SW's Zimmerman putting up scorching hot numbers at MVNU

"Whenever I could pick up a ball," Zimmerman said of when her journey in sports began. "That's pretty much when I started playing. My family loves sports. My Dad (Shanen Zimmerman) was very athletic, played baseball in college and coached baseball. Whenever I could do it, he definitely made me do it."

Considering that much of her immediate family played a sport in college, Zimmerman felt that she needed to keep that legacy going.

"I wanted to play a sport in college my entire life," Zimmerman said. "I felt like that was what was expected of me. When I played travel sports, a lot of my coaches would tell me that I could play at the next level, and to contact them if I needed anything. That made me say, 'Okay, I can play at the next level in college.'"

Zimmerman, however, has made her own name with the successes that she's had.

A key rotational piece in volleyball, Zimmerman amassed 860 digs and 495 kills in her final three seasons of play in the sport to help South Webster go 74-6 in those three years of competition.

The Jeeps won no worse than a share of the SOC II Championship in each of those three seasons, and after advancing to the OHSAA State Final Four in Zimmerman's sophomore year, made it back to the OHSAA Division III Regional Semifinals in 2022 and the OHSAA Division III Regional Championship Game in 2023.

As a standout basketball talent as well, Zimmerman became the team's go-to scorer following the graduation of Bri Claxon, as Zimmerman averaged 15.7 points, four assists, 3.6 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game as a junior followed by averages of 19.2 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.5 steals and three assists per game as a senior.

The Lady Jeeps went 25-21 over Zimmerman's final two seasons in a South Webster uniform despite being placed in Division III as one of the smaller schools in enrollment in that division before the expansion to seven divisions beginning with the 2024-25 campaign.

However, Zimmerman's success on the volleyball and basketball courts paled in comparison to her play on the softball diamond.

Excelling from the getgo in softball, Zimmerman helped South Webster take a heightened trajectory as a junior, batting an incredible .607 with six home runs, 25 RBI and 29 runs scored over a 17-game stretch while helping South Webster score a OHSAA Division III District Championship and a 3-2 upset win over West in the OHSAA Division III, Region 11 Semifinals before the Lady Jeeps fell to eventual state champion Wheelersburg in the OHSAA Division III, Region 11 Championship Game.

In 2024, South Webster, buoyed by the return of Zimmerman, who was a First-Team All-Ohioan in 2023 in softball, slammed its way to a 25-4 overall record. The Lady Jeeps put together winning streaks of eight, eight and seven games, and exacted revenge on Wheelersburg in a OHSAA Division III, Region 11 Final, winning 4-3 in a contest that was held at Ohio University in Athens.

Putting the bow on the present in another All-Ohio campaign, the Second-Team All-Ohioan went 3-for-4 in that regional championship win with a double, a RBI and a run scored in the win. Zimmerman started things with a leadoff single in the top of the seventh inning and came around to score what proved to be the game-winning run on Ashlee Spence's RBI single to center field in the top of the seventh, making the final difference.

"I believe it comes down to just having grit, being determined and doing it for your teammates," Zimmerman said of South Webster's success over her own four-year career.

With two OHSAA Final Four appearances in the bag in two separate sports, Zimmerman had done something nobody in her family had done.

Now, she wanted to continue that legacy as a collegiate athlete, particularly in softball.

"I just loved softball, and that's what I really wanted to do," Zimmerman said. "My senior year rolled around, and heading into the spring, I still hadn't made a decision yet. It was between softball or volleyball, and I just knew in my heart that if I didn't pick softball, I would really miss it."

There was one problem, however.

Zimmerman wasn't receiving attention in that particular sport.

"I had a lot of schools looking at me for basketball and volleyball, but in softball, I had no offers," Zimmerman said. "I was kind of discouraged in that way."

But in a chance conversation that Zimmerman's high school volleyball coach, Darcee Claxon, had with the Mount Vernon Nazarene coaching staff during the spring of Zimmerman's senior year of high school, that all changed.

And just like that, the Cougars had themselves yet another gem from Jeep Country.

"In the spring, my volleyball coach and teacher, Darcee Claxon, said, 'Hey, I got an email from Mount Vernon's softball coach. He emailed you during the summer,'" Zimmerman said. "I completely missed it. I just felt like that was a sign, because I was very upset that I didn't get any for softball. To know that he messaged me in the summer going into my senior year, that was a sign to me that playing softball at Mount Vernon was the right fit. My faith also played a role in that, because I feel like if I didn't go to Mount Vernon, I wouldn't have grown in my faith like I have. There were a bunch of different things there that just played out for me to go here."

Since arriving on campus, Zimmerman hasn't just been an impact player for Mount Vernon Nazarene — she's been the impact player.

One of only two players on the Cougars' roster to play in all 50 contests in 2025, Zimmerman was electric from start to finish as a true freshman. The 5-5 outfielder finished the season with a .407 batting average, five home runs, 40 RBI and 48 runs scored in those 50 games with 20 of her 70 hits going for extra bases over the course of the year. Zimmerman also posted an .OPS of 1.042, and helped Mount Vernon Nazarene go 29-21 in the process of doing so.

In 2026, Zimmerman's become a more complete player in all facets.

Having guided Mount Vernon Nazarene to a 23-20 overall record so far, Zimmerman has improved in every area. She's hitting .431. She's hit four home runs while driving in 45 runs. She has the same amount of extra base hits (20) in seven less games than the year prior on 66 total hits in all. The dynamo talent has scored 47 runs herself while improving her .OPS even further to 1.114.

And lastly, there's Zimmerman's fielding — which has risen by nearly five percentage points to .980 as a sophomore after a .935 mark as a freshman. No. 11 has committed just three errors in 152 defensive chances in 2026, after committing five in 77 the season prior.

Those numbers have Zimmerman on pace to likely earn NFCA-NAIA All-Region V and All-Crossroads League honors for the second year in a row — and possibly further accolades than even all-conference or all-region billing.

It's clear that Zimmerman is making good on the goals that she's had for herself.

"I want to become more confident in who I am as a person and grow in confidence in terms of my faith as well," Zimmerman said. "I feel like I've always wanted to be a better teammate and a better leader, but the experiences I am about to have are going to show me how to be better in both areas, because I have great role models that are around me, and I look up to them. I just want to be a friend and a leader at the same time. I also want to serve God to the best of my ability and be a great sportsman to others."

And of course, her family is right there with her every step of the way.

There's her mother, Brandi, who, while watching the game with a similar tenacity as how she played it, undoubtedly cares for her daughter and wants only for her best.

"My Mom tells me, 'Just hit the ball,'" Zimmerman said. "She simplifies everything for me. I tend to overthink a lot and I have a great deal of anxiety when I'm at the plate. She tells me, 'Just hit the ball. You know how to play the game. Just do it.' That's pretty much the main advice that she gives me."

And there's her grandfather and her brothers, who have served as Zimmerman's hype men throughout much of her athletic career.

"It's meant a lot," Zimmerman said of the support that her brothers have given her when asked about them. "It gives me a safe feeling, because I know that Shane and Trae are always there and they are always supporting me. My brothers are like my father figures, in a way, so they encourage me, they call me and ask how I'm doing, and they hype me up a little bit because I'm not big on doing that myself. They are truly my biggest supporters. It's meant so much to have them behind me. Trae may have not played a sport in college, but he knows how it is, doing sports and going to school at the same time, so he has extended conversations with me and talks to me about how sports, school and life is going. Just having that support and knowing that they are going to be there, no matter how I do or what I do, and will always be there to support me, is an amazing feeling. It gives me a safe feeling."

With an umbrella of support between her family, the South Webster community and the additional family that she's found at Mount Vernon Nazarene, Zimmerman is excited to see what her future holds. She wants to become a physical therapist while staying involved in the world of coaching, and, most importantly, becoming a involved and loving parent of her own one day.

"We have classes here that help us discover our calling and our purpose in life," Zimmerman said. "Us going to Bible studies and having chapel every day, we do a bunch of different tasks that are good for us to do from a spiritual standpoint. I believe that's helping me with my own calling in the future. I want to be a mother and a coach one day, but I also want to be a physical therapist because I love helping people, and I love the relationships that I can build and grow through getting to know them. I really do believe that God is calling me to be a helper in life, whether that be a coach or a physical therapist, so I believe that I'm on the right path."