When college coaches say that in this internet era, if you can play, they’ll find you, Tayler Oberman of Libertyville is the type player they’re talking about.
The senior middle infielder plays for a Wildcat team that is always chasing in the North Suburban Conference, and has been dwarfed by area powers such as Lake Zurich, Warren, Zion-Benton and, of course, Barrington.
Nevertheless, Oberman has put up some amazing individual numbers and plays every game as though a championship is on the line.
And college coaches noticed, so much so that Oberman recently signed a letter of intent to play her college ball at Winona State in Minnesota.
And while it’s cold up there, softball is serious stuff at Winona. The program is an Division II national power, having won 81 games over the last two seasons and is a regular qualifier for the NCAA playoffs.
Oberman is part of a seven-girl class that coach Greg Jones talked about in a story on the team’s website.
“Tayler is a game-breaker offensively, both with her speed and her ability to drive the ball to all parts of the park,” Jones said. “Tayler is a very polished and smooth player on both sides of the ball and will make an immediate impact at Winona State when she steps onto campus next fall.”
Last year at Libertyville, Oberman hit .425 with 27 stolen bases and was the team MVP.
At Libertyville, she’s coached by Elissa Wisniewski, who was a pitcher at Winona State from 2003-2006 after a great prep pitching career at Stevenson.
