Doing their part
ERIE — Mercyhurst University’s softball team made history this spring and two Butler County products were at the heart of the Lakers’ success.
Slippery Rock High School graduate Cheyenne Hindman and Freeport High product Ally DeJidas both had superb seasons.
A third baseman, Hindman batted .333 and scored a team-leading 34 runs. DeJidas, an outfielder/first baseman, hit .328 and paced Mercyhurst with eight home runs and 44 runs batted in.
The efforts helped the Lakers reach the PSAC championship game and qualify for the NCAA Division II tournament for the first time in their history.
They dropped a 3-2 decision to West Virginia Wesleyan Thursday in a regional game played at Kutztown University. Even so, Mercyhurst finishes with a 32-15 record, the most wins in a single season in the program’s nearly 40-year history.
The Lakers were 18-21 last year.
“We lost a few seniors from that team, but had a lot of talent coming back,” said Hindman. “We knew we could step up and be successful this season.”
Hindman, a redshirt junior who was recently named to the PSAC West Second Team, is no stranger to impressive numbers at the plate. The former pitcher batted .375 last year.
“I used that experience, knowing the tendencies of pitchers and that definitely helped me at the plate,” Hindman said. “We worked a lot in practice, facing inside pitches, outside pitches and offspeed stuff. I learned to be more relaxed and became very disciplined at the plate and drew a lot of walks.”
A team-leading 21 free passes this season to be exact, which helped Hindman reach base 41 percent of the time.
“I miss pitching sometimes,” Hindman added. “But we have capable pitchers on the team. I’m fine with having their back at third base.”
DeJidas, a redshirt sophomore named to the conference’s First Team, belted a pair of home runs in PSAC-tournament wins over Shippensburg and Shepherd. Like Hindman, she excelled last year, hitting .339.
As a senior at Freeport in 2019, she batted nearly .600.
“It was definitely an adjustment in college,” she said. “All of the pitchers at this level are good. They all throw hard and can throw multiple pitches, but I’ve spent a lot of time working on my hitting.
“We lost a lot of close games last year and knew we could’ve had a better record. Everyone on the team genuinely wants to be here and succeed.”
The Lakers lost to Kutztown in the PSAC title game last Sunday, but learned shortly after they would be involved in the regional tournament.
Mercyhurst head coach Leanne Baker was recently named PSAC West Coach of the Year. She could not be reached for comment.
