Ceara O’Neal is hardly in need of rehab, but she does have an addiction. And it’s a habit the Steinert softball team hopes she can’t kick.
“I have ESPN plus, so it’s all the college (softball) games,” the Spartan junior said while sitting in a dugout corner in late March. “My favorite thing to do is just split the screen into four and watch all of them. I love it. I could watch it forever.
“Sometimes I watch it because it’s fun and something I just like. A lot of the time I pick up stuff.”
It doesn’t end there.
“I like to go out and watch college teams in person too,” O’Neal continued. “We have so many colleges around, you can go anywhere and watch a game. I was actually at Princeton yesterday.”
As much as O’Neal enjoys watching softball, she’s even more hooked on playing it. And she plays it well. So well, in fact, that Spartan coach Jenn Melker needed just a small sample size of O’Neal to see her potential. Prior to her freshman season, O’Neal suffered an ACL injury. When tryouts began, she was limited to what she could do during her recovery.
Shortly after the preseason started, Covid-19 shut down everything and those brief sessions were all O’Neal had to prove herself.
They were enough.
“I saw the talent even then, because of who she is,” Melker said. “We would have to tell her, ‘Ceara, you gotta go sit down, you’re doing too much.’ She was giving it 110 percent even though she was on these restrictions. As a coaching staff we were like, ‘You can’t do this anymore, you gotta sit down, you’re not following the guidelines for yourself.’ She’s just an athlete through and through.”
O’Neal returned in good health as a sophomore, and the results were impressive. In the Spartans 18-5 season last year, she hit .507 (33-for-65) with a team-high 12 doubles, two triples, two home runs, 30 runs scored and 32 RBIs. She was second on the team to Kelsey Smith in average and RBIs but, despite her success, she never felt her starting job was secure.
“I think I had the mentality that I had to keep proving myself, because there were a ton of kids who worked really hard and could take your spot at any moment,” O’Neal said. “It was like, once you got the spot, you had to keep fighting for it and producing to keep it.”
It’s actually a good attitude to have, even when her position is secure like this season. With big hitters Smith, Julia Hannawacker and Bella Truelove all graduated, O’Neal becomes the Spartans most dangerous bat. She still has talent in the lineup to help her as Isabella Bonacci (.423), Avery Kontura (.380) and Makenna Spak (.403) can all provide protection.
“Our lineup is definitely unsettled, but she will be in one of our big spots,” Melker said. “My job is to know what we have to work with and place her in a position to know what she can do. I have to work people around her in the right way to where it’s gonna make her shine and stand out and get her those at-bats she needs to drive those runs in.”
Defensively, O’Neal is a coach’s dream, able to play second, third, shortstop and all three outfield positions equally well. Her position has not yet been decided, but she says that she is ready for anything.
“I’ll play wherever they need me; wherever the hole is, I’ll go,” she said.
O’Neal began playing softball for the HGSA at age 4. She started travel at age 10, and two years later moved to the Central Jersey A’s with some teammates. Shortly after that, she switched teams again, and is now playing for the Stars National.
Throughout her journeys, O’Neal has become a true student of the game.
“She takes coaching,” Melker said. “She’s a leader for this team, she stands out, she helps everybody she needs to help. When we go over plays she understands why we’re doing something, she’s not just doing it because the coach is telling you to do it.”
O’Neal is just as understanding at the plate, which makes her such a tough out. Last year she went hitless in just four games, and only had two back-to-back games without a hit. She won’t chase bad pitches and drew 10 walks.
“The walks come from knowing what you’re doing when you’re at the plate,” Melker said. “It’s knowing what not to go for, and when to attack. The education is there. That’s something that’s very difficult to teach, she just has it.
“She knows where she’s strong, she knows what pitches to wait for, she knows when to attack. She’s more on the attack generally at the plate, which is what you’re looking for as a coach. You’re not looking for hesitancy and the person waiting for the perfect pitch.”
O’Neal went into last season using her basic strategy, and got surprising results.
“I want to hit it hard all the time. Good things happen when you hit it hard. It doesn’t have to be a home run, it can be a single up the middle and you still affected the pitcher. You still did something positive for your team,” she said.
Perhaps her best trait, when it comes to hitting, is an ability not to dwell on bad games.
“Every day it’s something new,” she said. “It doesn’t matter if you went 0-for-3 the day before, you can still show up and go 3-for-3 the next day.”
What does matter to Melker, is that she has the joy of coaching O’Neal for two more seasons.
“She is a one-of-a-kind player,” the coach said. “She’s one of those kids where you would be happy to have a whole team of her.”
Ceara O’Neal hit .507 with 32 RBI as a junior for Steinert. (Photo by Rich Fisher.),
