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Copper Hills twins hitting home runs in the Big Apple

Jun 10, 2019 01:27PM ● By Greg James

Jessica Mecham was named All-Conference for the the St Joseph College Bears in Brooklyn, NY. (Photo courtesy of St Joseph sports information)

By Greg James | [email protected] 

The St Joseph’s College Brooklyn Bears softball team has become the home to a former Copper Hills softball tandem. Twin sisters have made an impact in their first year in the big city.

Freshman Jessica Mecham was named to the All-Conference team in her first year of collegiate softball. The 2018 Copper Hills graduate joins her twin sister, Jaden, at the New York school.

“Jess came in this year as a freshman and was able to fill a big role for us here,” Bears’ head coach Danielle Fazzolare said. “She is a strong pitcher, but she has a strong bat and played well as a utility player. She has a high IQ of the game.”

The Mecham sisters chose a long way from home to continue their playing careers.

“My sister and I wanted to play together somewhere,” Jessica Mecham said. “We looked for a school that had our majors and where we could play.” 

The sister combo played several years of competitive softball. Their most recent teams include the Utah Bomb and Utah Cruisers. They helped lead Copper Hills to a third-place state finish in 2017. 

“Playing at Copper Hills was sometimes stressful,” Jessica Meacham said. “I had to learn to pitch to other catchers. I had thrown to Jaden my entire life. I had to learn to be a better individual player. It was helpful to play with all kinds of athletes.”

Jessica Mecham compiled a 6-6 overall record this season. She also had a .322 batting average. Jaden Mecham played first base and catcher for the Bears and compiled a .419 on base percentage.

“She (Jessica) was able to come into the game in different positions and situations and be successful,” Fazzolare said. “We hope to have her for the next three years. We want her to continue to work on her pitches. She throws so many great pitches; we just want her to continue to improve. Offensively, we want her to improve on her pitch selection. She has been training in the outfield for us too and has made quite a bit improvement out there for us.”

It was a culture shock for the twins to move to the big city.

“It is fun,” Jessica Mecham said. “There are always activities and stuff going on around campus. I have never been bored. It is fun to take the train. We have met a great group of girls, and I love my teammates. My first collegiate shutout and win are things I will remember forever.”

The Bears closed out the regular season with a 16-20 overall record. They placed fourth in conference behind St Joseph’s–Long Island, Mount Saint Mary’s and Mount Saint Vincent. The NCAA Division 3 school competes in the Skyline Conference.

“We use a recruiting website and came across her and her sister on there,” Fazzolare said. “They were interested in coming to New York, and we had the majors they were interested in. It worked out well for us.”

Jessica joined three of her teammates on the All-Conference team. 

“It is definitely a good recruiting tool to have All-Conference players,” Fazzolare said. “It shows our school is getting recognized in such a small conference. It is nice to find talent in all different areas. We always want the best athletes, but as a private school, we want students with good grades so we can have good balance as student athletes. This is our fourth year in the conference and the second time we have made the playoffs. Although we did not go as far in the playoffs as we had hoped to go, we are definitely making improvements every year with the recruits we have coming in. We are growing every year.”