Hammer Leading by Example
5/7/2013 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Being a leader can mean different things to different people. Some leaders are vocal, some provide emotional encouragement, and others try to lead by example. For Brittany Hammer, a senior on the Seton Hall University softball team, leadership means all of these things and the goal is trying to get all of them right.
With Hammer leading the charge the Seton Hall softball team is enjoying its most successful season over the past five years and without question the best campaign during Hammer’s four seasons donning a Seton Hall uniform.
The Pirates wrapped up the regular season with a pair of critical wins at Georgetown to secure their first trip to the BIG EAST Championship since 2009 and there was Hammer leading the charge when her team needed her most, batting a blistering .667 while scoring five runs in the final series of the season.
Everything fell into place for the Pirates as they won six of their final 10 conference games to secure the No. 8 seed in the BIG EAST Tournament. The season will continue as Seton Hall faces Notre Dame in the BIG EAST quarterfinals on Thursday, May 9, and for Hammer a four-year dream is finally realized.
“You couldn’t write a better script, to finish it on the last day of the regular season, to come out with a clutch win and get all of the help that we needed, the stars pretty much aligned,” Hammer said. “When I found out, there were so many mixed emotions, I was speechless. It’s my first BIG EAST Tournament, I’ve never been to one, and to go to the conference championship in my senior season is awesome.”
Hammer has been a mainstay at shortstop for Seton Hall over her four seasons. A starter since her freshman year, she has played in 183 games, starting in 178 of them, and will leave the program with her named engraved throughout the program’s record book.
This season was the first under new head coach Paige Smith and that meant a lot of changes for the Pirates as they adjusted to working with a new coaching staff and taking a different approach to the season and improving as a team.
“I would say her ability to deal with the change in a positive direction has been her biggest role on this team,” Smith said. “We’ve been asking the team to do a lot of things they haven’t done before and that kind of transition can take time to develop. Brittany seemed to sit back, watch the positive things happen and then buy in.”
Leading by example came naturally for Hammer. She enjoyed a solid first three seasons for Seton Hall but knew that coming into her final year in February she wanted to turn it up a notch and go out with a bang. Hammer focused in on making improvements to her game and the results are easily apparent.
In each of her first three collegiate seasons she was a testament to consistency. Hammer hit .299 as a freshman, batted .297 as a sophomore and .300 as a junior and started in all but five games in which she appeared.
Her senior campaign easily trumps her previous seasons as she is hitting .340 with a career-high 37 runs scored, 12 extra-base hits including nine doubles, a .449 slugging percentage and 13 stolen bases.
That improvement did not happen by accident and it didn’t happen overnight. Seton Hall’s entire team has displayed marked improvement in nearly every offensive category, as the Pirates are boasting a .297 team batting average compared to just .233 last season.
Hammer is not the only player to witness a profound improvement to her game, the examples can be found all over the field. Junior Maria DeLuca is hitting .351 with seven homers, nine doubles and 39 RBI; last season in 147 at bats she hit .218 with four doubles and eight RBI.
Sophomore Sara Haefeli has boosted her batting average by 143 points compared to last season, sophomore Colltey Sheldon has seen nearly a 200 point jump in her average.
“I think the whole team dynamic has changed,” Hammer said. “Coach Smith and the new staff are a very enthusiastic, very energetic presence and I think the team has really bought into it. We push each other to drive for that kind of attitude and perspective on the game. Everyone is competing not just with our opponents but with one another and it has made us a lot better and a lot stronger.”
It goes without saying that having a senior leader striving for excellence has rubbed off on the rest of the team. And while the results speak for themselves, Hammer’s improvement is aided by a cognitive approach that she takes to every task set before her.
“Brittany is a smart girl, and what that means is you have to prove something to her before she makes an adjustment,” Smith said. “Her adjustments have happened gradually over time because she needs to see results. I think that will pay off for her in the future. She has approached her game in a perfect way, by questioning why and wanting to see the proof.”
Hammer’s senior season has bolstered what was already an impressive athletic resume. Heading into the postseason she already ranks in the top-10 in Seton Hall history in a litany of offensive categories, currently sitting sixth in batting (.311), seventh in career doubles (29) and eighth in hits (161) and runs scored (93). Her 37 runs scored in 2013 is the fifth-highest single season total in school history.
Off the softball diamond Hammer’s accomplishments are just as impressive, if not more so. Earlier this year she was named First-Team Academic All-District, the first SHU softball player to earn that distinction in 2010, and she was named the Seton Hall Female Scholar Athlete of the Year.
Hammer has served consecutive years as the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee President and has helped the Pirates’ student-athletes champion a number of community initiatives including annual food drives and benefits to raise awareness for groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD).
Still, with all of the personal accolades and success she has enjoyed over the past four years, team comes first and being able to achieve the ultimate team goal of earning the opportunity to compete for a BIG EAST Championship is paramount.
“Greatness is not just about making yourself succeed, it’s about bringing people with you and she is a part of a core group of girls that stretches all the way down to our freshman class that believes in that,” Smith said. “They are always making themselves better and then helping people around them. I think making it to the BIG EAST for Brittany was more about bringing people with her. She has won a lot of individual awards but I think she would give them all back for a BIG EAST Championship.”
After a four-year wait Hammer will finally get that chance when the postseason gets underway. Naturally what excites her most about the opportunity isn’t the culmination of a personal four-year journey, it’s about proving that Seton Hall belongs in the upper echelon of the BIG EAST
“We have such a young team with so much talent, and it definitely shows that the program is on the upswing and they are going to go to so many higher places in the future,” Hammer said. “I’m really looking forward to the experience and the whole atmosphere; we are one of the top eight teams in the conference and that we get to play with the best teams.”
