The RoundHouse | 1/29/2020 3:30:00 PM

 
 
Manners dictate that Neleigh Herring doesn't watch the softball as it rockets over the fence at Wilkins Stadium. 
 
Since she follows that unwritten rule, she can't confirm hitting a bus at its pickup spot beyond left field on Perimeter Road. 
 
"I try not to watch it when you hit it," she said. "I just go 'That felt good,' and you run and try to get extra bases. I have hit a few over that way pretty far. I don't know if I hit the bus, but I keep trying."
 
Wichita State coach Kristi Bredbenner, on the other hand, suggests a warning sign might be needed near the bus stop, recently relocated to that spot. Herring, a left-handed hitting first baseman, regularly smacks balls out of the stadium that bounce on or past Perimeter Road.
 
"She's hit several balls over to the YMCA; she's hit the bus over here at the bus stop," Bredbenner said. "She's pounded some balls."
 
Target practice aside, Herring, from Chandler, Okla., is on track for a big junior season. She hit .280 with six home runs, six doubles and 30 runs batted in last season. Her performance in the fall and early this spring hint at more power possibilities.
 
"She's the hardest worker on our team," Bredbenner said. "I've come here at 8:30 in the evening, and Neleigh's out in the cages with the lights on, hitting. You can tell."
 
Herring's work ethic comes from her family's love of the sport. 
 
Barry Herring, her father, played catcher in college and three seasons in independent leagues from Minot, N.D., to Springfield, Ill., to Tupelo, Miss. He started his daughters (Baleigh is Neleigh's twin) on baseball. At 7, they switched to softball and Neleigh's love of the sport defines their relationship.
 
In her first two seasons at Wichita State, Barry and Lisa Herring are fixtures at home and away games – Barry attended every game (including tournaments) except for two weekend series. This season, he will be at Oklahoma State for Baleigh's sorority function on Feb. 20 and drive through the night to Tuscaloosa, Ala., for Wichita State's games on Feb. 21 against Louisville and Alabama in a tournament.
 
They are constant companions, with dad throwing batting practice, coaching her youth teams, talking her through slumps and hitting ground balls. 
 
"It was always that way," he said. "Little kids in tee ball – they're picking daisies or they're running all over the place. My kid was fully decked out in baseball gear, with the pants and the shirt and the belt and tucked in and the cleats and her hat on and just locked in. She was like 'Dad, I've got to get them out.'"
 
Barry Herring joked that he had to hide at night because he knew Neleigh would make him take her to the indoor practice building. She played basketball in high school and they skipped the boys game because hitting took priority. At times, he tells her to back off on the number of swings to keep her body fresh.
 
"He's my best friend," she said. "We both love the game. We love talking the game. My mom, actually, gets sick of it sometimes because that's all we talk about it, especially in-season."
 
That love of the game produced a work ethic that teammates notice. Roommate Mckenzie Weber, a redshirt sophomore pitcher, says Herring brings the same devotion to her grades. Both start with organization – her room is clean and her locker is in good order with shirts on hangars and equipment and toiletries neatly arranged.
 
"She, sometimes, will hit two to three times a day," teammate Mckenzie Weber said. "She's hitting off the tee or she's taking ground balls or in the dugout cheering. No matter what, she's here for softball and she's here for us."
 
Wichita State uses Blast Motion swing analyzers that attach to the bat. The program records the number of swings and gives hitters feedback on the mechanics and quality of the swing, sent immediately to an app on their phone. Since September 2018, Herring registered 32,383 swings, almost twice as many as her closest teammate. Since August, the number is 11,999 swings.
 
Herring, a member of the American Athletic Conference All-Academic team last season, is a business major with an accounting minor. The swing sensor and its feature that grades the parts of the swings by red, yellow and green is an irresistible feedback tool for her. 
 
"There's three metrics I really look at – rotation, bat plane and connection," she said. "If I can get green on all three of those, usually that's a good swing. I'm numbers, visual. I want all the information I can get."
 
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.