TAMPA, Fla. – Good athletes know how individual play affects a team’s success, and that you put aside individual statistics for the betterment of the group.
Outfielder Meghan Sheehan, the University of South Florida softball star, understands that role.
Whether it’s bonding over pre-game meals or showing support for each other on and off the field, the sophomore sees no limit to what they can accomplish.
“No matter what you do on the field, you’re still going to have 26 girls that have your back.” Sheehan says. “There’s nothing that beats that, you can’t replace it.”
In her eyes it’s not always about one person having an impactful game, good or bad, it’s about evolving as a unit and coming together to meet a shared goal.
This mindset helped the Forest Hill, Maryland native’s decision in committing to the USF softball program when she was only a high school sophomore.
“This is such a good program and they really focus on player development.” said Sheehan. “They genuinely care about you as a person and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”
As a freshman, Sheehan had a .257 average with 10 runs batted in and 10 stolen bases. She also recorded 47 putouts with no errors on the defensive side of the field.
This year, she was batting a hot .340 off 18 hits, just before the Coronavirus shutdown of all college sports.
Defensive success is something the 5-foot-six second-year player really focused on in the previous off-season and she credits the coaching staff and veteran teammates with improvements made.
“Last year, I was the least aggressive outfielder,” said Sheehan. “The upperclassmen and all of our coaches really worked with me a lot on defense and that’s definitely been my biggest improvement.”
In 22 starts so far this season, Meghan has recorded 21 putouts with two assists and only one error.
Sheehan has become South Florida’s every day right fielder and interim head coach Jessica Moore (a top-assistant to Ken Eriksen, who is away with his USA Olympic squad) has really felt her game is moving in the right direction.
“Megan Sheehan’s done a really good job this year.” said Moore. “(She’s) a super competitive kid, knows the standards and goes to work every single day.
“To see her be a steady player for us has been really fun to watch.”