Arcola’s Ema Simpson to play at Lake Land; sister Ava Simpson completed first year at Parkland
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By Mike Monahan
ARCOLA – While schools normally have a person or two go to play a sport at the collegiate level one Arcola family has achieved a rare accomplishment. Ava, a 2025 Arcola grad, plays softball at Parkland College and her sister, Ema Simpson, a 2026 Arcola grad, will be playing softball at Lake Land College. The daughters of Jason and Jamie Simpson of Arcola, will also be earning a degree and both plan on attending a four year university after their two years at the National Junior College Athletic Association.
“No words will ever be able to express how proud I am of Ema,” said Ava Simpson. “Being able to see her live out her dream of playing softball at the next level is truly a blessing. She is going to do amazing at Lake Land.”
Ema Simpson said, “It is really cool that we get to share the same passion in college. However, it is unfortunate that we don’t get to play each other.”
Ava Simpson
“Towards the end of my senior year of high school I realized I was not ready to give up the sport I have loved since I was little,” said Ava Simpson. “It was always a dream of mine to go to the next level and when the opportunity presented itself I couldn’t turn it down.”
In Ava’s senior year Ava Simpson helped Arcola’s softball team go 15-14 overall, win a Class 1A regional and reach the Sweet 16. The Lady Riders finished 6-4 in the LPC, good for fourth place. Simpson led the team in batting at .411 second in singles with 24, doubles with nine, 12 runs batted in and led the team in stolen bases (29) and home runs (eight). She earned the Offensive Award at the team banquet and earned first team all-LPC honors.
“The biggest difference that I felt from high school to college was the speed of the game,” said Ava Simpson, who is an infielder for the Lady Cobras, coached by former Tuscola coach Lenny Sementi.
At Parkland Ava hit .188 in 22 games with five runs batted in and seven runs along with a home run and one stolen base. Her first and only home run of the season was on April 21 at Illinois Central College in a 9-4 (two-run homer) win in the first game of a doubleheader sweep.
“A personal highlight for me was hitting my first college home run,” said Ava Simpson. “The feeling was truly nothing like I have ever felt.”
The Lady Cobras went 40-20 overall and 17-3 in the Mid-West Athletic Conference (MWAC), a nine team conference in Division II of the NJCAA. Parkland has an enrollment of 9,000. The No. 17 team in the nation, Parkland, earned its trip to the World Series by sweeping Illinois Central College 2-1 and 7-0 to win the Region 24 championship. Parkland started the World Series in Spartanburg, South Carolina, with a 3-0 triumph over Richard Bland College and then lost to Copiah-Lincoln, 8-0 in six innings before keeping their hopes alive with an 8-1 win over Cecil College. The Lady Cobras were eliminated by the State College of Florida (Manatee-Sarasota), 8-0 in five innings.
“Team wise going to the World Series and just being able to experience what it is like to find the best teammates possible was a highlight,” said Ava Siimpson. “We all had team goals throughout the entire season and being able to play the game I love with other girls who also love the game as much as me was amazing. The World Series was so much fun. It was a sad ending, but the friendships that I made last season are forever!”
Her first collegiate hit was on Feb. 14 against Milwaukee Area Technical College in an 18-2 victory. She also drove in her first run in that game.
“This summer has been a little different since this is my first summer not doing travel ball,” said Ava Simpson. “Since I am not doing that anymore I have been working out and staying in shape for the upcoming season.”
Ava Simpson is in the Pathways program and is doing social work. After Parkland (this is her last year there) she is going to the University of Illinois to continue her studies.
Ema Simpson
In 13 games Ema Simpson hit .387 for the 4-22 Lady Riders, who finished 2-6 in the LPC. She also had a fielding percentage of .910. She had to endure an injury that occurred in basketball and in the fall.
“It trickled into softball and track in the spring,” said Ema Simpson. “I had a stress fracture on the top of my foot. I am cleared for all activities now and I am pretty much healed.”
Ema Simpson looked at other colleges such as Parkland and Frontier.
She was on the second team all-LPC as a junior and had the best fielding percentage award at .957.
“I never fully knew how far I’d get with softball until about the age of 14,” said Ema Simpson. “That is when I wanted to get serious about this sport because I enjoyed it so much.”
In her last full season, her junior year, Simpson hit .398 with 34 runs batted in, seven doubles, six triples and eight home runs and 11 stolen bases.
“In college things can change; you may end up in a different spot than what you were originally recruited for, but as of right now I am listed as a catcher/utility player, which is what I was in high school,” said Ema Simpson.
Lake Land, a Division I NJCAA school with an enrollment of 4,138, competes in the Great Rivers Athletic Conference. The Lady Lakers are coached by John Hendrix and were 44-15 last season, including 34-6 in the conference. They lost in the Region 24 tournament to John A. Logan, 10-9.
“I’m so incredibly blessed to be playing in college,” said Ema Simpson. “It means the absolute world to me and the little girl I first started playing. Every travel coach I ever had shaped me to who I am and all of my high school coaches not only softball, but other sports too. Most importantly my friends and family as well.”
Ema is studying elementary education and would like to play at Eastern Illinois once she is done at Lake Land.
Currently Ema is playing travel softball for the premier girls fast pitch travel organization.