Cyclone Signing day

Ever since they were nine years old, Anna Klumpp and Sam May have been playing together on the same softball squad.

When their senior season ends this spring, they will go their separate ways but their careers will continue on in the college ranks.

The Eastern View seniors signed letters of intent Friday morning, both accepting scholarship offers from NCAA Division I schools. Klumpp chose James Madison University, while May picked Radford University.

The Power of Purple

When Anna Klumpp made her recruiting visits to JMU, it wasn’t the first time she’d made the trip to Harrisonburg.

“One of my sisters went there so I knew the campus pretty well,” Klumpp said. “I love this school, the campus is awesome.”

That familiarity gave the Dukes an advantage over other schools vying for the outfielders’ services.

“JMU had the inside track because she knew a lot about it from her sister going to school there,” Klumpp’s father John said.

Klumpp, who also considered Alderson-Broaddus College in West Virginia, plans on getting her bachelor’s degree in health science and her master’s in athletic training.

“I just want to have the best grades as possible,” Klumpp said. “Our coaches are really supportive about that, they have requirements you have to meet such as tutors and all kinds of stuff, so I’m not to worried about it.”

A selling point for the Klumpp family is the investments the university has put into its softball program.

“They just built a $10 million softball/baseball facility and it’s really first class all the way,” John Klumpp said. “So that pretty much sealed the deal, I think, when we saw that.”

Dukes’ head coach Katie Flynn’s staff also played a big role throughout the process.

“Meeting Coach Flynn was impressive as far as how proud she is of her accomplishments there at JMU,” Klumpp’s mother Julie said. “But the other part that was so great was we got to meet all of her staff — her assistant coaches are just fantastic and very personal, really hands on with the girls.”

For Klumpp, the decision came down to a single feeling.

“It just kind of clicked,” Klumpp said. “It’s just where I felt like I should be.”

Fear the Tartan

When May told Radford coach Mickey Dean she was going to accept the Highlanders’ offer, her schedule was already being set up.

“I told them that I was going to accept it and he told me that we were going to go out for a Coke the next time he saw me,” May said.

While May plays catcher for the Cyclones, she was recruited by Radford as an outfielder. The senior also drew interest from Longwood University and Lynchburg College. In the end, Dean, a former Orange County High School coach, stole the show.

May will also once again be teammates with Culpeper County High School graduates and Radford sophomores Nichole and Michelle Beall. All three played at CCHS before the opening of Eastern View last year.

“I just really liked the campus a lot,” May said. “The coach down there, he’s awesome. He just knows what he’s doing.”

The campus grabbed the attention of May’s parents as well.

“I like the fact that it’s such a small campus,” Mark May said. “It’s more one-on-one with the coaching staff there than I would think that the bigger schools are. It’s just a really pretty place, a real eye-grabber as far I was concerned.”

May plans to major in athletic training.

“You have to have a certain amount of study hall so you have to keep your grades up,” May said. “They’re really on you about that, so I can play softball and keep my grades up at the same time.”

The entire recruiting process was an adventure for the entire family.

“It’s exciting, very exciting to go through all this,” May’s mom Susan May said. “I’m so proud of Sam and just happy with everything.”

Like her fellow senior, the decision wasn’t necessarily a tough one in the end.

“It just got me as soon as I got there,” May said.

When Klumpp and May part ways, they’ll already have some leadership experience before they step on a college campus.

“Both of them were co-captains last year for a brand new team,” Cyclones coach Kelly Forrest said. “And were responsible for leading that team to regionals.”

Forrest has been coaching the seniors since they were in eighth grade, both at Culpeper County High and Eastern View.

“It’s just really neat to see them get better every year,” Forrest said. “Go to different places, learn different things and then bring it back and share it with other younger girls.”

Now that their letters of intent are signed, the Cyclones can focus on their senior season.

“I talked to them yesterday,” Forrest said. “This is a big deal, but celebrate it today, then we still have a whole year to play.

“At least now they can just focus on playing and not worry about a big decision to make.”