SLIPPERY ROCK — It's a frigid January night and Macy McCall lugs her softball equipment into Slippery Rock High School to take some swings in the indoor batting cage.

McCall is on break from Wright State University, but there really is no respite for the Raiders' sophomore.

Not when McCall is undertaking the task of reinventing herself.

Again.

“Any day you're not working, somebody else is,” McCall said. “You have to better yourself every day.”

The Slippery Rock grad is completely revamping her game after an up-and-down freshman campaign at Wright State last spring.

McCall started 50 of the 51 games she played for the Raiders and batted .225.

She did have eight doubles, swiped 14 bases and played a stellar center field — after rarely playing there throughout her softball career — but the experience left her wanting more.

“It was a learning year for me,” she said. “I didn't play much outfield throughout the years, but I got put in center field and I enjoyed it out there. Hitting — it was mostly mental for me. If I got in a slump, I struggled to get out of it.”

McCall is completely changing her approach at the plate this season. She's switching from hitting from the right side to the left and becoming a slap hitter to take advantage of her speed.

It's a radical change but one McCall and the Wright State coaches believe will make her an impact player.

“I think I'm seeing the ball better from the left side,” McCall said. “I told my coaches when I got back to campus this fall that I was working on slapping from the left side during the summe and that I thought I was really getting the hang of it and they said, 'Sure. Give it a shot.'”

McCall, though, said she just won't be a one-trick pony from that side of the plate. She can dig in and take a powerful cut from the left just as well as she could from the right.

“I still have power from the left side,” McCall said. “I'm excited to see how the season goes.”

McCall admitted that at times she was taken aback by the Division I game as a freshman.

Every player on the field was like McCall — a star on her high school team.

McCall, who didn't play at Slippery Rock as a junior, returned for her senior year for the Rockets and batted .484 with five home runs, seven doubles and three triples.

She made first-team all-state.

There is no doubt about her athleticism. McCall was a standout basketball player on the Rockets' District 10 5A championship team during her senior year and also qualified for the PIAA Track and Field Championships in the triple jump and 100-meter hurdles.

Still, her first season was an eye-opener.

“The game is so much faster. It's crazy,” McCall said. “All the pitchers, they almost never miss their spots and when they do, you have to take advantage of it. I can't wait to grow through these next few years.”

That growth may come at another new position.

McCall has been playing shortstop and is penciled in there when the real games start Feb. 7.

All the change has been daunting, but McCall has tackled the challenge.

“I think all these adjustments are making me mentally stronger,” McCall said. “I can't get too comfortable. There's always someone breathing down my neck waiting to take my spot. We have so many good players who can play multiple positions. It's always good to have someone pushing me.”

The coaching staff showed McCall a lot of faith last season and even now, allowing her to make the radical switch from the right side to slapping from the left.

It's one of the reasons why McCall is tackling this season we renewed vigor.

“That makes me feel good to know my coaches obviously believe in me and it makes me believe in myself even more,” McCall said. “I don't want to let them down. I want to make them proud and I want to help my teammates and the team. They always have my back no matter if I'm hitting .100 or .300. That's a good feeling.”