Susan Knight ends career on high note

CLEVELAND — A season doesn't have to end with a perfect record, a giant trophy or a confetti shower to be successful.Cleveland State University pitcher Susan Knight's softball season, and collegiate career with the Vikings ended with a 4-3 loss to Wright State on May 13.But the 2012 Edison High School graduate was named to the 2016 Horizon League all-tournament team and was named Defensive Player of the tournament for her role in leading the Vikings to two tournament wins for the first time in her four years at CSU."I feel like that was probably the highest reward that I could have gotten," Knight said of being named Defensive Player of the tournament. "Because I've always prided myself on being a pitcher who can play defense also, so getting recognition for that was really reaffirming for me."In four games at the tournament, Knight went 2-2 with a 2.66 ERA in the circle, pitching 23 1/3 of the 28 innings for the Vikings. She started three games and had two complete game wins, striking out 10 batters and making several key defensive plays.At the plate, Knight led the Vikings with a .429 average over the four games, scoring twice with a double, a triple and four RBIs. For the season, she was 9-15 with a 3.42 ERA, striking out 88 and walking 48 in 153 2/3 innings. Knight also hit .276 with seven doubles, three home runs and 28 RBIs.The Vikings finished the 2016 campaign with a 21-32 record (.396), but finished the conference schedule (12-12) — and ended the season with their best Horizon tournament showing in six years."Going in, we weren't sure about what kind of talent we would have," Knight said of her senior season. "We graduated a lot of seniors before — so we were kind of uneasy."So as a group, the seniors got together and said, 'you know, we just want to make this fun, we don't want to have to worry about wins and losses.' The first half of the season we took a couple hits, but we played a really hard schedule, and as we went on, once we got into conference, things started turning up. We were on a win streak where we won 13 of our last 20 games and we really ended on a high note."Overall experienceKnight, who led Edison's softball team to its first state semifinal appearance in 2012 (a 3-1 loss to Carroll Bloom-Carroll) didn't consider the transition from being on dominant high school player to being one of many elite players at the Division I collegiate level too difficult, but admitted the close game losses were frustrating as a freshman."It was a transition, but at the same time, it was completely different because of the level of talent that I was playing with, so it wasn't hard, it didn't put me down at all, but it was kind of difficult losing close games," she said."I'd do it over again in a heartbeat," she added. "Just having the experience to go and play at the next level play with all these awesome players like you see on TV — even now I look at them and I'm like, I'm older than most of them. It's kind of crazy that was the level that I was playing at. So that's kind of rewarding for me."Knight said the most bittersweet part of the experience was the end of every season, but that the end of her senior season made up for it."It could be a high or a low, but the end of every season saying bye to seniors and we never really had the outcome we wanted at the end — winning conference," she said. "But I think the biggest highlight, for this year, was going to the tournament and doing so well — my team's never gone that far before, so ending on that was really happy for me."Knight enjoyed traveling with the Vikings to different states, especially getting to see her extended family and other teammates' families."I think spring break every year was really fun for us because we did spend a lot of time on the bus, but we spent it together and that was a fun experience for us," she said.The team traveled to Oklahoma, Mississippi, Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, Texas and Tennessee, among the memorable road trips in Knight's career. Her grandparents, who had never seen her play, were able to watch her play against Horizon League foe Youngstown State.Scholar athleteKnight not only finished her collegiate softball career in mid-May, she also graduated with a double major in psychology and sociology.While note entirely certain what she wants to do professionally, Knight knows she has more school ahead of her."With those degrees, I know I'll have to go to grad school," she said. "But I don't know exactly what I want to do — yet."She plans to take some time off this summer before applying to grad school within the next year or two.And coaching the sport that she's been so successful at isn't out of the question for Knight."I don't know if I want to be a college coach or anything like that," she said. "But I think I definitely want to get involved in high school at some point. Maybe not right away — it depends on what kind of job I get — but I think I definitely what to still be involved with the sport."Leading the ChargeWhile Knight's 2012 Edison softball team no longer holds the title of the only state softball semifinal appearance in Erie County, she couldn't ask to share it with a team more appropriate than this year's Chargers."I think it's totally awesome," she said of Edison's 2016 state run. "Because the year after you get a new coach (Troy Keegan) you don't expect to have that much success, so the fact that they are having that is a great credit to the program and the players there. And I know Erica Reber has gone through so much this year and that she's performing so well — it's very impressive."Knight added that she feels a connection to what the Edison team experienced this season from her own experiences."My team was pretty similar to that. And I think just seeing them go through all of that and how she's feeling — I know exactly where she's at right now," she said of Reber. "She's not going to play softball in college, so this is kind of it for her, so I feel for her there. It's just really exciting for them and I wish that was my life still!"Reach reporter Sarah Baker at baker@sanduskyregister.com, follow her and the sports team @RegisterSports and Facebook.com/SanduskyRegisterCleveland State's Susan Knight, a 2012 Edison graduate, prepares to fire a pitch for the Vikings during the 2015 regular season.Susan Knight, a 2012 Edison graduate, pitches for Cleveland State University during a game in the 2015 season.Susan Knight, a 2012 Edison graduate, bats for Cleveland State University during a game this season.Susan Knight, a 2012 Edison graduate, looks to her third base coach for the sign in between pitches while playing for Cleveland State University this season.Susan Knight, a 2012 Edison graduate, looks in for the sign before a pitch this season while playing for the Cleveland State University softball team.