« Softball 2021

Danielle Castleberry

School
Mercer
Position
Infield
Major
Master's - Business Administration

Classroom

In addition to her accomplishments on the diamond, Castleberry has compiled an impressive career in the classroom. She currently owns a 3.60 grade-point average pursuing her Master’s in Business Administration.

Castleberry graduated last spring with a 3.528 GPA, earning her degree in marketing with a minor in communication studies. She has been named to the Dean’s List four times throughout her collegiate career and garnered a spot on the Academic All-SoCon Team in 2018 and 2020.

Character

After starting 50 of the team’s 56 games as the primary second baseman her freshman year, Castleberry suffered a season-ending injury at practice when she tore her ACL prior to the 2018 season. She rehabbed vigorously for nine months before being cleared to play again, supporting her teammates in any way she could during that time. In addition to assisting with anything she was capable to help with on the field, Castleberry was always the most vocal player in the dugout on gamedays. This experience served a crucial role for her to not only grow as an adult but as a leader as well.

The most humbling part of the experience for Castleberry was learning how to walk again because it opened her eyes to how many things can be taken for granted on a daily basis. Her qualities as a leader were evident not only to the coaching staff, but to her teammates as well who named her a team captain as a redshirt sophomore. The 2021 season will be her third year serving in this role, which Castleberry claims was a humbling experience for her because it validated all of the work and effort she had put in to get back onto the field with her teammates.

Community

Castleberry has made community service a priority throughout her life, including her time before Mercer. Participating in a multitude of projects, she started with the Sunshine League, where she helped children with special needs play softball while she was in high school.

Castleberry has also worked with Jay’s Hope Treck or Treat - Backpack Ministry, where she filled bags of food for local elementary schoolers and Habitat for Humanity, where she hung Christmas lights in the local community.

Competition

Castleberry has been a constant in Mercer’s lineup from the moment she stepped over the chalk lines at Sikes Field. Suiting up for the Bears 135 times since the start of the 2017 season, she has garnered 134 starts. Castleberry boasts a career batting average of .330 (127-for-385), the seventh-highest total in program history. She has slugged five home runs, two triples, and 17 doubles in her time at Mercer, scoring 77 runs and driving in 65 RBI. She has also drawn 28 walks and been hit by 31 pitches, in addition to going 16-for-20 on stolen base attempts. Castleberry has led Mercer in batting average, on-base percentage, hits, and hit by pitches each of the last two seasons.

Castleberry was named first team All-SoCon in 2019, as well as earning SOCon All-Tournament Team honors after going 66-for-172 (.384 avg.) with seven doubles, a triple, three home runs, 37 runs and 34 RBI.

She was tabbed a preseason All-SoCon first team member prior to last season before it was cut short by COVID and was off to a red-hot start by being named the SoCon Player of the Month for February. Castleberry opened the season with a conference-high 26 hits with six doubles and a home run, including a hit in 14 of 20 games for the Bears. She had 11 multi-hit performances and led the team in hits, doubles, runs (17), total bases (35), and batting average (.419) for the month.