After being named co-player of the year for Upper Perkiomen's softball team, Sarah Heidler chose not to rest on her laurels.  Heidler has spent most of the summer competing on the Upper Perk Blaze, a 16-and-under travel softball team.  

        "Sarah is such a pleasure to have on the team," Blaze manager Joe Groarke said. "She's been a key component. She is a great player."

        According to Groarke, Heidler, who plays shortstop or third base and usually hits at the top of the order, brought a .400 average into this past weekend's USSA 2015 End of the Summer Blowout tournament in Quakertown.

        During the tournament, the Blaze won four of their six games. They finished fifth out of 16 in pool play and reached the final four in bracket play Sunday, according to Groarke.

        Heidler, who will be a junior at Upper Perkiomen in the fall, said she wanted to focus on the fundamentals during her first summer with the Blaze. The results are noticeable.

        "I'm playing very well," said Heidler, whose father Brian served as an assistant coach on the team. "I've gotten so much better from the beginning of the summer until now. I just want to improve."

        Defensively, Heidler hoped to improve the exchange of the ball from her glove to her throwing hand.  "Sometimes I rush that," said Heidler, who played third base this past season for the Indians. "I need to learn to slow the game down sometimes."

        At the plate, Heidler has learned to better figure out pitching patterns while reducing the number of pitches she swings at out of the strike zone.  Pitchers she has faced this summer throw softer than those during the high school season, according to the player.  "It's hard making the adjustment from faster pitching to slower pitching," Heidler said.

        Winning is important, but performing well is more important. She said the players get upset when they struggle.  "You're not always going to win," Heidler said. "But we take it very seriously. We're constantly putting in the hard work."

        Gaining exposure to college softball coaches is a key component of her summer season. The Blaze have played in a few showcase tournaments.  "We had some college coaches asking about our roster," said Heidler, who is considering several local colleges.

        The Blaze, who competed in tournaments most weekends in June and July, have gone up against some 18U teams. She said the increased talent level is obvious.  "It's a good learning experience," Heidler said. "You can tell those teams have been together longer and are more mature."

        This summer, Heidler played with Emily Moyer, Krista Evans, Sydney Fondyl and Maddison Moyer from Quakertown.  The Blaze also included players from Spring-Ford, Pennridge, Christopher Dock and Daniel Boone high schools.  "It's good playing with girls from other schools," Heidler said. "The fun thing about this team is that you get to make so many new friends. We had a good time."

        Tryouts for next year's team will be held in August, according to Groarke.

        Heidler expects to try out. She says she's attempting to get several of her Upper Perkiomen teammates to try out as well.