By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – Bedford North Lawrence’s Ava Ratliff, one of the top sluggers and best catchers in the nation, has been named the Indiana winner of the prestigious Johnny Bench Award.
The award honors the top NCAA Div. I male and female college catchers, as well as the top baseball and softball catchers in high school from Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia. The 10 winners will be honored during a banquet on July 18 at Great American Ball Park and attend the Cincinnati Reds game against San Francisco that evening.
Ratliff, a Class 4A All-State selection, clubbed 22 home runs while batting .538 with 53 RBIs. She set school records for home runs, hits (57), doubles (16) and RBIs as the Stars went 24-8. She already ranks among Indiana’s top 10 in career home runs with 43.
“I’m so blessed and grateful to receive this award,” said Ratliff, who was notified of the honor when she answered a phone call from the former Reds great and Hall of Famer. “I honestly thought I was being pranked when I first got the call, but then when I realized it wasn’t I was in shock. I was like ‘No way this is happening right now.’ I honestly had tears in my eyes.”
“It’s a huge honor for Ava,” BNL coach Brad Gilbert said. “Ava had a great year offensively, but also improved her defense. Her pickoffs and caught-stealing numbers more than doubled, and she caught all but a few innings with no errors.”
BNL’s Sarah Stone, now with Indiana University, won the award in 2021.
