The Eastern softball team’s junior outfielder April Markowski is showing big improvements at the plate through the first 16 games of the season.

Markowski is batting .318 on the year, which is third best on the team. She has 14 hits on the year, five of them being doubles with a total of two RBI’s.

Markowski is happy with how she is hitting and with how much she has improved.

“I feel like it is definitely moving upwards,” she said.

Markowski knows that there is still room for improvement and that she can get to a higher level.

“I feel like it’s clicking better than it was,” Markowski said. “But there’s definitely more room for improvement for it to completely click.”

She said that her strongest point has always been her defense, so her hitting has been her biggest improvement.

Markowski didn’t play too much her freshman year and ended up batting .214 and steadily improved to her sophomore year batting .277.

She said she feels like this season has come with a different swing. Markowski, a sociology major came into college wanting to be able to benefit the team.

“Obviously it’s always good to hit in the .300’s,” She said “but if I could hit .400’s, I might as well just retire.”

She attributes her success at the plate, to her coaches. Head coach Angie Nicholson, along with her staff, has helped Markowski with her batting stance and swing.

“April has been working really hard on staying thru the ball and not pulling off,” Nicholson said. “She has really been working on keeping her hands inside the ball and not getting around it.”

Markowksi used to have a wide stance where she would just sit back and tried to hit the ball. Markowski said that she has been doing a lot of tee work.

She said the biggest thing that she has learned is to attack the ball and be aggressive, and to not think in the batter’s box.

“That was a really big problem,” Markowski said. “Now when I’m in the box I’m just completely calm and all I see is the pitcher and the ball.”

Markowski said she had a lot of strikeouts last year and it got to her head.

Her favorite game on the year so far was last weekend in the matchups with Indiana and Kennesaw State because the Panthers were all hitting really well.

Markowski was 3-7 in the two games with two of the hits going for extra bases.

“I felt like all of us were hitting good,” she said. “I was able to, with runners on hit a double and score them.”

She said that she is just going to keep working hard for the rest of the season to make sure that her success at the plate continues.

“Just keep putting the work in in the cages,” she said. “Stay focused, stay relaxed in the box, and hit the ball.”

Markowski said that before games, there are the serious people who are focused and you don’t talk to them but she likes to have fun before a game.

“I just love dancing,” she said. “I have to dance before a game.”

She said she is serious, but she needs a loose lackadaisical fun attitude as well.

Her humor can help the team when things aren’t going their way.

“I try to lighten the mood when something is going wrong,” Markowski said.

Her personality also makes her approachable for the younger players on the team. She said she can give them advice to help them through the season.

“It’s usually humorous advice so I feel like it relaxes them in a way,” She said.

Markowski just wants to just keep up the hitting and keep moving forward through her remaining time at Eastern.

“I don’t’ want to hit that peak and just plateau, or fall down the side of a mountain,” she said.

Sean Hastings can be reached at 581-2812 or Smhastings@eiu.edu.