3 Lemont High School Student-Athletes Announce College Decisions

LEMONT, IL — Three more Lemont High School seniors have announced that they will continue their education and athletic careers at the next level, the school announced on Thursday.

Softball player Lexi Liptak and baseball players Austin Belsan and Ethan Painter recently announced their school choices and will complete at either the Division II or Division III level, the school announced.

Liptak will attend Eureka College after and is finishing her Lemont softball career as a team captain. She could be Lemont's starting second baseman or left fielder and is in her second season at the varsity level. She played in 17 games as a junior and hit .200 with four hits and two RBIs.

She played on a team that finished as the Class 3A state runner-up and that went 28-4 and finished the season by winning 26 of its final 28 games. Lemont finished South Suburban Conference play with a 19-0 record. Liptak also plays travel ball for the Palos Power Premier team.

Belsan will attend Hope (Mich.) College, a Divison III school that has made four NCAA Tournament appearances.

Belsan is in his second varsity season and is a team captain this spring and will start at shortstop. He appeared in 30 games last season and batted .278 with six doubles, a triple, 18 RBIs, and scored 27 runs. Belsan also hit .412 with runners in scoring position and drew 15 walks while striking out only 11 times.

Belsan is a high honor roll student and a National Merit Commended student and plays travel baseball with the Top Tier program.

Painter will attend Division II school McKendree University in Lebanon. Painter made his varsity debut last year and appeared in 11 games.

He will serve as a relief pitcher and reserve infielder this season as a senior after going 2-for-4 with two doubles while also scoring 10 runs and stealing seven bases. Painter, an honor student, has won a pair of tournament MVP awards while playing travel baseball for the Wheatland Ducks.

Lemont finished last season with a 23-11 record and finished 18-1 in league play to win the South Suburban Conference-Blue Division title, and also the IHSA Regional championship.