By Lenny Megliola
Boston Globe

Nicole Eisenmann

Mark Eisenmann was impressed the first time he saw his 9-year-old daughter, Nicole, swing a bat. He signed her up for softball. "She was a bit nervous,'' he said. "She didn't even know where the bases were.''

That's not the half of it, she recalls. "The coach told me to go to right field. I said 'Where is it?' I started crying.

"Now look at me.''

Eisenmann is listed at 5-foot-3 on the women's softball roster at Stonehill College.

"I'm 5-foot-2 and three quarters,'' she said. But from that solid build and the sweet left-handed swing her father spotted a long time ago, she's tearing up the Northeast-10 Conference.

The junior designated hitter was named the NE-10's Player of the Week after hitting .583 with two homers, five doubles and nine RBI to power the Skyhawks to a 6-2 week. She is the first Skyhawk player to win the award since 2007.

"Nicole has an exceptionally quick bat with a lot of power,'' said coach Ken LeGrice. "Her power is amazing. She hit a three-run homer over the center-field fence at Bentley. It was just a line shot. She has a nice compact swing.''

For the season Eisenmann is hitting .533.

The 21-year-old Eisenmann also closes games in the circle, and has played first base. "She has a tremendous work ethic,'' said LeGrice.

That ethic was evident in her senior year at East Bridgewater High, when the team won the South Shore League title. Eisenmann went the distance in a 7-6 win over Hanover in the state tournament. She pitched with an injured ankle, and even homered. "I don't know how I did that,'' she said.

East Bridgewater won league championships in Eisenmann's last three seasons. It was time to take her bat to the next level. She had visions of playing at a Division 1 school, but nothing worked out. She knew why, and so did her dad. It was her lack of height.

"She just didn't look the part'' of a Division 1 player, said Mark Eisenmann.

It wasn't the first time Eisenmann had to deal with her size.

"I wanted to pitch since I was in the fourth grade.'' Years later she went to a pitching clinic. "They said they didn't take pitchers under 5-foot-2,'' even though Eisenmann said they didn't take the three-quarters into account.

Eisenmann wasn't even sure how good she was when she tried out for softball as a freshman at East Bridgewater.

But it was her bat that caught everyone's eye. "She was smoking the ball,'' said her father.

Eisenmann hit .400 in her first season with the Skyhawks, but dipped to .298 last season. "I wasn't happy with my performance,'' she said.

LeGrice said, "She's back in form. She never swings at a bad pitch.''

Last week Eisenmann struck out once in 30 at bats.

She quit dancing, which she enjoyed as a kid, as soon as softball got a grip on her. "Softball was where I belong, not in dance recitals,'' she said. "I remember thinking this isn't for me. I'm too serious [about softball] to keep dancing.''

She began playing on town traveling teams and made the all-star team as a fourth-grader. "My dad kept telling me softball could be it for me,'' she said, while crediting both her parents for believing in her ability.

"My whole attitude changed then. Hitting got me interested. I knew I had talent. I didn't want to waste it. I saw girls with 10 times more talent than me, but not trying as hard. I knew if I worked hard results would come.''

Stonehill (8-2) is off to its best 10-game start since 2001. "We have good chemistry,'' said Eisenmann. "We're more of a team than in past years. We're always in the game. We're a fluid team. Everything goes together perfectly.''

This summer, she will play for the New England Phoenix under-23 traveling team.

She has a 3.0 GPA, beginning as a history major but switching to math. "I wanted to be challenged more,'' Eisenmann said.

She was never about the numbers anyway. "I don't look at my stats. If I'm hitting well I know it. It's more about how the team is doing.''

It's a team on a roll. And Eisenmann's got another year left. "Thank God,'' said LeGrice.