No matter where she has played throughout her softball career, the results have been the same for Jensen Tchorzynski.

The former Hillman Tiger put together an incredible high school career which allowed her to take her talents to the next level, where she spent two years pitching for Delta College.

During her time as a Pioneer, Tchorzynski continued to excel on the mound. This past season, she put together a stellar season as the team’s ace.

After the remarkable career at Delta, it was only a matter of time before Tchorzynski would take the next step in her playing career. Tchorzynski made it official on Sunday that she would continue her softball career at University of St. Francis in Illinois.

“It feels great to be moving forward and to continue playing the sport that I love so much. I think the reason it feels so good is because of all the hard work I feel I have put in,” Tchorzynski said.

The Fighting Saints are an NAIA team that plays in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC). Tchorzynski will be joining a program that is currently on the rise. St. Francis has finished with a winning record each of the past three seasons and surpassed 30 wins the last two years.

“We are very excited to have Jensen as apart of our softball program. She is a tremendous athlete and an excellent student who we feel is going to play a big role for us over the next two years. She has fantastic mental focus and game awareness that combined with her softball knowledge and natural ability makes her a dominant pitcher who knows how to get hitters out,” University of St. Francis head coach Amanda Jensen said.

This spring Tchorzynski pitched Delta to the postseason as the Pioneers ended with 19-24 overall record. Tchorzynski finished with a 14-6 overall record, tossing 128 innings, while only allowing 80 hits and 33 earned runs. She struck out 121 batters and ended with a 1.80 ERA.

Offensively, Tchorzynski had the third-most at-bats on the team and finished the year batting .294 with 35 hits, 15 runs scored, 17 RBI and one home run.

Tchorzynski led the Pioneers to two postseason victories, before the team suffered a heartbreaking 2-1 loss to Oakland that ended Tchorzynski’s career at Delta.

“Jensen was the single hardest working player on our team. She was the workhorse that led us to qualifying for postseason play and always leads by example. She has a never say die attitude and effort. Jensen will excel at the next level because she is never satisfied with her skill level or her performance, she is constantly striving to get better every day,” Delta College head coach Randy Mullard said.

Tchorzynski should be a great addition to a St Francis team that graduated over half of its team from a year ago. Two of the eight players who graduated were pitchers. St. Francis finished the 2016 season with a 31-17 record and won two CCAC Tournament games.

“I chose St. Francis because when the coach approached me at our regional game in Columbus, Ohio, she discussed how great her program and the school was. When I went down to visit the campus, we discussed how I am pursuing a major social work and they later made me an offer I could not turn down. I am so excited to move out of the state and to finish my college career as well as continue playing softball,” Tchorzynski said.

Despite the loss of several players from a year ago, the Fighting Saints will return their number one pitcher from a year ago, Morghan Dieringer who finished with a 1.96 ERA in 160.1 innings and struck out 148.

Both Tchorzynski and Dieringer will be juniors next season and should be a great one-two punch for the Fighting Saints for the next two years.

“We were looking for a veteran arm arm to come in and complete our pitching staff. Our program did a ton of research and zeroed in on Jensen right from the start. We are very thankful to have the opportunity to have Jensen be apart of our softball program and we couldn’t be happier,” Jensen said.

Jonny Zawacki can be reached via email at jzawacki@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5690.