On base ... all of the time
ADA, Ohio — Ohio Northern University's athletic nickname of Polar Bears makes one think of the cold.
Jackie Mangola's bat is at the opposite extreme.
The Seneca Valley graduate and Polar Bears' junior second baseman is hitting .500 through 94 at bats, has been named Ohio Athletic Conference player of the Week four times and reached base on 29 consecutive plate appearances this season.
On top of all that, she's set Ohio Northern single-season records for home runs with 17, walks with 31 and slugging percentage at 1.138.
“She's been nothing short of phenomenal,” first-year Polar Bears softball coach Kim Burke said. “During that streak, she was just on fire.
“She was enjoying the game, so relaxed at the plate, doing her thing ... I've never seen anything like it.”
During that 29 at-bat streak, Mangola was walked 15 times, was hit by a pitch twice and delivered 12 hits, including two doubles and seven home runs.
After belting three home runs against Wilmington in a doubleheader Sunday, Mangola was intentionally walked with two outs, no one on base in her next at bat.
“I had never experienced anything like that,” Mangola said of the intentional pass.
And the 29 successive times reaching base?
“I never came close to anything that way,” she said. “For a while, I didn't even realize any kind of streak was going on. All I was trying to do was perform well for my team.
“The streak ended when I lined out to third (vs. Heidelberg). I know that because some teammates told me.”
ONU sports information director Tim Glon never heard of anyone reaching base that many consecutive times at bat at any level.
“It's just not done,” he said. “Not in Little League ... not even in slow-pitch softball.”
The next game after the streak, Mangola had three hits in four at bats against Baldwin-Wallace, then went 0-for-2 in the second game of that doubleheader.
“That's a mini-slump for her ... seriously,” Burke said.
Mangola was OAC Player of the Year as a sophomore and will likely repeat that honor. She is second in the nation with a .636 on-base percentage and is among the top five nationally in numerous offensive categories.
Mangola also carries a .982 fielding percentage this year — three errors in 166 chances — and has started every game of her college career at second base.
“She warrants National Player of the Year consideration,” Glon said. “She's been that good.”Mangola has actually been hit by a pitch (six times) more often than she's struck out (five) this year“She's gained a lot of respect throughout the OAC this year,” Burke said. “Nobody wants to pitch to her. Jackie hits a lot of bad pitches and hits them hard.“One pitch came in above her chest and she hit it out.”Not getting good pitches to hit affected Mangola mentally for a while — a brief while.“I started thinking about it too much and wound up taking some good pitches,” she admitted. “My coach told me to quit thinking so much and just play.”Mangola was teammates with her older sister, Tina, her first two years at Ohio Northern. Tina is an assistant coach at Division III Washington University ion St. Louis, Mo., this year — while Jackie is hunting down most of her school records.Last year, Mangola hit .455 with 13 homers and 60 RBI.“Those numbers intimidated me a bit going into this year,” she said. “No way was I going to do that again. What's happening this year is a complete surprise to me.”Like her sister, Jackie Mangola hopes to get into coaching after graduation. She is a health and physical education major.“I know Tina's proud of what I'm doing and I've looked up to her my entire life,” Mangola said. “I've always wanted to be like her.”Ohio Northern recently captured its third straight OAC regular season title. The Polar Bears have not been to the Division III World Series since Mangola's freshman year.She said she would trade all of her records for a return trip this year or next year.“Absolutely,” she said. “The World Series was an awesome experience for all of us. To enjoy that again with my teammates, that's my primary goal.”
Seneca Valley graduate and Ohio Northern University junior second baseman Jackie Mangola is approaching a few of her sister Tina's Polar Bear career softball records:• Home runs — Tina Mangola with 38 (Jackie 37)• RBI — Tina Mangola 169 (Jackie 147)• Doubles — Tina Mangola 44 (Jackie 37)• Total Bases — Tina Mangola 399 (Jackie 330)
