Tech alum enjoying softball in Austria

Being six hours ahead of the Eastern Time zone has been different but playing the game she loves in a different country has been worth it.

Virginia Tech softball alum Jessie Mehr (’18) has followed up her standout career this past spring by playing softball in Austria this summer.

The thought of playing post-collegiate softball began to be discussed her junior year. Mehr would have conversations with volunteer assistant coach Lindsay Thomas throughout the 2016-17 season about her next step following graduation.

“She was always there and would hit after practice with me and do whatever, so we got pretty close,” Mehr noted. “We would talk about the future throughout the year and that’s how she knew I was interested in this thing, with me not exactly knowing what I wanted to do.

Thomas, a former softball player at UNC Greensboro, went on to play for the M-Stars in Vienna, Austria in the summer of 2017 following her one-year stint in Blacksburg. Thomas and Mehr kept in touch this past year and a spot came open for an import (each team has two available spots for an American).

“I was originally talking to her earlier this winter and she had found out that one of the teams she faced needed a player, but it ended up not working out,” Mehr said. “I was pretty bummed, I really wanted to go to Austria and play.”

Sometime later Mehr got word again from Thomas that the team Thomas played for need a player – and this time it was hers.

Mehr moved to Austria in May and has gotten used to the culture the country presents, one that maybe her knowledge of Spanish and Japanese from high school didn’t help her out too much.

“It’s funny because sometimes I forget that I’m here until everyone is speaking German,” Mehr mentioned. “For the most part, a lot of things are similar in the fact that, especially who I’m around, playing softball is super familiar. But the area is a lot different than where I’ve been.

“I’ve learned a couple words of German, but I really haven’t had to use them honestly. A lot of times I will be with my teammates and we will go places and they will help me out if anything, if I need anything, which has been really helpful.”

Speaking of her teammates, Mehr roughly has 20 of them and most of them are from the country of Austria, with Mehr and her roommate, Nicole Thomas, who is Lindsay’s sister, taking the two import spots. Her teammates split up into two leagues for the M-Stars, with Mehr playing on the first league, and her teammates going back in forth between the two leagues. So, everyone gets playing time which Mehr thinks is a good thing.

The schedule for the softball team is a little over 20 games in the summer, with most of the games taking place on the weekend. Though that cuts a little into her site seeing around the area, Mehr has checked out Budapest, Munich and Prague.

“I was in Budapest for only 24 hours, so I would have to say Prague was my favorite,” Mehr said. “Going twice, I still saw a couple things again, obviously, but there was still so much more to see. I got to really see a lot.”

Another favorite of hers has been a certain food which is popular internationally, a schnitzel, besides bread on the regular.

“They have these sausage-type foods that are pretty good,” Mehr commented. “And I’ve definitely have tried some things that I didn’t like. Everyone here loves schnitzel, which is not bad but it’s the biggest piece of fried meat and is really a big, fat chicken nugget to me.”

A typical gameday for Mehr is similar to one at Virginia Tech, though, there are a few differences as one might expect. Besides getting mentally prepared for the contest, the travel to the park and a little grounds crew work are some additions she has had to adjust to.

“My roommate Nicole and I will just typically, on a Saturday if we play a home game at noon, have breakfast together and then usually head to the field pretty early,” Mehr said. “We’ll set up everything once we get to the field, water the field.

“One Friday we had a game at night, so we just kind of walked around during the day and took a pregame nap (laughing) and then headed to the field, which is about a 45-minute commute. I usually get on a bus then on a train and then another bus. A lot of my teammates drive stick here, so I am unable to drive their cars.”

Though she can’t drive stick, she can teach the game of softball and baseball, too, which she has done to her teammates and others attending camps when the team hosts a camp. Mehr, who isn’t the biggest on being around kids, has grown to like it, especially seeing them becoming stronger on the diamond and speaking English.

“I’ve done one small camp of just working with some of the local kids, with playing baseball and teaching them some of the skills,” Mehr said. “Another camp I did was a few weeks ago with our team’s corresponding baseball team, they are called the Metro Stars.

“Their coach is originally from Canada and he does these camps during the summer with them teaching English through sports. We did that a couple days for two weeks and we did more than just baseball, we did a lot of different American sports, too. He would speak English when he was giving directions and I had a really great time working with those kids. The age group was roughly from 8-12 years old.”

The M-Stars have been playing well and Mehr is a big reason why, hitting second in the lineup and playing a bunch of positions. Similar to her days in Blacksburg, from playing first base, second, third and shortstop, Mehr has had to adapt to what her role entails for the team. It’s been a few years, but she even has had to step into the circle.

“We played in this tournament at the beginning of the year, actually the second day I got here, and I pitched a little bit,” Mehr said. “I didn’t do that at Tech, but I pitched during high school and when I was growing up, I thought I wanted to pitch in college but I stopped after my junior year in high school. So, it was fun doing it again.

“But I’ve been playing shortstop mostly and I’m having a great time doing it. I played a little short at school, but I played it the least of the rest of the positions I played. At short over here, I just feel so involved and I love it.”

Even though she doesn’t look at her statistics, Mehr was told by a teammate that her batting average is .430. Due to her success, she hopes to continue playing overseas somewhere.

A public relation major at Tech, Mehr is glad she chose that degree, but will hold off pursuing a job in that field until the field she plays on, the diamond, comes to a close.

–VT Athletics