Sarah Coppert may not understand or get every joke her Eastern softball teammates tell her.

But she understands how to hit and play at the Division I softball level.

Coppert is second on the team in RBIs (15) and batting average (.311) entering this weekend’s three-game home series against Tennessee State.

The Maple Park native has started every game this year at second base for head coach Kim Schuette, becoming a fixture in a lineup where 16 different players have started a game.

Coppert spoke with Online Interactive Editor Kevin Kenealy on Monday about country music, her original college choice and her job at a paper factory.

You started in 25 consecutive games last year. What was that like for you?

Coach always says whoever works hard in practice always gets to play so I worked really hard so nobody could take my position.

Was it really hard for you to keep going out there?

No because I like to keep going out there. If I was sitting, I’d be pretty disappointed. I like playing every game.

You’re second on the team in RBIs. What do you bring to the plate?

Well I bunt a lot too and I can also hit through the gap. So if someone’s on, I basically know that I have to hit the ball; I’m not going to strike out. I’m basically just looking to move them along the bases.

Is second base kind of a favorite position of yours or is there another position that you’ve played that you maybe like more?

I like second base a lot because you have a lot more to cover. You have to cover for the bunts and back up the pitchers and everything.

Do you ever wish you could lead off from the bases in softball?

Well our bases are a lot shorter in softball than baseball so if we led off we’d be halfway there probably and we get to leave halfway as she’s releasing the ball so it’s like a leadoff.

Where are you from?

Maple Park, Illinois

Where is that?

It’s out by DeKalb where NIU is.

Everybody has little quirks about their hometown. What about your town; is there anything that’s interesting about it?

Well I don’t really live in a town, but our high school community everybody knows of it as like the farmers. Our high school community was in town and we were like the farmers.

Cubs, Sox, Cardinals?

Cubs. Sox are okay. But Cubs.

Let’s talk about professional softball for a minute. Jenny Finch and players like that; what are they doing for the sport from your perspective?

Well I think they’re helping it a lot. You know, they just started the professional league. Jenny Finch, all the guys like her and it’s bringing a lot more attention to it. And I think Michele Smith, who’s another really good pitcher, started the whole thing and got everyone else really involved in it.

Did you ever think about hopefully doing something like that one day?

I didn’t really think about that.

They just bumped softball from the Olympics starting in 2012. Do you have an opinion on that?

Well in the past years they obviously didn’t bring in as much money as all the other sports but I think it would start getting a lot bigger because the USA team is really good; so I think they should keep it.

Tell me a little bit about Coach Schuette. What kind of person is she on and off the field? How does she motivate you guys?

On the field and at practice, she’s very strict and wants to get us the job done, you know, get winning. And off the field she’s more down to earth and she’s really cool you know, because she’s still young so she can relate to us. And before every game she gives us motivational speeches.

Is there any one speech that stands out in your mind?

Well one speech she gave us is how we really love the game and we all need to play how we really love it.

Do you have any weird hobbies or any hobbies in general outside of softball?

Not really, because I don’t have any time outside of playing.

What kind of music do you listen to? Do you have a favorite artist?

Country; not really a favorite but I like all the newer stuff. I don’t like the old, old country.

Do you have any one concert that stood out in your mind?

Yea, I went to a Brooks and Dunn concert and it was probably the best concert I ever went to. They just really involved the crowd and threw out their picks and stuff.

Do your friends make fun of you for anything?

Yea, they make fun of me because sometimes I’m kind of slow on jokes and then they make fun of me when they have to explain it.

Do you have any nicknames or anything?

Not really, I mean my roommate calls me Pert because my last name’s Coppert. Nobody really calls me Sarah.

Who do you look up to and why?

I really look up to one of my summer coaches, Robin Voss. He was like in the Canadian Hall of Fame and he played on the men’s fast pitch world championship team and stuff like that. He’s a hitting and pitching coach and if you go in and hit, but his hitting, he can pinpoint the smallest problem and he can fix it and then you’ll be hitting awesome. It’s so weird. I still call him once a week. He’s a really good friend too.

Have you held any jobs in the past that you can still remember that had some funny moments?

Yeah I worked at this place called Richwrap. They make wrapping paper and bows and I worked in the assembly line in the back. And one time the guys saw my keys and put shrink wrap all around it into a ball that was huge and it took me three hours to cut the ball loose so I could go home.

How long have you been playing and what got you into it?

I’ve been playing since like maybe 5 or 6. I wanted to play like every sport and my dad used to play baseball and that’s the one they let me play I guess.

Have you played any other sports growing up?

Yeah in high school I played volleyball and basketball, but volleyball wasn’t my favorite and I was better at softball than basketball so I just decided to stick with softball.

Do you have an embarrassing moment that you want to share?

Well for the team, this past weekend was pretty embarrassing. When the bus caught on fire, we all ran out of the bus and then all these cars were like honking their horns at us and we’re all just like standing there because we had no where to go. And then when Denne (Menzione) was on there a big tire just burst and she came out of the bus screaming. It was so funny. It sounded like the bus was exploding.

How did that happen exactly?

Well I guess some people in the back heard the tire pop but then we all started smelling rubber and they didn’t pull over or anything but I guess Coach said they were trying to make it to the next exit, but we didn’t make it that far. So we had to pull over and it was actually on fire, so we all had to run into the woods.

How long were you detained from this?

Well we were supposed to leave at 4 and we didn’t end up leaving until like 9.

Talk about this team for a minute. When I was at one of the practices I noticed you guys are always cheering each other on. Talk about that.

Well Coach Schuette always tells us that if we do all the small things right, then it will all come together. We just have to make sure everything’s perfect, so we line up our gloves perfect, our bat bags perfect and we just try to do everything good so that we’ll play good.

How do you go about approaching practice?

Now we’re going out, but like in the fieldhouse it’s kind of hard because you can’t dive or anything but you just pretend it’s a game and keep playing hard.

Some people like to listen to music to get them pumped up or ready for a game. Do you do that?

Well on the bus, we all listen to the same CD and we all sing and dance and it gets us pumped up for the games.

What are road trips like?

Well this one was so long but they’re kind of fun. We watch movies the whole time and it’s a good time to catch up on homework and stuff.

What’s the main difference between high school and college softball?

Well my batting average isn’t as high as it was in high school and it’s kind of frustrating but you have to realize it’s not going to be because the competition’s stronger in college.

What do you think you’re getting out of softball the most?

I think I’m getting teamwork because you have to work together with everybody and I think that will help me in my future jobs.

Now you’re an accounting major; why’d you choose that?

Well, math has always been my best subject and I think it will be fun. I don’t know why; a lot of people think it’s hard, but I just like numbers I guess.

What do you do on your days off from softball?

Well we catch up on laundry and then we still hang out. And it’s like we’re sick of each other, but then we never are. It’s fun to actually be able to have a good dinner instead of rushing to get home to do homework after practice.

So what’s your typical schedule like?

It’s class and then we have to get to practice like an hour early, get to the trainer and then get to practice and sometimes we have weights and then get home, do homework, eat dinner. Then it’s the same thing the next day.

What’s your roommate like?

It’s Angela Danca. She’s a left fielder and center fielder and we came here together. We were supposed to go to Quincy with Coach but then when she switched here, we both switched here together. We both play really good together too.

Where do you hope this team is going right now?

It was really hard starting out with Tennessee Tech, because they’re one of the best teams but I think we’ll make a good comeback. Hopefully we’ll make it to the tournament again and be in the top.

Sophomore second baseman Sarah Coppert is the leadoff hitter for the Panthers. Coppert, as a freshman, was selected to the 2006 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament team. (Amir Prellberg/The Daily Eastern News)

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