By Conner Farrell —

Softball’s Sidney Melton had a standout sophomore season for Louisville, starting all 44 games. Melton led the team with 43 runs and 15 stolen bases. That season, she was named to the 2016 All-ACC tournament team.

With momentum heading into her junior season, Melton’s year was cut short 13 games last season.

“It was a fluke injury rounding third base, my foot planted and everything else went (forward),” Melton said.

Melton tore her meniscus and ACL in her right leg.

“I felt like on I was on track to do pretty well my junior season and it sucked, but it happened,” Melton said.

The recovery process hasn’t been easy for Melton who primarily focused on getting strength back in leg for most of the off-season.

She has since been able to rejoin the team in workouts that involve running and agility.

With lost time in the 2017 season, Melton has her eyes set on not only regaining her performance, but also becoming a leader.

“As a senior, I have the opportunity to be a big leader on the field and I plan to take advantage of that,” Melton said.

With a large freshman class, the clubhouse for a team looking to recapture postseason success.

“The freshmen are great. We really like them, our chemistry is awesome. The freshmen are really funny and outgoing,” Melton said.

Melton said the class of 2022 reminds her of the 2018 class because of how big the group is.

Melton and the team thinks they have what it takes to reach their goal of making it back to the postseason in 2018.

“Everyone in the ACC is competitive and we were competitive last year and finished second last year so that’s definitely doable,” Melton said. “(Making the) NCAA tournament (is) so doable. We barely missed it last year and we’ve been on the bubble for awhile, but this year if we started out strong there should be no question about it.”

You can follow Conner Farrell on Twitter @ConnerFarrell9. 

File photo / The Louisville Cardinal