By ROB HAMILTON

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Cardington’s Samantha Brininger will continue her softball career after her senior season concludes in 2016.

The Pirate standout signed to attend the University of Findlay on Tuesday. While playing for the Oilers, she will major in physical therapy.

“I really like the coaching staff and it felt right,” she said, noting that she was also considering Walsh, Fairmont and Mount Vernon Nazarene before making her decision. “They got a new coach (Danielle Lowe). I’d known the old coach my whole career, but when I met the new coach, she said she really wanted me there at Findlay.”

Having the opportunity to play softball in college has been a long-standing dream for Brininger. “I started playing when I was very young and always knew my goal was to play in college,” she said. “I probably got serious my sophomore year of high school. That’s when I started narrowing down my list of schools.”

She decided upon Findlay on Sept. 27 and is hoping to quickly become an important contributor when she arrives on campus.

“She (the coach) told me she doesn’t guarantee any playing time, but I have a good chance of coming in and being a lead player,” said Brininger. “I think I’ll bring good leadership and help bring the team together.”

Through the first three years of her time playing for Cardington, she has earned many accolades. Brininger was named a first-team Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference player in each of those years and was named the conference’s Player of the Year as a sophomore. She was named to the Central District team as a sophomore and junior and earned All-Ohio Honorable Mention recognition as a sophomore. She also was a team captain both as a sophomore and junior.

She also had a good deal of success as a Pirate volleyball player, being a captain this past season and being named to the MOAC and Central District first teams.

In order to maintain that level of success at the college level, she feels that she’ll need to improve on a few facets of her game.

“It’ll be most important to get stronger so I can hit the ball farther,” she said. “Now I get base hits, but I want to drive the ball.”

Rob Hamilton can be reached at 419-946-3010, ext. 1807. Connect with him on Twitter at @SportsMCS

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