Skyler Dehart led Auburn to 17 wins this past season as a sophomore, and made a commitment to play at Virginia Tech in 2019.
The Auburn High School softball program has been on the rise for the past eight years, and now one of its aces will be given a chance to play in the ACC.
Sophomore Skyler Dehart has received an offer from Virginia Tech to join the Hokies as a preferred walk-on.
Dehart had received attention from several other schools, but committed to the Hokies on Thursday.
“After years of travel ball and camps I kept coming back to Virginia Tech. I traveled with a National Softball Team and went all over the US, meeting a lot of coaches but soon decided I wanted to stay close to home. Being close to my family was important,” she said.
This past season, she led the Eagles with an earned run average of 1.22 and had 149 strikeouts in 120 innings.
Her coach at Auburn, David Hurd calls Skyler a competitor who has very good stuff with a lot of late life on her movement pitches.
“Her speed and movement are both very good, and coming from the left side, it makes her very hard to hit. She only gave up an average of four hits for every seven innings she pitched this past season,” he said.
Dehart had other opportunities where she would have received money, but those schools weren’t what she was looking for. So, she made her decision now instead of later.
“You have to find where it feels like home. I’ve grown up here and my family has always supported Virginia Tech sports. My older brother, Tanner also goes to VT. Being a part of such an incredible program with a lot of crazy talent is a dream come true. Coach (Scott) Thomas has given me this opportunity and I couldn’t be more grateful,” she said.
Hurd said the Hokies would be getting a young lady who will be a positive voice in their program. “She is the first to encourage as well as the first to demand better from everyone,” he said.
Dehart has been playing softball since the age of eight with most of her current teammates and has yet to decide on a major but is leaning towards Human Nutrition, Foods and Exercise or something Science/Medical related.