BUTLER TWP — Alexis Roenigk is very good at hitting things.

She excelled at it as a standout softball player at Freeport High School, where she batted .395 as a senior in 2014 and belted four home runs as a junior in 2013.

Once a year, Roenigk engages in a different kind of smashing.

She rams a beat-up school bus as hard as she can into another school bus for show during a demolition derby.

“When your family owns a school bus company,” Roenigk said, “that kind of goes hand in hand.”

Roenigk took her school bus derby skills to the next level Sunday night at the Big Butler Fair, besting a field of nine buses in the demolition derby.

“It was a good feeling,” Roenigk said. “At the end it was me and my cousin still left. He tried to do a head on to take us both out, which would have also been cool, but I saw what he was trying to do and moved at the last minute and he crashed into my side and caught fire.”

Roenigk is only third woman to compete and the first one to win. In 2007, her late mother, Marsha, was the first woman to take part in the derby.

Her bus was painted the color of a rainbow this year. Last year it was a leopard print in honor of her mother.

“I really like making my bus look nice and I think that helps make me a little bit of a crowd favorite,” she said. “ My first year my bus was pink and painted to look like a pig, last year it was leopard print in memory of my mom, and this year I thought rainbow colors would look cool from the stands.”

This was the third consecutive year that Roenigk, who turned 21 Tuesday, has competed in the derby.

She said most of the buses are procured through bulk auctions and prepared specially for the demo derby.

Being a derby driver isn't the easiest thing to master, she said.

“You only have one mirror and that mirror is basically used to keep an eye on the kids in the back,” Roenigk said. “And you can't turn your head because if you get hit, you could hurt your neck.”

There's really only one rule for being a successful demo derby driver, however.

“Protect your front end,” Roenigk said.

That's exactly what she did Sunday.

“It's kind of cool when the bus starts on fire,” Roenigk said. “It's a diesel engine, so it isn't as back as a gasoline engine. You just get a lot of black smoke.”

Roenigk has been a fan favorite the last three years, no more than this year.

After her win, she was surrounded by kids who asked for her autograph.

“It's all about putting on a good show,” Roenigk said.

This latest demo derby certainly did.

“This one went almost an hour,” Roenigk said. “Typically they last between 30 and 40 minutes.”

Roenigk decided after high school to not play softball in college.

She'll be a junior at St. Vincent College this fall, majoring in criminology, law and society.

“I miss playing softball sometimes,” Roenigk said. “I think that's why I like the demolition derby. I like the competition.”