Hammonton first baseman Mikaila Rodriguez is painting the perfect picture on the diamond

First of all, Mikaila Rodriguez insisted this is OK to talk about.

Her coach, Eric Shulman, had some reservations.

“I hope you don’t jinx her,” he said.

But Rodriguez laughed it off. “Don't worry,” she said. “You’re fine.”

So here goes: Rodriguez, the senior first baseman for the Hammonton softball team, is in the midst of her second consecutive season without making an error.

It's not something Rodriguez talks about or thinks about — and Shulman hopes it stays that way — but it is a window into how much Rodriguez means to Hammonton and how seriously she takes her role on the team.

Rodriguez was a key player last year when the Blue Devils won the South Jersey Group 3 championship.

Now, she’s a senior leader for a team that is again among South Jersey’s best. She’s a consistent bat in the middle of the order, and, yes, she’s been a machine at first base.

“I can’t tell you how many innings end with one of our infielders going over and giving her a hug because she makes a great pick or moved her feet and knocked something down and helped us out,” said Shulman, whose program will host the 38th annual Hammonton Invitational Softball Tournament next weekend, a 16-team field that is one of the most prestigious regular season events in South Jersey.

“She is a very good athlete. She has great feet. She’s got just a tremendous feel around the bag and soft hands, and that’s part of her success.”

But what really separates Rodriguez, according to Shulman, is her work ethic.

Shulman said it’s not uncommon for Rodriguez to ask him to hit her 50 or so extra ground balls during defensive drills in practice.

“You can’t talk about Mikaila without talking about her work ethic,” Shulman said. “She wants to make sure she’s doing the right things, and I think the other kids buy into that.”

Rodriguez said part of her role as a senior is to make sure the team is close on and off the field. One way to do that is to build trust. She said she wants her teammates to be able to trust her defensively and at the plate. That’s part of what drives her.

“We make sure we’re practicing every single day,” said Rodriguez, a Kean recruit who is batting .428 for the 10-2 Blue Devils. “Other teams might have [days] off, but we’re practicing inside and outside. We don’t get down on ourselves. We know what we want to fight for, and we want to win. So we kind of just do it all together as a team, and that’s what helps."

That attitude is paying dividends this season. Hammonton has already recorded a few signature wins, including a 6-4 upset of powerhouse Delsea.

And virtually the entire order has been lethal. Rodriguez’s teammates, particularly Mary Jane Calascione, who has 12 RBIs, have helped her to lead the team with 15 runs.

And they hope to keep it going next weekend at their home tournament.

Hammonton won’t be the favorite in a field that includes Millville, Northern Burlington, Burlington Township and Bordentown.

But the key, Rodriguez said, is to maintain the team’s high standard and to show off that standard to the best teams in South Jersey.

“The goal is to win the tournament, of course,” she said. “But our goal is always to win every game. So we’re approaching this weekend the way we do every game.”

Keeping the team level-headed is another thing Rodriguez thrives at. Shulman said that as Rodriguez works hard and takes the game seriously, she’s just as quick to joke around and bring levity when the team needs it.

In her free time, Rodriguez is an artist.

“And she finds it extremely funny to draw pictures that look like her coaches,” Shulman said with a laugh.

Rodriguez said drawing is one of her favorite hobbies and one of the things that helps remind her how much fun softball can be.

“We take the game seriously, but we have fun while we’re doing it,” she said. “You never want to forget how much fun this sport is and how much you love it. And that’s what I’m trying to do in my senior year. I’m trying to make the best of it.”