Freeport grad Allison Dejidas anticipates successful '22 season for herself, Mercyhurst softball team

For most college athletes, their freshman year is a critical period of adjustment. Off the field, there is the challenge of striking a balance between classwork and sports. On the field, the level of competition ramps up significantly from high school.

Mercyhurst softball player Allison Dejidas was in the middle of that second phase when the PSAC suspended its spring sports in March 2020 because of the covid-19 pandemic. The Freeport grad was on her way to a nice season, hitting .295 and starting all 16 games for the Lakers.

But without the benefit of a full season, Dejidas knew she would need to do a little extra work to get up to speed for 2021.

“My preparation … not that it was different in any aspect, but I just really worked hard in the offseason,” she said. “I focused a lot on weightlifting. There weren’t many days I wasn’t picking up a bat. I wasn’t necessarily changing anything but just a lot of reps.”

The work produced the desired result. Last season, Dejidas earned second-team All-PSAC West after hitting .339 with eight homers and 25 RBIs. Her eight homers ranked second on the team, and she ranked third in RBIs.

She started in all 38 of her appearances, meaning she has started every game in which she has appeared (54) since pulling on a Lakers uniform.

The Lakers, picked to finish fifth in the PSAC West this season, opened their season over the weekend with four games in Glenville, W.Va., and Dejidas is expecting her production to continue to rise.

For coach Leanne Baker, seeing Dejidas succeed came as no surprise.

“Ally is a worker, and, thankfully, she loves the game, so the work she puts in daily is enjoyable,” said Baker, in her ninth season as the Lakers’ coach. “She worked on being a complete hitter in all zones at the plate as well as put in extra outfield and first base reps.”

Dejidas, admittedly, struggled during the early part of the 2021 season. She produced only five hits over her first eight games — though one was a homer in Mercyhurst’s opener.

Over the next four games, she got 10 hits in 17 at-bats and was on her way. She hit safely in 25 of her final 30 games, and, because of drawing walks, in two of the five games in which she was hitless, she combined for only one official at-bat.

“I definitely was getting frustrated with myself,” she said. “I knew I was seeing the ball, but what I wanted to happen wasn’t happening. But I knew if I kept pushing through it that I was going to get through it.”

Dejidas’ contributions didn’t stop in the batter’s box. She also was one of the Lakers’ most reliable defensive players. Splitting time between first base and right field last season, she committed only two errors in 151 total chances for a .987 fielding percentage.

For an encore, Dejidas hopes to become more consistent with her hitting — “You can never be too consistent,” she said — and continue to be solid in the field. To that end, she said she worked this past offseason on getting faster.

By keeping her all-around game on an upward trajectory, Dejidas is hoping to help the Lakers surprise some people in the PSAC West. The Lakers went 16-16 in the conference in 2021, but with many of the same players returning, Dejidas is confident Mercyhurst will have a say in the PSAC title.

“All of our team is back, so that gives us a lot of confidence,” she said. “Because we had a successful season last year, I think we should be even more successful. People don’t really know what’s coming when they play us. We have so many talented girls that go even beyond the starting nine.”