Michelle Cabral saw these same qualities in her daughter from the beginning. Lindsay Cabral, now a junior on the Saint Mary’s College softball team, is a high-energy leader, inspiring teammates to become involved in community service activities that coach Sonja Garnett says have a tangible impact on the Gaels’ best season in a decade.

None of it surprises her mom. Lindsay is the youngest of five kids who grew up in the San Bernardino County community of Redlands. “She held her own very well being the little sister,” Michelle Cabral said.

“She always wanted to make a difference or help in any way she can. She’s always been that go-getter. Knowing she’s accelerated more so in college, I wouldn’t expect anything else. That’s her.”

Garnett, in her sixth season as the Gaels’ coach, said Cabral occupies a unique niche among players she has coached. “On the community service side, we’ve never had someone who has taken such responsibility,” Garnett said. “We always talk about being a good-people team and having good grades and doing the right thing on and off the field. 

“And she has just taken that and put it in her own context and is spearheading community service.”

Cabral joined the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) this year, where she works alongside teammate Claudia Kirchner and representatives from other SMC teams to brainstorm issues that matter to all athletes on campus.

When she first joined the group, Cabral admits she didn’t fully understand the objectives of SAAC, a nationwide program the NCAA adopted in 1989 to solicit input from student-athletes.

“They welcomed me with open arms and set the foundation of what we are, what we do and I fell in love with it,” she said. “This is a great place for me. I will do whatever I can to try to help promote my team off the field and really bring our core values.” 

Mental health is an issue Cabral has embraced, and she pushed for the Gaels’ game May 10 against LMU to be designated “Mental Health Awareness Day.”

“We really need to bring awareness that it’s OK to not be OK,” Cabral said. “You’re not alone. You have a loved one that’s always there willing to answer the phone."

The scope of Cabral’s interests is broad. Here are a few of the other activities in which she has provided leadership or participated:

— Players worked together one day last August, tending the Saint Mary’s legacy garden, where fruits and vegetables used in the campus dining hall are cultivated.

— In November, the team volunteered to do face painting and hair coloring at a girls 5K run in Benicia that attracted several hundred grammar-school aged youngsters.

— Cabral initiated a project where players assembled 10 gift packages they delivered to UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in Oakland for Easter weekend. "It was really fun,” she said, recalling the afternoon she and her teammates put together toys and coloring books for kids unable to be at home for the holiday. “It really warmed our hearts.”

— Most recently, the softball team held a clinic on April 20 that attracted two dozen curious youngsters. “I got the idea from our baseball team — they had one a couple years ago,” she said. “Just to help these little girls believe anything is possible if they put their minds to it.”

In all, the softball team has completed nearly 400 hours of community service this academic year.

Next fall, Cabral will wear wear one more hat within SAAC, heading the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) committee. One of her goals is to make sure international students on campus feel a sense of belonging.

Cabral’s enthusiasm for her work is all the more impressive because her game-day role with the team has diminished. A starter at third base last year, Cabral lost that assignment with the arrival of freshman Sam Buckley, who closed out April with a .385 batting average — one of the best in the West Coast Conference.

“She’s a phenomenal player,” Cabral said. “Getting to know her, I said, `We’re doing this together. I’m going to help you. I’m also going to be your biggest fan.’ End of the day, we’re teammates and we put the team’s success first.“

The slogan “Gaels over Me” is one of the team’s core values. “She not only helped define that within our core values,” Garnett said, “but also lives it every day.”

Garnett appreciates how Cabral has not strayed from that commitment, even as her opportunity on the field has diminished. “In not playing, she has soul-searched for an important role within our program and has certainly found one that is making a bigger impact than just on our athletes,” Garnett said. 

The Gaels emerged from the final weekend of April with 24 victories — equaling their highest total since posting 26 wins 2012, which was also their most recent winning season.

Garnett, who has watched Cabral grow from a shy freshman to a confident junior, said her contributions have a tangible impact on the team’s success.

“I think that goes a long way,” Garnett said. “All 26 of our athletes are rowing the boat in the right direction right now. It’s very special.”

Michelle Cabral beams with pride over her daughter’s growth.

“I love everything she’s doing up there,” her mother said. “It takes a bigger person to say, `I had a great year last year, but what we need is this.’ And she finds her part in that. To me, a student-athlete is not just an athlete on the field. It’s everything, it’s leadership, it’s her schoolwork, her involvement. She’s my MVP.”