Jessica Kallander, one of the “Smash Sisters” from the 2008 Oak Harbor High School softball team, has received a scholarship offer to play softball for Marion Military Institute, a two-year military school in Marion, Ala.

Marion Military Institute is the State Military College of Alabama and has an enrollment of 293 students.

Kallander, a first-team WesCo All-star and a second-team all-state player her senior year, attended the University of Hawaii last year where she attempted to earn a spot on the team as a walk-on player.

She was contacted by several schools in the spring and tried out for the Marion Military Institute team June 22.

Kallander said the tryout took place at 7 a.m.

“Defensively I played well, but the coach’s main focus was on my batting,” she said.

Kallander was a strong hitter when she played for the Wildcats and finished the season with an average of over .400.

“The coach kept asking me if I had a hitting instructor growing up or in high school because of my apparently ‘advanced’ swing and he also stated his shock that the Hawaii coach turned me down,” she said.

After the tryout was over, Kallander said she wasn’t offered the scholarship at the time because the coach wanted to take a look at a new freshman from Florida.

“But he said I could basically rest easy knowing it would be awarded,” she said.

Kallander said later that afternoon the coach said the girl from Florida had committed to another school, and she had beaten out the girl who tried out earlier. She was then offered the scholarship amounting to $13,000.

She will be reporting to the institute Aug. 9.

Kallander said with her credits transferring from the University of Hawaii, she should be able to get her AA degree in three semesters.

The best part about the school is that it’s a ticket to play Division 2 or even Division 1 ball in the Southeast area, so it’s a good possibility that she will be playing D-1 or D-2 ball by 2012.