Former Oswego State star Rebecca Vilchez was named to the SUNYAC All-Decade softball team on Oct. 21. The Franklin Square native was an exceptional player, batting .317 and recording a 2.49 ERA in 390 innings pitched over her three years as a Laker. 

Vilchez was a one of a kind player. Former Oswego State slugger turned coach Angela Frampton said, she broke the “pitcher’s curse.”

“There is this thing in softball. Ninety percent of the time, if you are a pitcher then you suck at hitting,” Frampton said. “They call it the ‘pitcher’s curse.’”

Vilchez was far from a bad hitter, as her outstanding average can speak for itself. In her Laker career, she slugged .479 with an on-base percentage of .371 and only struck out 33 times in 334 at-bats. 

“I was almost in awe, and it really made me reflect on my three years playing at [Oswego State] and where I am now,” Vilchez said. “I wouldn’t have been able to accomplish this if it weren’t for all the people that supported me, all my coaches, all my teammates, and it was just an amazing feeling that shows that hard work does pay off.”

Vilchez did work hard to get to the next level and that started with her leadership qualities not just on the field but off the field too. When the COVID-19 pandemic arrived and knocked out the spring season in 2020, Vilchez had her senior season taken away. However, that never stopped her from making an impact and using this undesired offseason as a stepping stone for the future of this program. 

“I really got to work with them individually in groups of two or three, and I got to know [the underclassmen] personally,” Vilchez said. “It got us to really connect and talk about different strategies about sequences and figuring out what their best pitch is and how to use it. Coach [Gabrielle] Rivers worked really hard on keeping us close together and work on team bonding, including myself and the younger girls which I loved because they were all so open to hearing what I had to say.”

Last spring would have been Rivers’ first season as the head softball coach and having a pandemic delay one’s coaching debut must be troubling. Vilchez took her leadership role to a whole new level and stepped up to help the underclassmen learn during a difficult time away.

“I had all freshmen pitchers, other than [Vilchez,] and they all looked to her as a mentor,” Rivers said. “She was willing to give any type of advice whether it be about pitching, hitting, fielding or even something that was not related to softball. She was there for anyone, for anything.”

Vilchez’s leadership skills and work ethic go hand-in-hand which is one reason why she is one of the best players to ever wear the green and gold. When she arrived at Oswego State, she had not committed to playing softball nor had she been recruited. Vilchez was a walk-on. 

“I didn’t know any of the players going into it, and our class freshman year was so big. It was kind of weird for me,” Vilchez said. “Not because I didn’t feel like a part of the team, being a walk-on, but it was just different. The girls welcomed me with open arms and helped give me confidence in the player I was. They always supported me, and if I didn’t have such a good defensive and offensive team, I couldn’t have been the pitcher I have become.”

She credits a lot of her teammates for being supportive of her and that also helped her learn how to be accountable for herself and others for the good of the team. Frampton played with Vilchez for three years and always knew she was a strong leader but never really understood how much she did behind the scenes to keep everyone in check.

“Transitioning from playing with her to coaching her, I got to see a whole different side of what she was actually doing for the team and how she was able to help her teammates,” Frampton said. “She always held people accountable. If she didn’t want to say it to them personally, it could be easier coming from me, as the coach.”

After she graduated from Oswego State in May of 2020, Vilchez went back home to coach a 10-U travel team in Nassau County. Vilchez has been coaching throughout her college career, but now she had the chance to take the skills she learned as a leader in Oswego State and give back to the next generation of great softball players.

“It is awesome just really seeing how excited they are to learn,” Vilchez said. “How much they look up to me is awesome, and I do private instructions with hitting and pitching lessons. There’s always a part of me that is going to be a part of softball. It is a huge part of my life and it’s helped shape me to be the person I am today.”

Photo by Nicole Hube | The Oswegonian