A lot has changed for Amber Dietrich in the past year, but a lot has stayed the same.
Dietrich has gone from being one of the most likeable students at Steinert High School, to one of the most popular students at Cabrini College as a freshman. Nothing new there.
“I spent a lot of time watching kids play for my 2014 (recruiting) class and almost every tournament I went to, I had a Cabrini shirt or hat on, and people would come up to me and say ‘Oh, do you know Amber Dietrich?’” Cabrini softball coach Mitch Kline said. “I call her The Mayor. They all know Amber, and not only do they know her but they say nothing but great things about her.
“Everyone loves her. Everyone knows her, she’s so well thought of. She’s like the go-to person at the school. If you need something, you go to Amber, and that’s throughout the school. She’s got the ‘It Factor.’ She’s a special young lady.”
That shouldn’t be much of a surprise to the Steinert community. Faculty member Nicole Caruso would say that all the time about Dietrich when she was working with her on one project after another. Phys-ed teacher Albert Mostrangeli said she put him in a good mood when she walked into a room.
But there has been a change in Dietrich’s life—on the softball field. It’s the kind of change that Popeye gets when he downs a can of spinach.
Dietrich has gone from a mild mannered, slap-hitting No. 9 hitter in high school, to one of the most feared sluggers in the Colonial States Athletic Conference.
Playing for Division III Cabrini College, the freshman leftfielder was tied for the CSAC lead in home runs with six, and in hits with 38 as of April 20. She was 12th in batting average (.422), third in slugging percentage (.744), sixth in runs scored (28), tied for sixth in triples (three) and ninth in stolen bases (eight).
“I don’t know where it comes from,” Dietrich said of her power surge. “It just came out of nowhere I guess. In Myrtle Beach (at the start of the season), I went 0-for-10, maybe even worse than that. I couldn’t hit the ball to save my life.
“On the last day, I hit double in the gap. From there on out, it’s been non-stop.”
There has been one difference that’s easy to pinpoint. Dietrich spent her final two years in high school as a switch-hitter. This year, she has hit predominantly from the right side—which is where her power is—but won’t totally abandon switch-hitting since she worked so hard to learn it.
“Hitting well as a righty makes me want to stay on the right side, “ Dietrich said. “But sometimes I want to bat lefty against a right-hander, just so I don’t lose my whole touch.
“(Steinert coach Jean) Ruppert wanted me to switch at the end of my sophomore year. I did really well my junior year, but after the injury, I was six months behind so it was shaky my senior year.”
Yes, the injury. It’s never good to be injured but, in this case, it may have landed Amber a place on the Cabrini roster.
Three games into her senior year of field hockey, Dietrich tore her ACL in September. At first she was devastated, saying “I felt like a failure, fear just flushed throughout my body.” But she regrouped within her mind and over the next six months went on a quest to rehab and get her knee back to where it was.
She made it back in time for the start of softball season, earning the Hamilton Physical Therapy “Mercer County Comeback Player of the Year” award. Her determination was documented in the papers after winning the award, which is where Kline comes in.
“She had contacted me, and sent me an email and wanted to send me a video of softball skills so I was able to take a look,” Kline said. “But video is hard to live by. At that time she was a lefty slapper in high school and that’s the video she sent.
“But before that, I did a little research. I just plugged in Amber Dietrich on Google, and I saw this story written about when she had her knee surgery, and how hard she rehabbed, and I saved it. I printed it out, and I have it in a folder.”
The story told Kline all he needed to know.
“It was a great way to see what a good young lady she was, with determination and that type of thing,” he said. “It told me a lot about her. I was very impressed with her work ethic before I even had a chance to know Amber. Her determination and her self-will to get back into shape and to continue to play ball really said so much about her.”
Thus, the papers were signed and by the fall, Dietrich was a Cavalier and ready to spread her special brand of Amber throughout the King of Prussia, Pa. campus. It started with softball and during 15 days of fall practice, Kline made a startling discovery.
“She came out as a lefty slapper, and then she took some cuts right handed,” the coach said. “Right away, I said ‘Whoa!’”
Rather than jump the gun and make an immediate change, Kline made a deal with Dietrich. He would allow her to hit both ways throughout her freshman season, and at the end of the year they will re-evaluate and see where things stand.
“When we came back in January, she started taking cuts indoors,” Kline said. “I could just see how quick and how much bat speed she had right handed, and the ball jumped off her bat. Some kids hit the ball and make good contact but the ball jumped off Amber’s bat. That right there indicates how strong her wrists are and how much bat speed she generates.”
When the Cavs went to Myrtle Beach, the cold weather made things difficult for hitters, not to mention Dietrich was in her first year of college softball and still considered herself a work in progress from the left side.
“I guess I got so flustered that batting on the right side kind of put me at ease in a way,” she said.” I just went with it and didn’t think too much.
“Batting lefty, after I drop my hands or my timing is off, I know what I’m doing wrong but can’t figure out how to fix it. I know how to fix it from the right side and I didn’t feel so anxious.”
Despite her success as a righty, Dietrich is still unwilling to abandon two years of hard work. An example of that work came last season before a state tournament game. While America was picnicking, Dietrich was by herself at Steinert’s field on Memorial Day Sunday, working on swinging from the left side and getting out of the box quicker.
“I literally told my coach that I understand I have better pop on the right side, but I didn’t waste my time learning how to bat on my left side to just give it up, I worked too hard,” Dietrich said. “That’s when he made the deal that I could do it this year.”
Ironically, one of the reason’s Ruppert wanted Dietrich to switch hit was because she was trying to hit home runs from the right side. This year, round-trippers are exploding in tape measure fashion, even the ones that don’t count, like the shot she blasted over the top of the trees during one practice.
“The ball jumps off her bat and they’re not just getting over the fence, they’re, like, well over the fence,” said Kline, who also made a point to praise the support Dietrich’s parents give her and the team. “Some of them are still going up as they’re going out. She’s a strong girl for her size and she is fast and runs well.
“She’s just been hitting the heck out of the ball. She’s been a very pleasant surprise.”
The big joke on the team now is that Dietrich’s homers are Fruit Loop-powered.
“When I come home after hitting one, they all go ‘What’d you have for breakfast?’ and I’ll tell them ‘Fruit Loops!’” she said.
Despite her power, Dietrich is not going for the fences every time up. In fact, she has become a strategic hitter.
“If the corners (of the infield) are back, I’ll bunt,” she said. “If I see I can bunt I’ll do it and most of the time I’m successful. It’s good because then I’ll show bunt and if it’s a ball, they’ll creep in and I’ll wing it right past their heads.”
Pretty ruthless talk for such a friendly girl. But that’s only her mindset on the field.
In the classroom, Dietrich is on the Dean’s List with a 3.87 GPA (two A-minuses kept her from a 4.0) and is taking 18 credits this spring in her quest to go into social work.
She works for the admissions office as an ambassador giving tours to prospective students; runs the intramural league; is class secretary for Student Government; serves as an orientation leader and operates the scoreboard for basketball.
“The perk of a small school is I know everyone, you can talk to everyone on a personal level,” Dietrich said. “If we win, or if you have a good game, everyone knows about it. It’s a good support group at our school.”
Then again, Dietrich is one of those girls who gathers support wherever she goes.
“You know the show Everybody Loves Raymond?” Kline said. “Well around here, everybody loves Amber.”
That will come as no surprise to the Steinert community, whatsoever.
Steinert High School alumna Amber Dietrich has transitioned to life at Cabrini College quickly, on and off the softball diamond. As of April 20, she was the Colonial States Athletic College leader in home runs (6) and hits (38).,
