Bartow softball pitcher Red Oxley ready to join Florida Gators

And just like that, Red Oxley’s high school career is over.

It seems like just yesterday that Oxley was the freshman phenom who had already made a name for himself in travel ball and lived up to the hype in his first high school season at Bartow.

Oxley remained dominant throughout her career and she never rested on her laurels. She was stronger than ever in her senior season, but what doesn’t show up in her stats is how she’s grown as a leader.

Oxley is The Ledger’s 2024 Softball Pitcher of the Year for the fourth year in a row. She graduates as one of the best pitchers in Polk County history. Whether it’s the former or the latter is a debate for another day.

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Another unforgettable season, but not just for the numbers

After offseason knee surgery, Oxley opened his senior season by not allowing a run in his first 37 innings. The streak was broken by a Peyton Spears homer off George Jenkins in his ninth game.

Oxley finished the season 20-2 with a 0.52 ERA and 302 strikeouts in 133 innings, surpassing 300 strikeouts in a season for the fourth consecutive time. She also hit .324 with two home runs and a team-leading 32 RBIs.

For his career, Oxley went 85-8 with a 0.48 ERA with 1,263 strikeouts in 552 ⅓ innings. She hit .407 with 27 doubles, seven triples, six home runs and 112 RBIs in 385 appearances.

“Like I told her, she’s the best player I’ve coached, between hitting and throwing and everything she’s done,” Bartow coach Glenn Rutenbar said. “It’s going to be difficult (to replace her). At first you could tell she was going to be great, of course, but managing that for four years is not easy.

Even though Oxley made things look easy on the field, it wasn’t always easy off the field.

“My first two years were definitely the worst at Bartow for me, just because of the stress level,” she said. “I was very immature. I didn’t understand what was going on and I didn’t understand social things. It was (Rutenbar) who helped me get through those two years and continue playing softball.

Few players are as tough as Oxley, and she reflects on how she has improved mentally and as a leader over the course of her career.

In its early years, “I didn’t feel like anyone else on my team was working,” Oxley said. “I didn’t see it, and I was like, ‘Dang, I just feel like I’m working too much.’ But in reality, they wanted it just as much as I did, and I only realized that when I started connecting more and staying with them longer.

How 2023 was the turning point for Oxley

Oxley said the bond with her teammates grew stronger during her junior season, inspiring her to dig deep in close games. In the state semifinal that year against Doral, she remembered watching the scoreboard when Bartow trailed late and then rallied to win.

“Usually I would say, ‘I’ve worked so hard, I’m so tired, we’re depressed, I can’t do this anymore,'” she said. “And instead of saying I… looked around, everyone was standing and they wanted it. If they can want it that bad, then I’m going to work 10 times harder for them.

“I think that was like my breaking point, like getting over that hump. I feel like (Rutenbar) really helped me with that because he had instilled in us that year that we were going to work harder than ever.”

Oxley said those experiences as a junior proved she wasn’t “The Red Show,” but she was always willing to take responsibility for losses, like this year in the state title game against Pace.

“I’ve never loved a team like I love these girls,” Oxley said. “You can blame me because they are just as selfless. For the other girls, I don’t know if I would have done that. But I never want anyone to look down on these people because they don’t look down on me. They always lift me up. So I won’t let anyone hurt them.

This attitude was born in the fall of 2022 after a long summer of travel. When fall practices began, Rutenbar noticed she was becoming a leader, which continued throughout her final two high school seasons.

Oxley is now more than ready for the next step in her career at the University of Florida.

“I’m going to miss my teammates, I’m going to miss being a high school student, and I definitely feel like I’ve made a name for myself, but I’m ready to move on and grow,” she said. she declared. . “I feel like I’m ready for this new start. It’s really intimidating because it’s a Power Five school with a lot of people. … But everyone goes through it, and I already have a great support system at UF to help me get through it. So I think everything will be fine and I’m ready to start impressing different people with my hard work.