Paige Dimler was drawn to the softball fields from a young age.
At age 6, she asked her mom if she could join a team. By age 12, Dimler was playing travel ball and being recruited by some of the most prestigious programs in college softball. Dimler verbally committed to the UA at age 15, signed with the Wildcats in November 2020, and enrolled in August.
She said her first “Fall ball” game in Hillenbrand Stadium was “kind of surreal.”
“I remember looking up and seeing my parents in the stands and being like, ‘Wow, I’m the one on the field now,’” Dimler said. “For years, we came out and watched games and like I would be like, ‘Wow, I can’t wait, I can’t wait’ — and then to step out and see that this is now me, it’s definitely a surreal feeling. It’s definitely really cool to be able to say, ‘I play with some of the best athletes in the country.’”
Dimler has the resume to contribute right away for the ninth-ranked Wildcats, who open their season Thursday with a game against Southern Utah. As a senior at Rancho Buena Vista High School, Dimler was named a Premier Girls Fastpitch All-American and ranked No. 31 in her class by Extra Inning Softball. She was a three-time All-CIF player and her high school’s female athlete of the year.
The left-handed-hitting Dimler belted 39 home runs in high school, finishing three short of setting a new record for the CIF-San Diego Section. As a senior, she hit .536 with a .567 on-base percentage, clubbed 52 hits and scored 40 runs.
Dimler brings more than just eye-popping numbers and big power. UA coach Caitlin Lowe calls her “a true sparkplug in the lineup” and someone who brings a great attitude to practice every day.
“Some people come in here and they think ‘I’m just going to play,’ but she’s really gotten down to every single day getting better in some way, shape or form, whether it be offensively or defensively,” Lowe said.
Lowe was an assistant coach when the Wildcats recruited and signed Dimler. Lowe first spotted Dimler at a combine camp; the coach said she “saw her tracking down balls in center field and really watching her swing. I was like, ‘OK, I got to see this kid.’”
And watch her, she did. Lowe was in the stands watching the 5-foot-11-inch outfielder play every week.
“Playing travel ball and looking into the stands the first time and seeing Coach Cait and then hearing that she was there to watch me it was like, ‘Oh my gosh, Caitlin Lowe is here to see me. Wow! That’s crazy,’” Dimler said. “It was almost like a motivation. If she thinks that I have what it takes, that really brings it out of me and pushes me to be that much better, because she obviously sees something in me, or I wouldn’t be here today.”
The bond between Dimler and Lowe grew quickly. Dimler peppered Lowe with questions about what she needed to work on; what Lowe was noticing and what she wanted to see in Dimler.
Dimler started out as a slap-hitter, in part, she says, because she was “fast enough to get away with it.” Advice from Candrea that put an end to her slapping days.
“He was like, ‘You’re fast, but not that fast,’” Dimler said with a laugh.
These days, the freshman wants to develop into a complete hitter — one who can hit to all fields and adjust at the plate to the top pitchers. Dimer said she’s “not worrying about being better than one of my teammates or whatever the case may be, but being the best version of myself and getting better every day.”
Lowe was happy to hear that.
“That’s a lot of maturity coming from a freshman, because if I could give anyone advice coming in here, it would be that it’s not to look at the wall and try to be Jenny Dalton or Jennie Finch. It’s to come in and be themselves and we preach that here a lot,” Lowe said.
“We recruited you for a reason and you bring something special to this team. We don’t have nine (Janelle Meoño) in the lineup for a reason. We want it to be dynamic. (Paige) brings something to the table that a lot of the kids don’t bring with her uniqueness. I think that’s exciting, and I really can see her getting better every single day. It’s impressive.”
First-year coach Caitlin Lowe says freshman Paige Dimler brings the right attitude to practice every day. “Some people come in here and they think ‘I’m just going to play,’ but she’s really gotten down to every single day getting better in some way, shape or form, whether it be offensively or defensively,” Lowe said.
Dimler will take all the advice she can from her coach, whom she calls one of her all-time favorite players.
“It’s such a cool experience to have her as a mentor,” Dimler said. “There’s so much like that we think about and having her to talk to and bounce ideas off of is really helpful because she just has so much to share. …(Lowe) was the kind of player you have to respect at the plate. You can’t have your third baseman playing halfway up the line because you think she’s going to bunt or slap because you do that and all of a sudden, she gets the ball over your head.
“I mean, she was just so versatile and brings a lot to the game. She has a lot of knowledge about the game, and I think that’s definitely something that I respect and look up to.”
