Cooperstown’s Seamon
Commits to St. John Fisher

By WRILEY NELSON
COOPERSTOWN

Cooperstown High School three-season star Danielle Seamon announced that she has committed to St. John Fisher University. Seamon played soccer for the Hawkeyes and led the girls basketball team to a 19-6 record in the 2022-2023 season. She was named to the Class C All-State third team for basketball in April. As the basketball season ended, Jon Rathbun of the “Herkimer Times Telegram” named her one of his 10 returning All-State softball selections to watch in 2023. She has more than lived up to the expectation.

Seamon was named a Class C All-State honoree in her sophomore and junior years, batting .500 over two years and hitting 13 home runs. She picked up a great deal of the team’s pitching responsibilities last year, although she usually prefers to play outfield or third base.

“Pitching isn’t really my thing; I do it because we don’t have many pitchers,” Seamon said. “We have a small program and no pitching coach, so my catcher and I work on it and call pitches.”

Seamon’s packed schedule made her difficult to reach for an interview. In addition to her three regular seasons with the Hawkeyes, she plays Amateur Athletic Union basketball and travel league softball. She visited Atlantic City to play basketball over the weekend of May 20-21 after hitting a game-winning home run and pitching two hitless innings against Unatego on May 19. Cooperstown earned the number three seed in the Section III Class C playoffs and will face 14-seeded Sauquoit Valley shortly after press time on May 23. The Hawkeyes faced SV twice during the regular season and beat them both times. Seamon threw 10 strikeouts and hit a double and a home run against SV on May 17.

“I’ll have a whole training packet for college this summer, but I’ve been playing a ton lately, too,” Seamon said when asked about her training regimen. “I have softball all week and usually basketball practice or games on the weekends. When I get home, I’m hitting every night or I’m shooting hoops in the driveway.”

Seamon praised her Cooperstown teammates and program.

“We have an impressive team, although the league as a whole is weaker than I’ve seen in my time here. Notre Dame was definitely our best competition so far,” she said, referring to the Hawkeyes’ 5-0 loss to Utica Notre Dame on April 22. Seamon threw 12 strikeouts in the hard-fought contest.

“I’m looking forward to the stiff competition we’ll face in sectionals; we’re ready for more of a challenge.

“We’ve grown a lot as a team this year. We definitely have some underrated players; some of this can be hard to see from the statistics alone. You can always rely on Katie Crippen. Jeana [Geertgens] is very consistent, Sophia Hotaling has improved a lot and she hits the ball harder than anyone…We have a good group of hitters, very consistent,” she said.

Seamon will play basketball and softball for St. John Fisher, and may be called on to pitch next season. She was accepted to the university’s pre-law program with a major in legal studies.