Ruckenbrod excels behind and at plate
Paul Kopsky/STLhighschoolsports.com | Oakville catcher Maggie Ruckenbrod (right) is the Post-Dispatch player of the year after batting .520 and setting a state record for career hits.
The Oakville High softball team was up against a very good Summit squad in a Class 4 quarterfinal game at Ballwin Park. The winner would earn a trip to state while the loser would get nothing but a trip home.
In what figured to be a tight game, Summit’s Caitlin Krebs ripped a single off the fence in right to lead off the visitors’ second inning. But before the Falcons could even think about an early rally, the Summit courtesy runner was picked off first by Oakville catcher Maggie Ruckenbrod with a throw that would have made Yadier Molina proud.
Ruckenbrod would later draw a walk and come around for the game’s only run, scoring on a double by Chloe Wolf.
With Summit threatening in the seventh, Ruckenbrod had a quick talk with Tigers pitcher Remy Edwards. “She just told me to relax and to focus on making my pitch,” Edwards said following her three-hit shutout. “Maggie told me that if I could get the ball in, we’d get a popout and we’d be going to state.”
The Tigers got the out and advanced to state, where they eventually lost in the Class 4 title game to Jefferson City 2-1. Still, the Tigers (23-6) finished strong, battling through a bizarre weather-impacted postseason schedule to win 14 of 15 heading into the state championship game.
And their leader through it all was Ruckenbrod, the Post-Dispatch softball player of the year.
“When you talk about impact players in fast-pitch softball, you’re normally talking about pitchers,” Oakville coach Rich Sturm Jr. said. “But Maggie is the exception because of her ability to influence the game in so many different ways. Off the field, she’s kind of quiet and unassuming, but once the game starts, Maggie just seems to take charge of everything around her.”
A fixture at catcher and in the heart of the Oakville lineup since the opening game of her freshman season, Ruckenbrod wrapped up her career as Missouri’s career hits leader with 186.
“What I’m proudest of is consistency, my own and of my team,” said Ruckenbrod, 17. “My goal over the last four years was to go out every day and give my team a chance to win. And we ended up making the quarterfinals all four years. It would’ve been great to get a state title, sure, but I’m still very proud of what we were able to accomplish.”
Ruckenbrod hit .438 and drove in 29 runs as a freshman. She hit. .491 with 27 RBIs as a sophomore and .440 with 19 RBIs as a junior. This fall, she batted a robust .520 while driving in 23 runs. In 432 career plate appearances, Ruckenbrod struck out just 11 times — with seven of those coming in her freshman year.
“The first time I saw Maggie on the softball field, I knew she was special. But I had no idea how special,” Sturm said. “She’s been a difference-maker at the plate and behind the plate since day one, but what really sets Maggie apart is the impact she has on her teammates. She’s one of those rare players who make everyone around her better.”
Ruckenbrod, who plays summer ball with the St. Louis Chaos, has signed with the University of Louisville, where she plans to study environmental engineering.
