Abbie Rexrode and Hollee Warlitner, two of the best high school softball players in Timesland in recent years, are leaving the Virginia Tech softball team.

Tech announced Tuesday that both players asked for releases from their partial scholarships and will transfer from Tech at the end of the fall semester. Both are eyeing ODAC schools, opting to leave Division I softball for more action in Division III.

Warlitner was the 2009 Timesland softball player of the year as an Alleghany catcher, when she hit .588 with three homers, 19 RBIs and 16 stolen bases.

Warlitner intends to transfer to Roanoke College or Bridgewater for the spring semester so she can play in the ODAC in the 2010 season.

Tech planned to use her as a backup right fielder next spring, but she is leaving before even playing her freshman season.

"I just think I'll have a better shot of playing a little bit more at a smaller school," Warlitner said. "The position I was playing [at Tech], there were a couple of people in front of me.

"If I got to the ODAC, I'll have a shot at playing once I get there. ... Do I want to sit and wait and then not get much out of my first year [at Tech], or go right in to playing [in the ODAC]?

"I know I can be a D-I player, but I think it'll just be a little bit easier at D-III. I'll get a lot more playing time. That's definitely what I'm looking for, was playing time."

Warlitner, who played for the Hokies in their exhibitions this fall, signed with Tech last November.

"I didn't really take much time to look at any other colleges before I signed," she said. "Maybe I should've taken a little bit more time to look around."

Rexrode was the Timesland player of the year as a James River pitcher in 2008, the final year before that honor was split into a Timesland pitcher of the year and a Timesland player of the year. She was Tech's No. 2 pitcher as a freshman last season.

She said she is looking at Division II and Division III schools, including Roanoke.

Rexrode was 19-5 with a 0.46 ERA and 329 strikeouts as a Knights senior, when she also hit .554 with seven homers. She struck out 1,210 batters in her prep career, a Timesland record.

She was 5-8 with a 4.71 ERA and 47 strikeouts in 110 innings for Tech last spring. She started 19 games, second on the team to Kenzie Roark, who was 22-18 in 35 starts.

Roark is back for her junior season. Tech has added transfer pitcher Ashton Ward from the University of Tennessee, as well as freshman pitcher Jasmin Harrell.

Rexrode said she's looking for a team that will offer her a greater opportunity to pitch next spring.

She said she missed batting and would also like to hit for her new team. Rexrode said she also thinks she'd prefer a smaller school for academic reasons.

The 5-foot-4 Rexrode led James River, which was also the prep alma mater of former Tech great Angela Tincher, to a Group A title as a sophomore and to the Group A semifinals as a senior.

"I told everybody all along that she was not going to be an Angela," James River coach John Shotwell said. "Everybody expected too much out of her. She's just a small girl that did well in high school, but she wasn't going to be no big star at Virginia Tech. I think she'll do very well at Roanoke College, though."