August 24, 2023

By Jon Feyen
ScoutU

When former athletes look back upon their careers, they rarely lead with the stats or flashy accomplishments. Oftentimes, athletes fondly remember their teammates, coaches and the relationships they built around competition. ScoutU prospect Molly Kelly felt that kind of chemistry with Wisconsin Lutheran College, and that’s why she recently committed to the NCAA Division III program.

Kelly said she loved the environment and culture of the school while attending camps at WLC. It’s just a bonus that she’ll be continuing her softball career about 100 miles from her hometown of Greenville, Wis.

“I started helping Molly with her recruiting about 2 years ago,” ScoutU’s Jason Lauren said. “From the start to when she committed, she was dedicated in doing the things necessary to get recruited. I’m so happy she found a great fit for her.”

Last spring at Hortonville High School, Kelly posted a 5-2 record with a 1.73 ERA. Her pitching arsenal features a 62 mph fastball along with a 56 mph late-breaking curveball.

“Molly uses her excellent accuracy, movement and spin to be an effective pitcher,” Lauren said. “Her fastball has been tested with a 6.4-inch vertical break and 4.2-inch horizontal break, which is crazy movement for a fastball, especially at 60-plus mph. I’m confident she will contribute right away as a freshman at Wisconsin Lutheran and excel there!”

Kelly was thrilled with the number of colleges who emailed her, and she talked with 10 different coaches over the phone. Wisconsin Lutheran was the first college to offer Kelly – and when she realized it was also a perfect school academically – she made an easy decision.

As an all-conference pitcher and a 4.0 student, Kelly was a recruit that many colleges had their eye on. Her support from ScoutU as well as her family helped ensure she could live her dream of playing college softball.

“ScoutU and Jason Lauren helped take the stress out of contacting coaches with the exposure emails,” said Dan Kelly, Molly’s dad. “This made it a very easy process to reach a large number of coaches. The exposure video was also helpful. We appreciate Jason and ScoutU’s help through the recruiting process.”