Oswalt finds a home at Miami University, keeps championship goals at Greenville

GREENVILLE — Ella Oswalt has already established herself as one of Ohio’s top high school softball players, but the Greenville junior believes her best days are still ahead.

With two high school seasons remaining, the Lady Wave pitching and hitting standout has committed to Miami University, choosing a program that offers the opportunity to continue playing both ways while remaining close to the family, coaches and community that helped her reach this point.

For Oswalt, the decision went beyond wins, statistics and the chance to compete at the NCAA Division I level. A campus visit to the Oxford school gave her a feeling she could not ignore.

“I got on campus, and it felt like home,” Oswalt said. “I didn’t want to leave after I was on my visit.”

The relationships she saw between Miami’s coaches and players helped solidify that feeling.

“You can just tell that all of the girls really love them and that they love all of their players,” she said. “That was a really big thing for me, was being on a team where I was valued as a person.”

Oswalt will eventually join a RedHawks program that finished the 2026 season 38-18 overall and 19-8 in the Mid-American Conference. She hopes to contribute to that success as soon as she arrives.

“One of my biggest goals right now is to start as soon as I get there,” Oswalt said. “Just being able to make an instant impact as a freshman while I’m there would be super amazing, especially because I’ll be hitting, too.”

The opportunity to swing a bat as well as pitch was an important part of Miami’s appeal. While her work in the circle has drawn considerable attention, Oswalt’s offensive production has been equally valuable to Greenville.

“Yes, I love to hit,” she said. “There is nothing better than hitting a home run.”

Her first two varsity seasons provide plenty of evidence that she can make an impact in both roles.

As a freshman, Oswalt hit .519 with 40 hits, five doubles, one home run, and 28 RBIs. In the circle, she finished 19-3 with a 0.690 ERA, striking out 164 batters and walking 19 in 121⅔ innings.

She followed that performance with a sophomore season that featured significant increases in power and strikeouts.

Oswalt batted .485 with 49 hits, including 12 doubles and 10 home runs, while driving in 52 runs. She went 24-2 as a pitcher with a 0.447 ERA, recording 247 strikeouts against 24 walks in 141 innings.

Through two seasons, those totals add up to a 43-5 pitching record, 411 strikeouts and just 43 walks. At the plate, she has collected 89 hits, 17 doubles, 11 home runs and 80 RBIs.

Her performances have brought first-team All-Ohio and All-American recognition in each of her first two high school seasons.

Oswalt began attracting college attention around age 14 while playing 14U travel softball. Even in eighth grade, she showed her potential, striking out all 15 batters she faced.

“I think they started coming by and watching when I was playing 14U,” Oswalt said. “And that’s when they get you to go to camps, they get in contact with your coaches, and you get camp invites, things like that.”

Greenville’s Hall of Fame coach Jerrod Newland, who has more than 600 Lady Wave victories, sees more than impressive numbers when he watches Oswalt.

“She is a great young lady, complete package, and a kid that has the ‘IT’ to her,” Newland said. “When friends are doing kid things, she’s playing softball and going above and beyond. Never makes an excuse and has such an awesome family.”

Newland recognized her potential long before she put on a varsity uniform.

“When she was 12, I knew she would have the chance to be the best ever, and boy, is she on her way,” he said.

He said Miami’s willingness to use Oswalt as both a pitcher and hitter makes the program a strong fit. He also credited the RedHawks with following her throughout the spring and summer and making a substantial commitment to her recruitment.

“Her two years so far for Lady Wave softball are unprecedented, and can’t wait for the next two,” Newland said.

The commitment remains ahead of a formal signing, but Oswalt expressed confidence in her choice.

“I just love Miami University, and I don’t see a situation where I’d want to leave,” she said.

Academics and support for student-athletes also factored into the decision. So did the chance for familiar faces to remain part of her softball journey.

“That was one of my number one things: being able to be close to home,” Oswalt said. “I want all my old coaches to be able to come watch me play, all my whole family. That just means a lot to me.”

At 6 feet tall and throwing approximately 66 to 67 mph, Oswalt has the physical tools to compete at a high level. She also has a plan to keep developing them.

“My number one goal is every year I always say gain one or two miles per hour,” she said.

A 67 mph pitch in high school girls’ softball is roughly equivalent to a 94 mph pitch in professional baseball, when comparing speed relative to the pitching distance.

Her preparation now includes looking beyond the next high school or travel season to the demands she expects to face in college. She wants to improve her velocity while continuing to develop the command that has helped keep her walk totals low.

Oswalt credits that control to both her practice and the confidence she brings to competition.

“I never think that I’m going to do something wrong,” she said. “I never go in the box thinking that I’m not going to hit a home run, and I never go on the mound thinking I’m not going to strike anyone out.”

That confidence comes from hours spent working on pitch placement. It also comes with an understanding that success requires adjustments.

Oswalt said adjusting to the umpire’s strike zone is an important part of her approach in the circle. With coach Allie Russell-Bowers calling pitches, she uses the first inning to identify which locations are consistently being called strikes.

“If there’s a certain spot that the umpire is calling, no matter what, that’s where you live,” Oswalt said. “It’s where you try and go. It’s where you try and get your swings and misses at.”

Even when she believes a pitch is a strike, Oswalt said repeatedly throwing to a location the umpire is calling a ball is unlikely to produce results. Instead, she emphasizes making adjustments and working within the established zone.

“I don’t know why you wouldn’t adjust to what the umpire wants,” Oswalt said. “Because at the end of the day, the umpire has to be your best friend because you need him to do a good job for you.”

She sees little benefit in letting frustration over a call affect the next pitch.

“They have a job to do, just like you do,” she said. “They’re human. They make mistakes. They’re not perfect.”

However, her expectations for herself remain high.

“I go into every game with a perfection mindset,” Oswalt said. “I want to do everything right.”

That means approaching each hitter with the intent to record an out and each game with the goal of a shutout. Newland admires the dedication behind that approach, even as he hopes she will give herself some room when things do not go perfectly.

“So proud of how she works, and wish she wasn’t so hard on herself,” he said. “Love her to death, and so proud of her. Work paid off.”

Oswalt is equally quick to recognize the teammates who help make her success possible, especially her catchers.

“The catcher is the most important person on the field, and I’ll die on that hill,” she said.

She praised their ability to see the game unfold from behind the plate and help her get pitches called for strikes. She also spoke highly of Jordan McMullen, who earned first-team Miami Valley League honors as a freshman last season.

“She’s an amazing athlete. She’s a great person. She’s very smart,” Oswalt said. “I think that if she put her mind to it, she could get it done.”

Their relationship extends beyond softball.

“We’re best friends,” Oswalt said. “I love Jordan.”

Those connections are part of what makes Greenville softball special to her.

“We all love and share the deep love for softball so much, and we all love each other so much,” she said.

Ella Oswalt’s travel softball experience has taken her far from home, but the Greenville junior and Miami University softball commit said playing for the Lady Wave holds a special place in her heart.

For Oswalt, the difference comes down to a shared passion for softball and the relationships she’s built with her high school teammates.

“Our Lady Wave high school ball program is something so very special, and it’s something so special to me,” Oswalt said.
While travel softball lets her compete with players from different communities, Oswalt said she has found a particularly strong connection with Greenville’s players. She said some travel teammates don’t share the same devotion to the sport she sees in the Lady Wave program.

“On our school ball team, we all love and share the deep love for softball so much, and we all love each other so much,” Oswalt said.

That combination of commitment to the game and care for one another makes representing Greenville meaningful to Oswalt. Her attachment extends beyond the program itself to the enthusiasm her teammates bring to the field.

“It’s not only how much we love our program, but it’s how much we all deeply love softball,” she said.

That bond helped make Greenville’s trip to the state final four last season one of the most meaningful experiences of her life. With two seasons left, returning to that stage and pursuing a state championship remain central goals.

College softball is the next step for Oswalt, who hasn’t ruled out a professional career someday but has largely envisioned finishing college and pursuing a career related to her major.

Asked about opportunities beyond college, Oswalt pointed to the Athletes Unlimited Softball League and Major League Baseball’s strategic investment in May 2025 as signs of the sport’s growth. The partnership is intended to support the league’s growth and long-term sustainability.

While professional softball is a possibility rather than a specific career goal, Oswalt said she would consider the opportunity.

“But I think if the opportunity ever came to me, I don’t think I would say no,” she said.

Before any of those future opportunities arrive, Oswalt has more work to do in a Greenville uniform — and plenty of people she wants to thank.

She credited her parents, grandparents and entire family for supporting every step of her journey. She also thanked Newland, the Lady Wave coaching staff, her teammates and those who cover and photograph the team.

“I couldn’t thank him enough for all that he’s done,” Oswalt said of Newland.

Her gratitude also reflects her faith.

“I also want to give all the glory to God because without Him, I would have never been able to make it this far,” she said.

For Newland, the commitment is another milestone for a player whose attention to detail and dedication have put her ahead of her years.

“I think that Ella’s best softball is yet to come,” he said. “The newest Redhawk, I guess Doctor Alex Warner will be an Oxford softball guy now.”

For Oswalt, that future includes Miami. First, though, comes another opportunity to chase a championship with the Lady Wave.

“There’s not a day, there’s not a night I don’t go to sleep not thinking about it,” she said.