La Habra Catcher Topping Chooses Washington

La Habra’s Jenny Topping, considered the county’s best defensive catcher, has made an oral commitment to play softball at Washington.

The Huskies, who finished third in last year’s NCAA World Series, were selected over UCLA by the left-handed power-hitter.

“I felt it was the best place for me for the goals I’ve set for myself, which is to be in the Olympics,” Topping said. “UCLA has four catchers and Washington has only one.”

Topping led the county in batting the last two years, including hitting .583 last season as a junior. Her runs batted in dropped from 42 to 15 and home runs from seven to three as teams pitched around her. Still, she was The Times Orange County first-team player, and was selected to Cal-Hi Sports all-state team.

She batted .588 as a sophomore, and .394 with five homers and 24 RBIs as a freshman.