Wearing a Lowell softball jersey is special for junior third baseman Preslee Hill.

She dons the same No. 14 that her mother, 1998 Lowell graduate Amanda Hill, wore when the softball team won the first of its four sectional titles in 1997.

“I’ll wear my mom’s old crew neck to school, and people will ask me, ‘Who’s Umfleet?’ ” Preslee Hill said. “I’m like, ‘That’s my mom.’”

The Red Devils’ most recent sectional title came in 2009, and Hill aims to change that.

“We’re trying to get one, too, so she can have her legacy,” Lowell coach Mike McLindon said. “She understands what it means to put ‘Lowell’ on your chest. A championship for your school just sits a little differently, and that’s what we’re building.

“I know it means a heck of a lot to her if we can make a run in the postseason at some point here and add to that family legacy.”

Hill and the Red Devils nearly pulled it off last season, losing 3-2 to Northwest Crossroads Conference rival Hobart in a Class 4A sectional final after upsetting Crown Point in the semifinals. Lowell (8-4, 7-2), which has already surpassed its 4-8 conference mark from last season, has moved down to a Class 3A sectional that includes Hanover Central, Illiana Christian and Kankakee Valley.

That sectional carrot might provide extra motivation for Hill. But she’s driven regardless.

“Pres never stops working,” McLindon said. “That’s who she is. Her coming out here and performing, that’s not an overnight success. She’s not picking up the bat at the beginning of the season and putting it down at the end of the season. It’s the spring season, fall season, going to every open gym and every weights we have. She’ll go hit somewhere tonight because that’s how she’s wired.

“She’s a sponge. She always wants feedback, instantaneous feedback. You talk about something with her, and it’s always instantaneously changed. She’s a gamer. It’s definitely helping the team.”

Hill ramped up her dedication in the weight room this past offseason. She also altered her nutritional plan.

“She’s constantly adding the weight, constantly pushing herself,” McLindon said. “Its like, ‘Nope, this is too easy. I have to add weight.’

“She knows she has goals, and she’s locked into them. That’s transformed everything that she’s doing. She’s clearly a great student, too, from a great family.”

McLindon recalled Hill missing one session in the weight room. Instead, she stayed 45 minutes after practice to work exclusively on backhands at third.

“You can’t coach that,” McLindon said. “She feels that’s a deficit. That’s a beautiful thing. Some girls shy away from things they’re not good at. It’s like, ‘I don’t want to work on it because it makes me look bad.’ But, nope, she said, ‘This is a challenge. Let’s go.’

“It’s impressive. It makes her better, and when she gets better, it makes our whole team better.”

Hill, who is primarily a catcher for her travel team, took over at third base midway through her freshman season and has been at the top of her game this season — usually in front of a sizable contingent of family members.

Hill is leading the team in batting (.576), RBIs (13), runs scored (12) and walks (eight), typically out of the No. 3 spot. She has also hit three homers, which ranks second on the team.

She hit .361 with team highs of two homers and 17 RBIs last season after debuting with a team-high .383 batting average with a homer and eight RBIs as a freshman.

In addition to her physical gains, Hill also pointed to her sharper mentality this season.

“For some reason, I count my stats,” she said. “I’m like, ‘I was 1-for-4. I have to do better.’ As soon as I got that out of my head, I was fine. I forgot about it. I got to the next game, and I was like, ‘I got this. It’s a new day.’

“I try to forget about everything. My hitting instructor told me, ‘Don’t think. Just do.’ I try not to think about my past mistakes and just do what I know how to do.”

McLindon has observed that change in Hill’s mental approach.

“Last year, she was in her head sometimes,” McLindon said. “She’s obviously wicked smart, and she was forcing some things. She wasn’t hitting the ball to her ability, and I’m talking about her still having a very good season. But she knew she had untapped potential. So this year, seeing her plate discipline, that’s been a big part of what’s helping her this season. We talk a lot about waiting for your pitch, battling with two strikes, and she’s been doing that.

“Teams haven’t been coming to her and they’ve been putting her on, but we have a lineup now that’s able to move her over and drive her in. So they can’t really work around her. It’s just her plate discipline. And when they come to her, she doesn’t miss often. In three years, I’ve never seen her hit a weak ball. Even off the end of the bat, it’s not coming off weak. And if she gets a hold of one, she can mash, no question.”

Lowell sophomore Peyton Lonardi, who has a team-high four homers, has been one of those productive players in the lineup. She said Hill does more than deliver at the plate.

“She’s always hype. She always has a lot of energy,” Lonardi said. “She definitely doesn’t let anyone get down. She’s always talking on the field. She’s just a really good teammate overall. She’s someone you want to have on your team and always cheering you up all the time.”

Lowell senior Brooke McCartney also appreciates Hill’s role on the team.

“Her and I are built the same way, which sounds funny,” McCartney said. “But we just mesh really well. We were partners in the weight room for a while. She’s super sweet, and she’s always been an encouraging part of the team. Sometimes she gets down on herself, and I’m like, ‘Remember what you tell us. It’s fine. You’re going to work it out.’

“She’s awesome. She’s obviously a great contributor to our offense. I’m excited for her this year and as a senior next year. She’s going to be awesome. She’s on fire.”

Hill also plays volleyball. She stopped playing basketball this past winter in order to focus more on softball.

“Since her freshman year, she’s been a really strong player for us,” McLindon said. “Last year, she was locked in, and this year, she’s an entirely different player. She’s always been a legit good player. But this year, her maturity as a softball player, her approach at the plate, has been phenomenal.

“Last year to this year, she’s an entirely different person. Last year, if she got two strikes, she’d strike out because she was in her head. This year, if she gets two strikes on her, it makes no difference. She’ll foul off 10 pitches and get to one. It’s been impressive.”

Along the way, Hill has overcome four surgeries on her right knee.

In sixth grade, she suffered a dislocated kneecap on a swing, something that kept happening because of a genetic condition. She also has it in her left knee, but that hasn’t been an issue.

Hill delayed surgery until eighth grade, when her tendon was repositioned and plates and screws were inserted. After extensive rehab, a week before she was scheduled to be cleared, she said she suffered a broken tibia while walking down stairs at school. She had a cable inserted from her kneecap to her shin.

After Hill couldn’t bend her knee past 90 degrees, she had another procedure to remove the cable. Then during her freshman season in volleyball, she said she experienced “really bad pain” in her knee and wound up having the plate and screws removed.

“It’s fine now,” she said.

But Hill’s experiences have led her to want to major in kinesiology and pursue a career in physical therapy.

“I’ve been so many times, I’ve had to go through so much physical therapy, if I could help out another athlete like me who’s gotten hurt, I can connect with them and help them get through what they’re going through,” she said.

Hill also wants to play softball in college. That process is ongoing, but McLindon strongly believes she can continue playing beyond high school.

“If this kid doesn’t play at the next level, it will be an injustice,” he said. “This kid can flat-out play. I was even flirting with putting her in the leadoff spot just because of how many pitches she was seeing. But she’s such a good run producer.

“So not only is she versatile where we can put her in multiple positions in the field, we also can put her many places in the lineup, and the production is always going to be there. That’s a blessing.”

The Red Devils don’t name captains, but there’s no doubt Hill is among their leaders.

“She always does the right thing,” McLindon said. “The younger kids are always watching the work, what it takes, what it takes, what it takes, and Pres is a great model for the varsity, JV, the kids in the stands.

“Natural leaders are just natural leaders, and Pres is definitely one of those — in the school, in the community, in the classroom and definitely out on the field.”