Sarah Schneider is powering Penn in her first full softball season

Junior catcher Sarah Schneider is lighting it up for Penn’s softball team this season.

Heading into Sunday, Schneider ranked first in the Ivy League in home runs (nine), slugging percentage (.634), and runs scored (28); and third in OPS (1.039). Her 20 RBIs are tied for second in the league. She also has 10 stolen bases, good for fourth in the Ivies.

She’s doing it all in her first full collegiate season, since the last two Penn softball seasons were shortened — just 10 games last year and 13 in 2020 — because of COVID-19.

Penn coach Leslie King credits Schneider’s success to the work she put in during the offseason.

“She came into the spring season having worked really, really hard over fall and winter on her swing, and she works hard in the weight room, and that hard work has really paid off for her this spring,” King said.

Getting their timing down against live pitching was one of the points of focus for Schneider and the Quakers ahead of the full 47-game regular-season schedule this year.

“We saw a ton of [live pitching] in January and February, and that was just super helpful going into the season, I think, to get not just mine, but the entire team’s confidence up after not having seen live pitching consistently for almost two full years,” Schneider said.

This is Schneider’s first year playing against Ivy League competition. The Quakers are 10-27 (5-10 in the Ivy League) after Sunday’s 9-5 loss to Princeton.

The transition was an easy one for the Sherman Oaks, Calif., native. Before coming to Penn, Schneider played six seasons for the So Cal Choppers, a team in the California softball travel circuit.

“I played with a lot of girls who are at top-25 softball schools, so I think being in that competitive environment really prepared me for the Ivy League,” Schneider said. “I just kind of go in with the mentality that I’m just as good, if not better, than anyone I’m facing, and just that confidence is what I think has been able to push me through when I’m facing these Ivy League pitchers.”

Schneider started playing softball at age 8, trying out gymnastics and tennis first before finding her passion on the diamond.

“I played for some old-school coaches that were very, very hard on us, and we would be out there for four or five hours a day just practicing and running if we didn’t do something correctly,” Schneider said. “I think those values that they instilled in me have kind of carried over to Penn.”

She started all 13 games of her abbreviated freshman season and led the league in runs (13) and doubles (four). Schneider hit two home runs in nine games during her sophomore season.

She is the only junior captain on Penn’s roster and strives to set an example for her teammates.

“I’ve definitely had to step up a lot as a leader this year. I’m still kind of finding my way, but I’m really glad that I’ve had that opportunity to do that,” Schneider said. “Catcher is a huge position, and definitely has to take control of the team, and as the season has gone on, now I’m starting to call pitches for our pitchers as well.”

Schneider is also a junior mentor with the Penn Athletics Wharton Leadership Academy, a program started in 2017 as a collaboration between Penn’s athletic department and the Wharton School of Business. Student-athletes in the program participate in lectures and workshops intended to develop their leadership skills.

Building strong relationships with the pitchers she works with is an important component of Schneider’s leadership style.

“I’ve tried to get meals with each of [the pitchers] individually if I can, and really get to know them as people past softball,” Schneider said. “[I want to] understand how I can best give them feedback, and really understand their pitching styles as well, especially with calling pitches.”

One of those strong relationships is with junior two-way player Bella Fiorentino, who bats cleanup for the Quakers. She hails from Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., and played in the same travel ball circuit as Schneider.

“Sarah and I have gotten close, because we have to have a connection for pitching and catching. And we also hit right after each other right now,” Fiorentino said. “So there’s a lot of exchanges of information of, ‘Hey, I saw a drop ball.’ ‘Oh, I saw that changeup.’ And we’ll sort of exchange information like that because we can pick up the spins, we can pick up how the ball moves and be like, ‘I think this pitch is the best pitch to hit.’”

Schneider’s numbers at the plate have carried over to her teammates. In the most recent released league stats, Penn ranked first in the league in home runs (24), and second in hits (226) and on-base percentage (.336).

“Sarah really sets the tone for our team,” Fiorentino said. “Whether she’s sending it over the fence, or whether she’s just making really good contact, she’s coming back into the dugout and giving us really good information for all of us to make a plan at the plate.”