SLIPPERY ROCK — Sometimes Sam Volponi needs to pause and think for a moment before she puts on her softball uniform.

She has to remember which one to wear.

"Honestly, I have seven pairs of softball socks — which I have to wash, by the way — in my softball bag," Volponi said. "They are all for the different teams I play for."

For Volponi, there is no off-season. She puts on at least one pair of those socks that are tucked away in her bag 12 months out of the year.

Yes, even in the winter.

It's little wonder then that no matter who she plays for or where she plays, Volponi is one of the best players.

She hit .420 for the SlipperyRock HighSchool softball team in the spring as a sophomore. She also has a steady glove and a rocket arm at third base.

That wasn't enough, though. She also played for the Rockets' junior varsity team as a pitcher this spring.

Her high school season was good enough to earn her all-Region honors.

This summer, she is playing for two teams — the SlipperyRock High School 18-and-under summer league and the Erie Crush, a 16-and-under traveling team.

Even snow doesn't stop Volponi.

In the winter she plays in a league in Vienna, Ohio. Games are played indoors at the ThunderPlex.

Not long ago, she also played Little League baseball.

"I played with some of the guys on the baseball team now," Volponi said. "I don't know if any of them remember."

Opponents around the area certainly remember playing against Volponi.

She is a vocal leader, barking instructions to the rest of the infield when she is at third base and cheering on her teammates at the plate when she's not terrorizing pitchers in the batters' box.

"When we cheer, we are like one, big, loud echo," Volponi said.

"The kids look up to her," said Slippery Rock High School coach TomWamsley. "She's definitely one of the leaders because of her talent level and the way she handles herself."

Volponi and a youthful core of Rockets hope to turn around the fortunes of a program that has fallen upon hard times this decade.

Slippery Rock has not won more than five games in a season since 2000 — the last time the team made the District 10 playoffs.

The Rockets went 5-10 last season and had several games washed away at the end of the campaign that could have helped them end that five-year losing skid.

"A lot of girls, including myself, were upset we didn't get another chance to play Grove City and Meadville," Volponi said. "We couldn't get any of them rescheduled.

"We just want to be part of something special at the school. No one pays any attention to us. No one notices us. We want to make people notice."

Volponi wants to make people notice her as well.

Recently, she attended a college scouting camp at Washington & Jefferson College and wowed onlookers with her abilities.

She has no plans to cut down on the number of softball socks in her bag any time soon.

"This is something I definitely plan on pursuing into my college years," she said. "I'll just have to see how that goes. I still have some time to think about that."