EMPORIA (KSNT) – Emporia State Softball hosted a high school prospect camp today.
Students were able to show off their skills in front of the Hornets coaching staff.
Head Coach April Rosales is happy to use this as an opportunity to give back to the community and scout future talent.
“It’s awesome because they come to us in that regard and it’s nice for us recruiting-wise, we can be with them for five hours in a day, six hours in a day, and help them develop a little bit,” Rosales said. “I think that’s something that we excel at here is figuring out those pieces, we’ve got to continue to get the right parts and the right pieces to compete at each spot and that’s where it’s been a little tricky.”
The 2026 season will be Rosales’ 11th at the helm, where she boasts a 239-222 overall record and is .500 in conference play.
She’s hoping to build off of last season’s 31-23 record and bring them back to the near-championship form of her days at ESU.
“For us to get back to where we were when Coach Hill and I played, we’ve got to keep recruiting good players that are going to do the work outside of practice,” Rosales said.
During her time with the Hornets, Rosales hit .324 and racked up 30 RBI in the 2008 season, when Emporia State were the NCAA Division II National Runners-Up. She was also named to the First Team All-MIAA list that season.
Rosales graduated from Johnson County Community College in 2005, where she hit .452 with a .567 on-base percentage. She earned all-region and all-district honors while with the Cavaliers.
She attended Jefferson West High School and was a team captain for the Tigers her junior and senior seasons.
