NORTH CANTON —Hoover High School’s Erika Warren can beat you on the softball diamond with her bat. Her glove. Her arm. And definitely with her winning attitude.

Warren will take all those positives next year to Kent State University after she signed her letter-of-intent last week to play for the Golden Flashes on scholarship. She will join former Vikings star Alex Marcantonio, who made the Mid-American Conference All-Freshman team last season with the Golden Flashes.

A clutch-hitting catcher, Warren knocked in a school-record 43 runs in helping Hoover win the Division I state championship last season as a junior. Warren’s RBI single in the bottom of the fifth inning broke a 2-2 tie in the Vikings’ 4-2 final win over Gahanna Lincoln.

“Her hitting has improved over the time she’s been here,” said Vikings veteran coach Jerry Goodpasture. “She’s won a few games simply by her arm.

“But what stands out for me is the way she takes charge of a game. She takes charge of what goes on in the infield. Her pitchers have complete confidence in her.”

For Warren’s junior year, she batted .417 and helped her pitchers and defense post 11 shutouts and eight one-run games in the Vikings’ 30-3 campaign. She also led Hoover in home runs with three, while her four strikeouts in 108 official at-bats were the least of any starter.

Warren was at her best in the postseason. She went 3-for-7 with three RBIs in the state tournament. At regionals she was 3 for 4 with two RBIs. Warren also went 2 for 4 with two RBIs in the district championship win over defending state champion Perry, making her 8-for-15 (.533) with seven RBIs over her final five games.

But what excites Warren isn’t stats — it’s winning. That’s why getting signed early, and signing with Kent State, appealed to her.

“I’m definitely more relaxed,” Warren said of signing. “Now I can just focus on winning another championship. We definitely want another one, more than the first.

“Coach (Karen) Linder is a great coach,” she said of the 16-year KSU veteran. “They have a lot of athletes, a lot of talent.

“I want to go there and help win a MAC championship, and go further. ... My goal is to make the College World Series before my senior year.”