2025 Fall Preps Preview: East Valley senior JC Weger leads Knights slowpitch softball team with play, voice

On the softball field, Jocelyn “JC” Weger likens her leadership style to directing traffic.

She is loud. She is to the point. She sets the tone. But, most of all, she does what she can to keep morale high and the team working together.

Weger, a star senior for the East Valley Knights slowpitch softball team, hopes the group’s togetherness can be a driving force toward more wins this season.

“I’m definitely looking forward to getting into games and playing with the team and just seeing how we do, honestly,” Weger said. “I feel like we have a lot of potential this year, and if we come together we can definitely do good. I’m just excited to see how it goes.”

As Knights slowpitch coach Justin Sinn describes it, Weger is the kind of player any coach would want on their team – an unmatched work ethic, polite and responds well to criticism.

“The girls look up to her,” Sinn said. “She runs our warmups, she runs throwing stuff before practices. She’s my captain, so I put a lot of weight on her, especially for drills and using her. But she’s extremely coachable.

“… She’s the type that goes, ‘Hey, the girls are down. Is it all right if I do something to pick them up?’ ”

Even in just the two years that Sinn, who also coaches the baseball team, has headed the slowpitch program, he has seen Weger’s leadership evolve.

Last season, finishing 4-11 in Sinn’s first year, East Valley relied heavily on the play and leadership of senior Shelby Swanson, a power-hitting star pitcher. But with Swanson having graduated, Sinn and the other girls will largely look to Weger to fill that gap.

“This year without Shelby will definitely be kind of hard, but it will help me grow into more of a leader as well through continuing to help everyone and making sure everyone feels comfortable,” Weger said.

While there is plenty of praise to go around in regards to her intangibles, Weger’s on-field production is certainly notable on its own.

She often plays at the corner infield spots, but operates as a utility player for the Knights.

“I can put her anywhere and she’ll dominate it,” Sinn said, pointing to Weger’s ability to read the ball off the bat.

As a hitter, she profiles as a “situational hitter.” Sinn thinks it derives from her unselfishness.

“She’s a clutch hitter,” he said. “I would say – line drives, gaps, a lot of doubles. Not saying she doesn’t have the power to hit it out, but she’s more situational, so not really a greedy, need-to-hit-it-out every time kind of player. She just likes to put the ball in play and move runners around.”

Her smooth swing, plate discipline and fielding instincts have gotten her looks from a number of colleges. Weger has begun taking on-campus visits.

Weger, who is graduating high school with her Associate of Arts degree, is interested in studying business administration and eventually getting an MBA.

As for softball at the next level, she said, “I’m just looking for a good softball program and a coach that I can learn a lot from.”

In the lead up to her senior season, while many athletes set individual goals for reaching statistical marks or receiving awards, Weger, as always, is only interested in doing what is best for the team.

“I think, for me, I definitely just want to be someone my team can count on,” she said of her personal goals for the year. “Just also being loud on the field for my team and getting it done.”