After posting the Maryland softball team’s third-highest batting average in program history last season, infielder Skylynne Ellazar was named one of fastpitchnews.com‘s “10 NCAA Softball Juniors to Watch in 2017” at the end of January.

The praise was a “big shock” for the junior. Last year, she said, she focused on hard work to produce better results. It paid off when she led the Terps with a .399 average, .458 on-base percentage and .574 slugging percentage. She added 29 RBIs and a team-high 32 runs scored.

Her offseason preparation stalled when she had knee surgery, but Ellazar returned to the field at full strength in last weekend’s Texas Invitational tournament to hit .467 and score three runs in five games.

“She’s as diligent as ever. She’s one of the hardest working kids I’ve ever coached,” coach Julie Wright said. “Even when she was a little bit limited with the injury, she still did everything she possibly could to make sure she was staying as sharp as she could for as long as she could.”

When a Michigan State player slid hard into Ellazar last April, she missed the remainder of the game. While she returned to finish her sophomore campaign and then participated in Maryland’s fall season, Ellazar had knee surgery after the fall season and recovered over winter break in her native Hawaii.

“That little time that I lost was hard on my endurance, my conditioning,” Ellazar said. “But when I got home and I went through rehab, I hit it really hard. It helped being home in the warm.”

[Read more: A postseason trip helped Maryland softball bond before its season-opening tournament]

Throughout the offseason, Ellazar also mentored freshman outfielder Amanda Brashear. Wright paired Ellazar and senior outfielder Sarah Calta — who also hit above .300 in 2016 — with Brashear to help her transition to college-level hitting. After last weekend, the rookie leads the Terps with a .500 average and hit a double and a triple.

Ellazar is “really good at offering that advice and talking to them about what she looks at and how she handles it and some of the things she does that’s made her successful,” Wright said. “She’s really eager to share that stuff because she knows it’s going to make everyone just a little bit better.”

The junior shared her plate discipline techniques with Brashear. Ellazar focuses on hitting pitches in her zone, and Brashear has adopted a similar patience and confidence.

Over the weekend, Brashear said Ellazar kept it simple, trying to hit the ball back through the middle. The Hawaiian hit seven singles as a result.

Ellazar “has a name, and she’s backed it up,” Brashear said. “She has a really small zone she wants, but she sticks to that zone. She doesn’t make it different depending on which pitcher is pitching. Once it’s in that zone she’s going to swing for it and try to make the best of it.”