BLACKSBURG — Only six ACC softball players have a batting average above .400.
Two of them live in the same townhouse.
Emma Ritter is hitting .430 for Virginia Tech, which will enter the NCAA Tournament on Friday. Fellow Tech senior Addie Greene is batting .412.
This will be the third year in a row that he will share a townhouse with teammates Cameron Fagan and Maya Louko.
“We try not to talk about softball a lot in the house, which is really a blessing,” Green said this week, sitting next to Ritter in a joint interview.
Green will play left field, while Ritter, also a 2024 All-ACC First Team pick, will play center field.
“I like playing next to Addy,” Ritter said.
“I love playing next to Emma,” Green said.
Anyone else reading…
“We can talk now,” Ritter said.
Ritter and Green became close friends.
“You can always count on Emma,” Green said. “When I'm having a bad day, I usually go to her first. … I come to her room, and … I just sit on her bed and cry, and she asks questions. plug.
“I wish I could share Emma with everyone here. She's my best friend.”
“It's a really tough time in college sports,” Ritter said. “You have the highs, but you also have to go through the lows.
“One morning I was having a really rough day. …I was sitting on the couch crying. I was like [saying]”I can't play in the game today.”
“[Greene] She put her hand on my shoulder and prayed for me.
“That's the great thing about having friends. They're always there for you.”
“The moment when it comes full circle”
Ritter grew up in Maryland, and Green (whose first name is an abbreviation for Addison) grew up in Suffolk.
Green's father was once a farmer. The Green family still lives on the property, and there is room for animals.
“Addy just got a horse,” Ritter said.
“Would you please stop talking about that?'' said Mr. Green.
“It's pretty cool,” Ritter said.
Green goes deer hunting when he's home, and Ritter hunts deer, geese, and ducks when he's home.
“She loves it,” Ms. Green said. “She will go out on her own, but I still go with her father and brother.”
Ritter verbally committed to then-Technology head coach Scott Thomas in 2017 as a ninth-grader after earning a scholarship offer. Thomas lost his job after the 2018 season and Pete D'Amour replaced him.
Green caught D'Amour's attention in 2018 while playing on the travel ball team, but had verbally committed to Connecticut the previous fall.
When UW's coach lost his job after the 2019 season, Green resumed recruiting. Her travel ball coach informed Ms. D'Amour, who ultimately offered Ms. Green her scholarship. Green and Ritter signed with Tech in the fall of 2019.
Ritter and Green both started for the Hokies as freshmen in 2021, a year that saw the Hokies advance to the NCAA Super Regionals at UCLA.
Tech returns to Los Angeles for the fifth straight time in the NCAA. Tech will play San Diego State on Friday in a double-elimination regional game at UCLA.
“It's a full-circle moment,” Ritter said.
become a slugger
Ritter only batted .257 as a freshman, but his batting average increased to a team-high .400 as a sophomore. She was named first team All-ACC.
Green hit .300 as a reserve that year when the Hokies hosted both the regional and super regional tournaments.
Green returned to the starting lineup last season and batted .305.
Ritter led the team in batting average (.368) and RBI (46) last year, earning All-ACC Second Team honors.
Neither player reached double-digit home runs as freshmen or sophomores, but both reached double-digit home runs last year. Each hit 14 home runs and contributed to the team's 100 home runs.
“It has a lot to do with building muscle,” Green said.
“When you're surrounded by really great athletes, your game gradually improves,” Ritter said.
glorious senior years
Green's batting average has skyrocketed this year, going from .305 last season to .412 this year.
“Mentally I’ve really stepped up and realized that when I get in the box I’m better than the pitcher,” she said.
D'Amour said Green has become more selective at the plate this year.
The 5-foot-9 Green has hit 13 of Tech's school-record 113 home runs this year. She has 45 RBI.
D'Amour praises Green and Ritter's work ethics.
“They're pushing each other,” he said.
Ritter's average also jumped from .368 last year to .430 this year (third in the ACC). She was a .400 hitter again, just like she was as a sophomore.
“When I was in second grade, I was really driven by my faith,” she said. “Thanks to this, I don't have to worry too much about numbers. Now that I've had a good year as a third-year student, I feel like I want to live up to their expectations once again and make the people watching me happy.''
“This year, I returned to my relationship with the Lord a little bit. [being] Only one thing is important. …That alone takes a lot of pressure off. ”
She leads the ACC with 77 hits.
“Everything with Emma Ritter is based on confidence,” D'Amour said. “If she's feeling good and feeling like she's having good at-bats, then that means something.”
Ritter has 14 home runs, 38 RBIs, and a team-high 58 RBIs this year.
“It's just about having good at-bats, swinging at the right pitches and having a good, stable mindset throughout the game,” Ritter said. “When you start looking at numbers, it pushes you mentally more than you need to.”
Ritter was the first batter, and Green was second in the batting order.
Ritter, 5-9, stole a team-high 25 bases in 28 attempts.
“If we didn't have this much strength on our team, I think she would have been around 40 people,” D'Amour said. “When you have that much power and can hit a double without risking being sent to second base, it’s hard to pull the trigger on stealing bases.
“She's one of the fastest kids I've ever coached.”
Ritter ranks first in Tech history for runs (183). He ranks third in stolen bases (81). Ranked 4th in hits (238), home runs (38), and triples (9). Ranked 5th in RBIs (139).
Ritter and Green graduated this month. Green earned a bachelor's degree in human nutrition, food, and exercise, and Ritter earned a bachelor's degree in agribusiness.
Green, Ritter, Fagan, and Luko enjoyed living in the townhouse for many years.
“We do everything together,” Ritter said.
“Everything,” Green said.
“Last week we went to a trade show and my dad was like, 'I can't believe we still want to be together,'” Ritter said. “We have movie nights. We also have date nights. We have sleepovers sometimes. And we live in the same house. We laugh together and cry together. .”
That won't change even after you graduate.
“I know we'll be friends forever,” Green said.
