Former PB, TRC standout headed to Southwest Baptist

Playing in front of friends and family is special. It doesn’t matter the circumstance.

For Audrey Rahlmann Lack, she’s gotten to play the sport she loves in front of her friends and family for the last several years. First in youth leagues then for the Poplar Bluff Lady Mules. Then the last two seasons, Rahlmann has been a member of the Three Rivers College Lady Raiders where she wrapped up her sophomore season with Second-Team All-Region honors.

“It was nice being close to home and I felt like my coaches really helped me mentally like prepare to be somewhere else and they really pushed me to work on my own and just get a lot better while I was there,” Rahlmann said of her time at TRC. “I knew I wasn’t at the stage I needed to be to be at a bigger school and I feel like I’m finally there. I’m really glad that I had that kind of stepping stone to take me to the next level.”

Rahlmann played in 28 games during her freshman campaign and even though she hit .310 with 20 RBIs and 22 hits in just 71 plate appearances, she knew her role would expand this past season.

In 56 games, Rahlmann hit .387 with nine home runs, 38 RBIs and 63 hits to go with 41 runs.

Even though she knew her time would increase, Rahlmann said she wasn’t nervous.

“I honestly kind of felt less pressure just because I felt like I was more capable and prepared to like be in that situation,” she said.

She said she was ready for the moment to be a leader and be an example for the other members of the team.

When Rahlmann was 14, she went to a softball camp in Colorado. It was those interactions with fellow coaches and players that helped Rahlmann realize how much she wanted to pursue the sport.

That pursuit won’t end in Poplar Bluff as Rahlmann is taking her talents to Southwest Baptist this upcoming season.

Rahlmann reached out to a few schools but it was the Bearcats that got back to her the quickest.

“I’ve been looking at it for a while and I just really liked that they had a Christian community there too,” she said. “They really wanted to like put that first and they have a very good physical therapy program, which is what I want to do. I just really liked the community-based feeling I had when I walked on campus. It made me feel like I was still at home.”

While Rahlmann’s days at TRC are over, the name will still continue on the Lady Raiders roster as her younger sister, Clara Rahlmann, will join Three Rivers this fall.

“I’m excited for her to start her own path,” she said.

Rahlmann’s sister, along with several other members of her family, have been key in her success and they’ve given her things she’ll never forget as she takes her journey to the next level.

“We had different family members willing to step up at any moment,” she said. “Especially my grandparents because it was just it was kind of hard, but it was totally worth it ... You can’t get those memories back.”