She hit .341 as a sophomore in her first year as a starter for Butler's varsity softball team.

But Sara Hamil wasn't satisfied.

Hamil spent much of her summer playing softball for the Ellwood City Rampage, hitting .478 with 10 doubles and a home run in 69 at-bats and playing in eight tournaments throughout Pennsylvania and Ohio.

She also has been working with batting coach Dave Anderson at the Thunderplex indoor and outdoor softball facility in Vienna, Ohio.

"He straightened me out a lot," Hamil said. "He turned my baseball swing into a softball swing."

"We worked on getting her to take a short, more compact swing," Anderson said. "Sara is so strong and she has tremendously quick hands.

"I've been working with softball hitters for five years now and she's the best hitter I've seen," he added.

Anderson said Hamil hit over .300 as a sophomore, despite being fooled by the movement of different pitches.

"She was just seeing the ball and swinging at it," he said. "Pitchers would get her out on drops, rises and curves. But Sara is rotating her lower body when she swings now and she's staying back on pitches more.

"Come next spring, she'll be able to hit every pitcher in the area."

Hamil is strong defensively as well. Her Ellwood City team nicknamed her "Scoop" Because of her ability to dig balls out of the dirt at first base.

She was named MVP of two games at the Dawg-Daze Tournament in Huron, Ohio, this summer.

Butler coach Tanya Schnur said Hamil's fielding was one of the Golden Tornado's strengths last spring.

"Sara has such soft hands," Schnur said. "She controls the ball so well on short hops.

Hamil's on-base percentage was .426 with Butler last spring. She only produced three doubles, however, and did not hit a home run.

Schnur is hoping for more power production from Hamil next year.

"We graduated Kara Deal and Heather Spangler, our two best hitters," Schnur said. "We're counting on Sara to be the big hitter on the team, to drive the ball and drive in runs."

Hamil plans to play for Anderson's indoor softball team this winter.

"He asked me to try out for the team and I made it," Hamil said. "It's called the Thunder Elite team. We'll start playing in October and end in February.

"I want to play year-round. It gives me more games to work on my swing," she added.

Hamil averaged 14 home runs a season as a baseball player. Her last year of baseball was at 12 years old.

Now 16, she is in her fourth year of fast-pitch softball.

"It's such a transition," she said. "It's a totally different swing. Your left hand leads, you have to roll your hips and snap the bat through.

"He (Anderson) has changed my stance, my stride - everything."

Anderson expects Hamil to develop into a softball power hitter - when opponents pitch to her.

""One of my students - Katie Olive of Mineral Ridge (Ohio) - led the state in home runs as a junior, then hit one homer the following year because no one pitched to her," Anderson said.

"Sara may find herself in a similar situation at some point. But she'll be playing for my 18-and-under team, and I expect she'll hit a few homers," he added.