Fahey Bank Athlete of the Month: River Valley's Lanie Wooten takes it for second time

CALEDONIA — River Valley softball's Lanie Wooten didn't set out to be a repeat Fahey Bank Athlete of the Month winner. Same with All-Ohio.

"I don’t really have a lot of goals. I just do and be," she said.

Regardless of her approach and process, that's exactly where she ended up in her final season with the Vikings.

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Wooten was the Fahey Bank Athlete of the Month girls honoree for May among Marion County girls, matching her award from a year earlier.

"I think it’s special that they chose me twice. I must be kind of good, I guess, right?" she said. "I think it was more of an icing on the cake type of thing."

As for All-Ohio, she matched her second-team status in Division II for a second year in a row, too.

"I think it’s cooler that I did it twice, and it’s a big achievement for myself and everybody else who also gets to be a part of it," Wooten said.

How did she repeat?

Last year, Wooten talked about how she wanted to get stronger and more fit for her junior year. It paid off with the above honors because she saw improvement in some of her numbers.

In 2023, she put up a 9-3 record with a 1.49 earned run average, striking out 108 batters and walking only 18. She allowed just four extra-base hits all season as teams struggled to bat .184 against her. She led at the plate, too, batting .430 with 14 doubles, one home run, 20 RBI, 25 runs and six steals. She only struck out three times in 2023, posting a .481 on-base percentage and a .612 slugging percentage to record a 1.094 on-base-plus-slugging percentage.

"Her strength and continuing to work to get better was the biggest thing," RV head coach Phil Shepler said. "Her strength from last year to this year, she probably gained four or five miles per hour on her fastball by just adding strength. She really hit the weights hard in the fall and winter, and it really paid off in the spring."

River Valley senior pitcher Lanie Wooten delivers a pitch at Pleasant during a softball game this season. Wooten was named a Fahey Bank Athlete of the Month for May among Marion County girls.

Her father Wes Wooten, who doubled at Shepler's assistant coach, devised a workout regimen to get her ready for her senior year. Several times a week she concentrated on strengthening her legs with squats and leg presses as well as her upper body with pullups and pushups.

"I was adding all types of mixtures in there," she said of her workouts.

This year Wooten produced a 9-5 record with a 2.14 ERA, striking out 144 in 95 innings and walking just 23 as opponents hit .200 against her. Offensively is where her numbers really increased as she batted .533 with 40 hits, 30 runs, 23 RBIs,11 doubles, a triple and homer with just six strikeouts all year. She posted a .583 on-base percentage, a .746 slugging percentage and a 1.330 on-base-plus slugging percentage.

"I couldn’t honestly give you an answer on how I’m seeing it more," she said of her better hitting numbers. "It’s more of a confidence thing, going up there knowing that I’m going to get on base somehow. I’m either going to do that or try my hardest to advance a player."

Her play is a big reason why the Vikings hung around the top half of the Mid Ohio Athletic Conference before finishing 15-8 overall and 9-5 in the league.

"She meant a lot to the program," Shepler said. "When you’ve got a girl like that, she carries the team. That’s what she did for us. Everything she got, she deserved because of her work ethic. It wasn’t anything I did."

What's next for Wooten?

Wooten said she was happy with her performance in 2024, but was happier about something else.

"I was more happy to get one more year in with my girls I’ve been playing with since I was literally 12 years old," she said of her RV teammates. "It was good. It’s harder saying goodbye to some of the girls I depended on playing with throughout that time of the year. It was really hard saying goodbye to my coach who wasn’t always in the best mood, but he always put me in the best mood."

At the end of her junior season, she was skeptical about playing softball in college, but she's since had a change of heart.

River Valley's Lanie Wooten gets set at the plate during a game at Pleasant this softball season. She was a second-team All-Ohio pick in Division II.

"I’m so happy for her that she’s going to go on and play," Shepler said. "I kept telling her, 'You need to go play. If you don’t have fun with it, then just stop. I don’t want you to come back when you turn 25 and say, dag gone it, I wish I would have played. You can wish all you want, but it’s too late then.' I was glad she did that."

Wooten will play next spring at the University of Northwestern Ohio in Lima, an NAIA school that competes in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference. The Racers were 33-17 this season and 16-6 in the conference under head coach Travis Owen.

"I think it was just not being able to give it up yet," she said of changing her decision. "It’s something I’ve been doing my whole life. Its hard to go cold turkey doing it."

So Wooten will continue to "just do and be."

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