Making a difference
SLIPPERY ROCK — The only time Cheyenne Hindman steps into the circle to pitch is from late March to early June.
The rest of the year, the senior on the Slippery Rock High softball team plays elsewhere.
“Pitching is such an important role,” said Slippery Rock softball coach Dan Hindman and Cheyenne's father. “People don't realize she's not doing that through the summer.”
Cheyenne, though, has acquitted herself well for the Rockets as a pitcher the last two seasons.
She was 12-5 with a 1.61 ERA this past spring, striking out 116 batters in 122 2/3 innings pitch. She helped Slippery Rock come within an extra inning loss to General McLane of advancing to the District 10 semifinals.
As a sophomore, she posted a 2.37 ERA.
“If you think about it, as a freshman we were 0-for-the-season,” Dan Hindman said. “We went from that to a playoff-caliber team in large part because of her pitching. A lot of others contributed to that as well.”
Cheyenne didn't let the position change in high school affect her hitting — or how she was recruited.
She batted .434 this season with a home run, 14 doubles and 16 RBI. She hit .388 as a sophomore.
Cheyenne committed to play at Eastern Michigan University as a sophomore.
“I went on my visit and they made me feel welcome,” she said. “I didn't expect to commit that early, it was just the right fit and the right time.”
Eastern Michigan sees Cheyenne as an infielder or a utility player. She can play second, third and left field.
As long as she can hit, she'll find a spot on the field and in the lineup.
“(Eastern Michigan softball coach Melissa Gentile) told me she saw me hit one day at a camp,” Cheyenne said. “She's looking at me for second base.”
Cheyenne doesn't much care where she plays as long as she plays.
She spends her summer on the Ohio Outlaws traveling team. The Outlaws have already produced more than 50 Division I recruits throughout its teams.
“High School is a lot different than travel ball,” Cheyenne said. “The pitching in travel ball is unbelievably good. If you can hit .300 in a weekend, you're having a very good weekend. I mean, you're facing pitchers who throw 62 mph with curveballs and rise balls and drop balls.
“You're playing against girls who are going to Auburn and Alabama — huge athletes who play year-round down south. It's a great benefit to play against people like that.”
Cheyenne has worked hard to hone her game, especially her hitting.
She said her focus now is much more on the mental side of the game, not so much the physical.
“Honestly, it's my mental approach that I'm working the most and the hardest on,” she said. “You have to have a tough mental approach. You have to go up there feeling like they can't get you out.”
Cheyenne is working on toughening herself up.
“You have to be gritty,” she said. “You have to play with passion.”
