Clermont Northeastern first baseman Lexi Burden signs a NLI to play softball at Ohio Northern University.

Clermont Northeastern first baseman Lexi Burden signs a NLI to play softball at Ohio Northern University.
By Chris Chaney
Sun staff

Clermont Northeastern High School senior softball player Lexi Burden inked her National Letter of Intent to play college fastpitch at Ohio Northern University on Nov. 12 at a ceremony held at the school attended by family, coaches and friends.

For Burden, the decision to choose the Polar Bears was one that was dependent upon more than simply athletics.

“(Besides ONU) I was looking at Marshall University, the University of Alabama and (the College of) Wooster,” Burden said. “I narrowed it down to Ohio Northern and Wooster because (playing) DI (softball) and going into pre-med wouldn’t really work.

“From there, Coach Hess and Coach Jones at Ohio Northern kind of welcomed me into their family even without me being recruited yet. It just felt like home; a small town, just like here.

“I decided to go up there for a couple of camps and they decided to offer me a position on their team and I decided to take it.”

Burden said that she first caught the eyes of Hess, Jones and Ohio Northern at a showcase held at Kent State. The coaches liked what they saw and began getting in contact with her, eventually inviting her to the camps that Burden previously mentioned.

The ONU camp acted as an audition and introduction for Burden to Polar Bear athletics.

“I had a lot of fun (at the camp). The team members are the ones actually running it, so I got to know some of the girls,” Burden said. “I did a few more camps and kept in contact with (Hess). She came and watched 15 or 20 of my games and offered me a position.”

The Polar Bears went 23-19 in Hess’ first year and won a share of the Ohio Athletic Conference regular season title. With a relatively young team currently, ONU will have plenty of capable athletes ready to step in at any time.

Burden said that Hess splits up playing time fairly evenly, but the CNE product hopes to earn a steady spot in the lineup by proving herself to her coaches and teammates.

Before Burden gets to ONU, however, she has one more season in Lady Rocket blue and gold. During her time at CNE, Burden has been one of the few crossover players that remain from some of the winningest softball teams the school had ever seen.

Now looked upon as one of the upperclassmen leaders, Burden hopes to turn in her experience playing alongside the likes of Emily Anderson, McKena Miller and Chelsae Osborn into some more success with a new crop of talent.

“In my first few years, we had very good girls on the team,” Burden said. “We were undefeated, all-league and all that, but we came into last year with a young bunch — and we’ll be young again this year — but we’re really looking forward to building our own legacy.”

As for Burden’s own legacy, she’s done a pretty good job of solidifying it over her three seasons with the Lady Rockets. She’s also played for club teams, such as CNE AA, Atomic Fusion and Cincy Doom.

Last season for CNE, Burden batted .292 with 22 runs batted in, seven doubles and a pair of home runs.

She’s hoping to improve upon those numbers in her last season in Southwest Ohio before traveling the two and a half hours north to Ada, Ohio next fall.