talents to Manchester University.”