Gatorade names Amherst softball pitcher Emma Mendoker player of year
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This is quite a three-day stretch for Amherst Regional softball pitcher Emma Mendoker.
The senior woke up Thursday morning to the news that she had been named the Gatorade Player of the Year for Massachusetts. She'll graduate from high school on Friday and then pitch in the Western Massachusetts Division 1 Tournament championship Saturday.
"That's a big week," she said Thursday morning. The award "means a lot to me. I've worked so hard for so long to be a good pitcher. I've pitched my butt off. It's a great honor."
Mendoker, enters Saturday's game against Agawam, which will be played at the UMass Softball Complex at 3 p.m., with an astonishing 971 strikeouts. She has posted a 21-1 record this season with a 0.15 earned run average.
"It's really important to have the teammates that I have," said Mendoker, who has posted three straight seasons with at least 20 wins since moving to Amherst from New Jersey before her sophomore year. "They are so supportive. They dive for everything in the field and want to make the out . Knowing that, I'm really comfortable. When the batter hits the ball, I know they will do everything they can to get the out and being more comfortable makes me pitch better."
Mendoker is also the team's cleanup hitter. She batted .485 with a ..750 slugging percentage and a .583 on-base. She hit three home runs, scored 23 runs and drove in 23.
Amherst entered the tournament as the top seed for the third straight year and is looking for its third WMass title in four years. The Hurricanes fell to Milford in the state semifinals last season.
"I'm really excited about (Saturday's game). I'm really pumped to play Agawam again," Mendoker said. "They are a very good team and I know it's going to be a great game. I'm psyched for it."
Mendoker will play on scholarship at Division I East Carolina University next year.
