Trib HSSN softball player of the week for April 20, 2025

By: Don Rebel
Sunday, April 20, 2025 | 9:51 PM

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Previous Next

Trib HSSN softball player of the week — Danica Trainer

School — Mt. Pleasant

Class — Sophomore

Position — Pitcher, shortstop

#Earned — This past week and for most of this season, sophomore pitcher and shortstop Danica Trainer has hit all the right notes in helping the Mt. Pleasant softball team seize first place by two games in Section 1-3A. On Monday against traditional power Yough, Trainer was 3 for 3 at the plate with two runs scored and an RBI with a double and a solo home run. In the pitching circle, she threw a complete game, allowing two earned runs, seven hits with a walk and 10 strikeouts. On Wednesday in the first of two against Ligonier Valley, Trainer had the day off from pitching but still carried a big stick by going 3 for 4 with three runs scored and two doubles. The next day in the rematch against the Rams, Trainer was 2 for 4 with two runs scored, two RBIs and another double. She picked up the victory in the circle with seven innings pitched, three earned runs on six hits with one walk allowed and three K’s. The three section triumphs last week gave the Vikings a six-game winning streak.

Background — While she views her future sport in college being softball, Trainer plays two other sports at Mt. Pleasant. She is a member of the Vikings basketball team in the winter and started playing tennis her freshman year. This past year, Trainer and fellow Vikings sophomore Ryleigh Drzal finished second in the 2A-1 sectionals and qualified for the WPIAL doubles girls tennis championships where they were seeded No. 9 and lost in the first round. The basketball team missed the playoffs after tying Yough for fifth place in Section 3-4A with a 6-16 overall record. As if her schedule wasn’t full enough, Trainer plays the flute in the Mt. Pleasant marching band. For this softball season, Trainer is batting .514 (19 for 37) with 15 runs scored, nine RBIs, five doubles and three home runs. She has a .550 on base percentage, .892 slugging percentage and 1.442 on-base plus slugging percentage. She has three older sisters. She was named after champion race car driver Danica Patrick, and her middle name, Presley, came from singing legend Elvis Presley. Her two favorite Easter treats are Cadbury eggs and marshmallow peeps.

What coach says — “Dani is a farm girl from Mt. Pleasant, and she is a workhorse,” Vikings =coach Paul Reho said. “As her coach, I’m actually more surprised when she gets out rather than when she hits a double or a home run. She has just been that consistent.

“Right now, we are in the middle of section play, and the team knows that the target is on their backs. Yough and Ligonier both presented tough challenges, so I had to challenge them to exceed the effort of their opponents. Right now Dani is dialed in at the plate and in the circle. She has fully accepted the challenge that I and the team’s opponents have given her.”

Reho provided perspective on his team’s April 11 victory.

“Probably the biggest moment of the season thus far was when we played Southmoreland. They took the lead 11-9 in the bottom of the sixth inning. In the top of the seventh, we had two runners on and Dani at the plate. In that moment, I had so much confidence that Dani was going to do something special and she did. She hit a go-ahead three-run homer and then went back to the circle and shut them down in the bottom of the seventh for the win. I believe that the confidence she gained in that moment has propelled her into this past week’s accomplishments.

“I think her biggest improvement from last year to this year is that she understands that she isn’t going to just blow it by everyone at the high school level. She is still going to get her strikeouts, but most importantly she needs to hit her spots, spin the ball, and trust that her teammates are going to have her back in the field. For the most part, she has been able to do that and it has been a major factor for the team’s success thus far.”

2025 Trib HSSN Softball Players of the Week

Week 2 — Bailey Barnyak, Carmichaels

Week 1 — Toryn Fulton, Franklin Regional

Tags: Mt. Pleasant