BILLINGS — As far as we know there may be two Ellie Ostermillers at Billings Senior.
The one that kills you with the kindness of her contagious smile. And the one that clubs your fastball over the fence so fast you don’t have time to see it sail away.
Ostermiller’s dangerous bat and solid pitching earned her four varsity softball letters for the Broncs. Then she added three more in basketball, including a third-place State AA finish.
Outside the gym and off the field, Ostermiller seems pretty organized but confesses otherwise when asked about something as simple as keeping a clean car.
“Oh yeah, disaster,” she said, laughing. “I have to at least clean it every time I drive my parents somewhere so they don’t see it.”
If that’s her biggest flaw — and it might be — Ostermiller doesn’t have much to worry about. She’s hit the school books as hard as anyone but admits this month’s graduation is on her mind, to say the least.
“Definitely, Senioritis is hitting right now,” she smiled. “But the past years of school I’ve definitely been nose-to-the-grindstone trying my best and just really focusing on that more than anything else.”
That doesn’t mean it’s been all work and no play.
“I like to talk, so in class I wouldn’t always use my time the best way,” she said, delivered again with a smile. “But I would always end up getting (school work) done.”
She giggles about it, but the homework has paid off in spades. Ostermiller is replacing sports with an academic scholarship to Montana Tech, leaning toward an engineering degree, she says, but it’s still up in the air.
Much like that fastball.
The Midland Roundtable will announce one male and one female winner at its Athlete of the Year banquet on Wednesday, May 15, at the Billings Hotel and Convention Center.
