By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – Bedford North Lawrence star Ava Ratliff, one of the nation’s top catchers and a frontrunner for Miss Softball when she finishes her senior season in 2025, verbally committed to Auburn University on Saturday, finishing her college recruitment for the second time.
Ratliff, a three-time All-State selection and Johnny Bench Award winner, originally picked South Carolina last fall. But when head coach Beverly Smith was not rehired by the Gamecocks in June, Ratliff opened her recruitment again. She decided on Auburn when the Tigers chose co-coaches Chris and Kate Malveaux (a husband-and-wife combination) to lead that program.
The Malveauxs are former assistants at Southeastern Conference power Tennessee, and Ratliff had already developed a great connection with them.
“I had talked to Tennessee the first time during my recruitment, and I loved them so much,” Ratliff said. “So when they moved to Auburn, and after everything that happened, they reached out. I feel like, with the new coaching, it will help grow the program. They will develop things, with new players and transfers they have going there.“
Ratliff hit .482 with 14 home runs and 35 RBIs for the Stars last season. She already owns the state career record with 57 home runs.
She will join a program that went 29-21-1 in 2024. The Malveaux duo helped Tennessee to back-to-back SEC titles in 2023-24, and the Volunteers advanced to the College World Series during their tenure in Knoxville. They helped Tennessee to 136 wins over the last three seasons, which tied for 10th most in the nation.
Ratliff is relieved to conclude the recruitment once again. Once was enough.
“The first time, I wasn’t too thrilled to have to go through it,” she said. “That’s a stressful thing. To go through it again, I thought ‘Oh, great.’ But I was more appreciated the second time around. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so I took it in more this time. I definitely took my time.”
Ratliff plans to major in a science field related to health care. Now she can focus on the science of slugging balls out of the ballpark for BNL. Pitching to her has not been healthy for opposing pitchers and the balls she has dented while blasting home runs.
“I just want to have fun,” she said. “It’s my last season playing with girls I’ve grown up playing with, so I want to have fun and be worry free. Whatever happens, happens. It would be awesome to win some awards (like the prestigious Miss Softball), it would be an amazing achievement, but I’m not going to stress on it.”
