As Lindy Winkler was on the field last weekend in Santa Clara making catches on the run and hitting doubles, the scene was in stark contrast to her condition last summer.

Beginning last May, the junior center fielder with a motor that never stops was down for nearly four months with mononucleosis.

Winkler said she felt allergy-like symptoms beginning last April but did not know she had mono until a blood test revealed the infection.

Winkler’s mother Raelyn Winkler, who for a time would come home from work in the middle of the day to check on her daughter, said that Lindy Winkler lost between 10 and 12 pounds from her already slight frame because her throat was swollen as tight as the width of a dime.Lindy Winkler said she didn’t eat for about five days after returning to her hometown of San Andreas to be under the care of her parents.

“We were really worried that she lost that much weight because there isn’t much to her to begin with,” Raelyn Winkler said.

Raelyn Winkler said that equally as difficult as seeing her daughter bedridden with illness was trying to keep her down to rest.

“She’s the type of person that never wants to miss anything,” Raelyn Winkler said. “She’s very active.”

After a month of bed rest and taking it easy the rest of the summer, Lindy Winkler entered fall workouts eager to get back on the field after her longest layoff away from softball since she was in the seventh grade.

Though she was forced to miss about a month of training on her own, Winkler said the time away from softball was even more beneficial than extra hacks in the batting cage.

“It gave my body and my mind time to rest, to not even think about softball,” Winkler said. “When you’re away from something for that long it makes you realize how much you miss it.”Winkler is the offensive catalyst for the Hornets again this season, leading the team in batting average — a scintillating .368 — as well as on base percentage (.400), runs (19) and hits (42).

Winkler’s performance this season has those in the opposing dugouts raising their eyebrows as well. Current Santa Clara Bronco Sara Overmier said she was glad to see her friend and former teammate rebound the way she has.

“I think we all knew she could do it,” Overmier said. “It was just a matter of her actually doing it.

“She’s been a role model for me as long as I’ve been able to compete with her.”

Winkler had an incredible freshman season, hitting .330 while slugging .420 and garnering second team all-West Region and first team all-Pacific Coast Softball Conference selections.

Winkler’s sophomore year was not as stellar, however, as her numbers in nearly every offensive category dropped as she said her mental approach wasn’t right.

“I had already seen everyone (other teams) and everyone had seen me,” Winkler said. “I couldn’t show them anything new.”

Last year Winkler still led the Hornets in batting average — albeit at a much cooler .295 clip.Trying to cure an offense that hit a combined .232 last season, coach Kathy Strahan got creative this offseason and toyed with the idea of moving her prized hitter to the third spot in the batting order after leading off for two years.

“Sometimes the No. 3 spot can play mind games with you, but not with Lindy,” Strahan said. “She’s the most calm hitter I’ve seen in a while and is a really tough out.”

A leadoff hitter for virtually all of her years in softball, Winkler said she embraced the switch as a chance to utilize her talents in another spot in the batting order.

“I can use my power game a little more in the third spot,” Winkler said. “My job is now to get it out of the infield and move the runners.”

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John Parker can be reached at [email protected]