December 23, 2022 at 8:42 a.m.
DeMeyer signs to play softball at River Falls
DeMeyer signs to play softball at River Falls
DeMeyer affirmed that opportunity this past Wednesday, signing a letter of intent to play for UW-River Falls beginning in the 2023-24 school year.
The COVID-19 pandemic canceled DeMeyer's freshman season. While she missed only a couple of games last season, an ankle injury kept her from pitching during the second half of the year and appeared to hamper her production at the plate.
DeMeyer was first-team All-Great Northern Conference as a sophomore in 2021. She went 4-10 in the circle that season with a 3.18 ERA and 109 strikeouts over 81 1/3 innings pitched. She also hit .409 on the season.
Hard work and perseverance were the two key traits that repeatedly came up during Wednesday's event, announcing DeMeyer's signing - between work on her own in the offseason and playing travel softball during the summer and fall months.
"She put in a lot of hard work, a lot of miles, a lot of time on the tee in the garage hitting into nets, a lot of time down at Pioneer Park," said Addi's father, RHS head softball coach D.J. DeMeyer. "She's developed into a very well-rounded softball player. She can play pretty much any position. She can play outfield, infield, pitch. I think she's a good leader and, as a kid, she's all right."
"Nobody will ever out-work Addi, that's for sure," added assistant coach Dan McDonald, who has worked with DeMeyer as a pitcher since she was in fourth grade. "She's progressed so much. We had COVID. She had her ankle and she persevered through all of that stuff and now, this year, look out."
DeMeyer said that she has been in contact with River Falls since her freshman season. She was drawn to the campus in western Wisconsin early in the recruiting process due to its pre-veterinary program. She said she's already been accepted in that program and hopes to eventually transfer to UW-Madison to complete her post-graduate studies.
"When they first recruited my freshman year, I went to all of their camps and stuff like that, they had the best program to be a veterinarian, so I kind of decided that was where I was going to be if I was given the opportunity," she said.
DeMeyer played shortstop for much of last spring, after the injury to her plant foot made the pitching motion uncomfortable. She continued to play through the summer with the injury before having surgery in early August that came at the expense of her senior volleyball season. She said she has nearly fully rehabilitated from the surgery and should be ready to pitch again for the Hodags this spring.
DeMeyer added the injury did not affect her recruiting much, as River Falls considered her both as a middle infielder and a pitcher.
"They were looking at me more as a middle infielder. I liked pitching in travel, but I enjoyed the game more when I was middle infield. (Head coach Amber Dolhman) did ask about pitching and I said I would be willing. It's kind of wherever they need me," she said. "I think if I have a good comeback this season, I'll probably have to pitch, which is OK."
DeMeyer played with the FirePro club team out of Stevens Point in the summers. She credited another Hodag assistant coach, Clara Groskopf, for encouraging her to considering softball opportunities beyond the high school season.
"I don't think I would have gone to college if she didn't bring up that experience. I don't think I would have had the opportunity," she said.
With that experience came sacrifice, both for Addi and her parents. Pretty much every weekend over the past several summers has been spent hours from home, taking part in one tournament or another.
"I was playing ball every weekend. I wasn't out like other kids enjoying the summer on a boat. I was at a tournament. I was working hard. I was always practicing, stuff like that," she said. "(My parents) gave up all of their vacation. Every single weekend they gave their vacations for work at a softball tournament in the stands, buying me food in between innings, running me waters, Gatorades. They didn't catch a break. They were working the whole time."
For his part, D.J. DeMeyer said he "wouldn't change it one bit."
"I'm glad to see that she reached a goal that she had. That's the main thing," he said. "I encourage that for all kids, set goals and reach them. Then set another goal after that. Keep moving forward. That's something we've kind of done all along."
Addi DeMeyer will join a Falcons' squad that went 17-16 overall last year and finished 6-8 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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