By Bree Dunckhorst Posted March 4, 2020
This week’s Student-Athlete of the Week for JV softball is Cadance Mercado. Mercado was chosen by her coaches, Sean Cooney and John Dunckhorst, because of the kind of person and teammate she is.
“We chose Cadance Mercado because of her selfless dedication to the Lowry softball program and her teammates,” said Dunckhorst.“She is always upbeat, has a great attitude, and is always willing to help out her teammates. Cadance has a light-hearted sense of humor, and it’s obvious that she truly enjoys the game. “
Early on in the season, Mercado had to make a tough decision as to whether or not to play JV softball for another year as a junior or to not play at all.
“Cadance knew that without her, the Junior Varsity team would not have a catcher for the 2020 season,” said Dunckhorst. “She accepted a position on the Junior Varsity team as she has several years of experience as a catcher, one of the most difficult positions on the field.”
Mercado shows good leadership qualities and is very coachable.
“Cadance understands the very few weaknesses in her play and is willing to put in the hard work to improve in these areas. She recognizes that her improvements not only benefit her but her team as a whole,” said Dunckhorst. “Cadance understands the importance of being the starting catcher on a softball team and how catchers are the captains of the field. She regularly asks questions of her coaches so that she has a better understanding of specific game situations.”
Mercado has also had all of these qualities in the past, especially last season.
“Last year, Cadance felt that she was struggling with hitting. She took the advice of her coaches and made a few adjustments to her swing,” said Dunckhorst. “Because of this and the amount of work she dedicated to improving her swing, she was the only junior varsity player to hit a home run last season against Truckee.”
Mercado has learned that with hard work and dedication, it always pays off.
Mercado said, “My favorite part of last year was learning more about catching and getting help too from Coach Dunckhorst and getting to hit my home run in our last game because I learned so much last year on everything.”
