Mykaela Twitchell’s softball career was nearly over before it began. Now she’s setting hitting records at the NCAA Division III level.

Twitchell suffered a severe injury to her left eye in her freshman year at Greely High. After being told it might take years for her vision to recover, Twitchell made a remarkable recovery and is among the most feared batters for Gettysburg (Pennsylvania) College as a sophomore.

Recently named Centennial Conference player of the week after hitting a school- and conference-record three home runs in one game, Twitchell is batting .378 with a school-record seven home runs and a conference-best .721 slugging percentage.

“She has been a blessing for us,” said Annette Hunt-Shepherd, the coach of the 25-11 Bullets.

Twitchell is just happy to be playing.

Midway through her freshman season at Greely, she was taking batting practice from a pitching machine before a game. A left-handed batter, she fouled a pitch off her face. “I was clearly out for the rest of the season but I thought I was fine,” she said.

Two weeks later, she began to lose the vision in her left eye and the detached retina was discovered. Surgery was needed. “The doctor told me that this was a freak thing,” she said, “and that my chances of (vision) recovery were 60 percent.”

When she was allowed to return to softball months later, Twitchell discovered she could no longer hit the ball. “I was super confused. I didn’t understand because I had my vision back,” she said.

She was told that before the accident, her left eye had been her dominant eye. Now her body was training the right eye to be dominant and it would take time.

“Luckily I’m a left-handed hitter – the right eye is the one you want to be the dominant eye,” she said. “But I was told that it could take up to 10 years to get my swing back, that I may never get it back.”

While she also played soccer, softball had always been Twitchell’s favorite sport. So with the support of her family, she worked tirelessly to get her swing back with Nick Caiazzo and the Maine Thunder softball program.

And by the time she was ready to play college softball, it was back.

As a freshman she batted .304 with one home run. This year, as the designated player, she hit the ball hard and long, driving in 26 runs and scoring 35.

“She works daily on her swing,” said Hunt-Shepherd. “The difference this year is that her mental game has changed; she has a better perspective on things. There’s not as much pressure as she felt the first year, having to make all the adjustments you have to make in your first year in college.”

Twitchell, who is a pre-med student, said Hunt-Shepherd has shown great confidence in her by allowing her to swing away.

“I tend to overthink the game a lot,” said Twitchell. “This year she said, ‘You see a pitch you like, hit the ball as hard as you can.'”

“When she realized she could take a huge cut and it was all right regardless of the outcome, that helped her,” said Hunt-Shepherd.

Twitchell’s three-homer game was just an example of how far she has come.

The first, over the right-field fence, came on an inside pitch. “A little high, the pitcher just missed her spot,” said Hunt-Shepherd.

The second was an outside pitch, over the center-field fence. “We’re 215 (feet) with a 10-foot fence,” said Hunt-Shepherd. “It cleared it on a line and landed in the middle of the soccer practice field. Two-fifty easy.”

The third was on a pitch down and in, hooked just inside the foul pole. “She was on them that day,” said Hunt-Shepherd.

Twitchell, who has played a little at third and in left field this year, woke up the next morning thinking it was a dream.

“I just laid in bed trying to remember what happened,” she said. “It was super surreal.”

Her coach said there’s nothing surreal about how Twitchell is doing it.

“She has a strong work ethic and takes pride in what she does,” said Hunt-Shepherd. “I think she’s going to reach a different potential each year. She can be one of the best in school history if she continues to develop.”

Maybe, but for Twitchell, just being in the batter’s box is good enough.

“It’s just nice to have my hitting back on my side,” she said.

AWARDS

Basketball player Tyler McFarland of Rockport (Camden Hills) and diver Nicola Mancini of Falmouth were honored as Bentley University’s outstanding senior athletes. Both received All-America recognition this year. McFarland finished as Bentley’s all-time leading scorer with 2,118 points. He led the Falcons in scoring and rebounding each of his four years. Mancini earned her fourth All-America honor this year, finishing sixth in the 3-meter dive at the NCAA Division II championships. She was a three-time Northeast-10 Conference diver of the year.

BASEBALL

St. Joseph’s College freshman infielder Joey Murphy of Derry, New Hampshire, was named Great Northeast Athletic Conference rookie of the week. He went 3 for 6 with three runs, two RBI and a stolen base in two games.

LACROSSE

Susquehanna University senior long pole midfielder Corrie Van Haasteren of Raymond (Hebron Academy) was named Landmark Conference men’s player of the year.

• University of New England junior attack Dan Auger of Nashua, New Hampshire, was named Commonwealth Coast Conference men’s player of the week. He had two goals and four assists in the Nor’easters’ regular-season finale, then added two goals, including the winner with three seconds remaining, and three assists in a 14-13 CCC quarterfinal win over Salve Regina.

• UNE junior goalkeeper David Pearson of Scarborough was named CCC men’s defensive player of the week.

• UNE freshman midfielder Korinne Bohunsky of Eliot (Marshwood) was named CCC women’s rookie of the week. She had three goals, three assists, seven draw controls and four caused turnovers in two games, including a win in the playoffs.

SOFTBALL

University of Maine junior pitcher Erin Bogdanovich of South Portland was named America East Conference pitcher of the week. In three appearances, Bogdanovich went 1-0 with one save and a 1.97 ERA. She struck out 14 batters in 102/3 innings.

• Western New England University senior first baseman Heather Fecteau of Biddeford was named first-team all-Commonwealth Coast Conference. She is batting .402 for the 23-16 Golden Bears with 23 runs, two home runs and 13 RBI. She made just two errors for a .994 fielding percentage.

TENNIS

University of Southern Maine senior Tyler Adams of Buxton (Bonny Eagle) was named Little East Conference men’s player of the week for the fourth time this season. Adams earned his 38th consecutive singles victory in the Huskies’ lone match of the week, a 6-1, 6-0 decision.

TRACK

USM senior Jeremy Collins of Standish (Bonny Eagle) was named ECAC Division III men’s track athlete of the week. Collins won two events and anchored the winning relay team in the New England Alliance and Little East Conference championship meet. He won the 400 meters with a school- and meet-record time of 48.16 seconds. He finished first in the 400 hurdles with a time of 53.64 seconds. The 1,600 relay team had a winning time of 3:19.02, which was a meet record.

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