PORT ANGELES — Port Angeles High School junior Heidi Leitz signed a letter of commitment on Friday with St. Martin’s University to play softball next year.

The left-hander was 17-4 last spring, with an earned run average of 2.66, 159 strikeouts and a .227 batting average against over 23 games for the Roughriders (20-3, 15-1).

Leitz said she had her eye on a couple of schools, but chose St. Martin’s because she would have the opportunity to pitch, hit and play in the outfield.

“My main goal was to play as far as I could go and get playing time,” she said.

The NCAA Division II school in Lacey competes in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

Leitz also participates in volleyball, plays violin in the chamber orchestra and is involved in DECA, a program for students interested in business.

Roughriders softball coach Morgan Worthington said Leitz committed herself 100 percent to everything she did while still balancing school, sports and her social life.

“She’s focused, disciplined and willing to put in the work, and is a strong advocate for herself,” Worthington said. “You don’t often see that in someone her age.”

Ed Leitz said his daughter practiced every day and studied instructional videos online to improve her pitching.

“I honestly don’t know where she gets it from,” he said. “From a very young age, if you told her she can’t do it, she’d prove you wrong.”

Leitz began playing softball when she was 10 years old on a 12-and-under team that won a league championship. Two years later she earned a spot on a travel team that competed in a state championship.

From that beginning grew a nearly year-round schedule of commitment to the sport for all of the Leitzes.

“My family took so much time out of their lives to take me around and support me,” Leitz said.

Before she heads off to St. Martin’s, there’s still one thing she wants to accomplish — a 2A state softball championship.

Last spring, Port Angeles placed fourth, falling to eventual winner Sedro-Woolley 4-2 in the semifinals.

“I really want to win it,” Leitz said.

Having a goal and aiming for it is one of Leitz’s greatest strengths, Worthington said.

“She knows what she wants and has a lot of confidence and understands herself,” she said. “That says something about the person she is and the player she is.”

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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by email at paula.hunt@peninsuladailynews.com