Megan Schaefer begins this softball season looking to continue where she left off 2009.

Born in Portland, Ore., Schafer, displayed athletic ability from an early age, engaging in taekwondo, soccer, basketball and softball.

Schaefer, junior criminal justice major, quickly found out softball was her niche.

“We were always outside playing,” Schafer said. “We did tons of different sports, all of us. We are all athletic.”

Her parents, Dick and Bonnie Schaefer, were athletes as well. Her dad received a wrestling scholarship from Northern Michigan University. Her mother received a volleyball scholarship from the University of Wisconsin, Parkside.

Schaefer started playing softball at 6 years old and continued it until her senior year of high school, when she took the year off to run track.

“I wanted to compete in a different sport,” she said. “I knew going four years of softball, I would never get another chance to try another sport again.”

Outside of high school softball, Schaefer played for the Oregon Reign. The Reign is a club team that plays in the offseason of high school softball. The team is usually made up of the area’s finest players.

“Summer ball is where you get recruited from colleges,” she said. “High school is extra practice for summer softball.”

The Oregon Reign was the club team Schafer played for while in Oregon.

“She has a very athletic build and she is just so strong, as a coach we can do a lot with her,” said Sac State softball head coach Kathy Strahan.

Schaefer wasted no time making up her mind in choosing the college at which to play her softball career.

“I chose Sacramento because I came down here and I loved it,” Schaefer said. “The second I stepped on the field, I said I want to go here.”

Her ability to pitch successfully at the collegiate level is a testimony to her athletic ability.

“The thing about Megan is that she is a competitor, she is the kind of kid that puts her nose down and gets after what she wants,” said Oregon Reign coach Eric Leyba.

Schaefer suffered a injury to her throwing wrist while throwing. She sustained ligament damage in late February 2009.

Schaefer played the rest of the 2009 season with the torn ligament in her wrist. She had surgery in the summer after last season. She still experiences some discomfort to this day.

Even with the injury, Schaefer still managed to be named all-Pacific Coast Softball Conference last season.

Schaefer finished last year with a pitching record of 15-7, a 2.20 ERA, 25 starts, 18 complete games, four shutouts, and allowing hitters a .251 batting average. Her 15 victories tied her for the 10th best in Sacramento State Division I history. Schaefer won 11 of the team’s last 17 games last season.

Schaefer said her goals for next season is not for her to make All-Conference again or lead the team in wins. Her goal is for her team to win the Pacific Coast Softball Conference.

“The biggest goal I have is for my team to win conference,” Schaefer said. “I want to be a part of it in any way I can. If it means me pitching every other game or every third game, that’s fine I just want this team to do well.”

Sergio Saldana can be reached at [email protected]