This Holmgren also packs a wallop

With one of her first swings of the spring, Greta Holmgren hammered a majestic fly ball to left field. After the ball landed 240 feet away for a home run, the Triton senior shortstop flashed a grin from ear to ear. The reaction, not necessarily the result, may be the best indicator that Holmgren is poised to become one of the most feared hitters in South Jersey softball this season.

"Greta is definitely more relaxed this year. She's smiling more, actually laughing sometimes. It looks like she is having fun again," Triton coach Glenn Smith said.

That is bad news for pitchers.

Like her father, Paul, who served as a rugged winger with the Philadelphia Flyers and later went on to become the team's head coach - he is the assistant general manager now - Greta Holmgren packs plenty of punch.

A three-year starter, she has a .367 career batting average; 20 of her 64 hits have gone for extra bases.

She anchors a strong lineup that has Triton thinking about a possible title this spring in the Olympic Conference Patriot Division. The Mustangs' last championship came in 1995, when they shared the crown with Bishop Eustace. The program's last outright title came in 1988. The Mustangs open their season at Camden Catholic on Monday.

"We are very excited," Holmgren said. "It just feels different this year. The team unity is a lot better and we really feel that this is our year."

In addition to her hitting and leadership, Holmgren is regarded as one of the Olympic Conference's top defensive shortstops. She has good range and a strong arm.

"She's the complete package," Smith said.

As a sophomore, Holmgren was one of South Jersey's top hitters; she finished the season with a .453 average, .750 slugging percentage, 11 multi-hit games and three home runs.

Those numbers dipped to a .295 average and .443 slugging percentage last spring. Holmgren said she never felt comfortable at the plate, where she struggled to find her swing.

"If something went wrong, I got it into my head and I couldn't get it out," she said. "It was a really tough year."

Smith said last season may have been a case of Holmgren trying to do too much. "She was pressing," he said. "Every time out she was trying to do everything to impress the college coaches."

Holmgren accomplished enough on the field and in the classroom - she ranks in the top 10 of her senior class - to land a partial scholarship to Villanova, a Division I program that competes in the Big East Conference.

Holmgren's passion for softball became even clearer this winter when she elected not to play basketball. Instead, she focused on getting ready for softball. Holmgren worked out three days a week with Flyers strength and conditioning coach Jim McCrossin and took daily hitting practice at the local batting cages.

Her previous two seasons playing basketball had ended in injury, once with a stress fracture in her foot and once with a sprained anterior cruciate ligament in her knee. On both occasions, the injuries delayed the start of softball season.

"I noticed that the weight training really helped my throws, they were stronger," Holmgren said. Holmgren said her father is her inspiration. "My dad is my No. 1 hero," she said. "If I have a bad game, he always reminds me there's going to be another game tomorrow. He always brings me back to earth and helps me realize that playing softball should be fun."

Paul Holmgren recognizes his daughter's competitive nature. "Greta is hard on herself to a fault," he said. "I've always tried to explain to her to be the hardest worker out there in everything she does, schoolwork and athletics. And she has worked extremely hard at both."

Greta is the youngest of Paul and wife Doreen Holmgren's four children. The family lives in Somerdale. When she was younger, Holmgren remembers watching her father play softball for the Flyers in charity games. Paul Holmgren was an outfielder.

Paul Holmgren still occasionally pitches to his daughter, but elects to go with the overhand delivery to strengthen his odds against the slugger.

Opposing pitchers won't have the same luxury.