Sep. 8—GRAND FORKS — Jocelyn Berg is headed somewhere much warmer for the next chapter of her softball career.
Grand Forks Red River's senior right-handed pitcher has committed to Mercer, a private university in Macon, Ga.
"I'm so excited," Berg said. "This was completely the perfect fit for me. I'm really excited to have that pinned down and know where I'm going to end up after this year."
Berg was previously committed to UAB, but she reopened her recruiting while the program underwent a coaching change this offseason.
Multiple programs reached out, but Mercer stood out.
"It was a mixture of good feeling, getting to meet their coaching staff in person and really feeling that my values align with theirs," Berg said. "But then also the ability to go somewhere and be able to play competitive softball but also get a really, really good education was an attractive feature for me, and helped make the decision."
Mercer is an NCAA Division I program that competes in the Southern Conference.
Head coach Chris Kuhlmeyer, who was hired in June 2025, took over an ascendant program. The Bears won their first-ever conference championship last season and earned a spot in the NCAA tournament.
Berg took a visit to Mercer in early August.
"(Kuhlmeyer) has been amazing through all of this," Berg said. "Very supportive throughout the process. He was really good with, 'Hey, we want you here, we know this is the place for you,' but also just being really respectful of me taking my time. He seems like he's going to build a great program at Mercer. He's very competitive but also going to push us to be the best both on the field and off the field."
Berg will enter her senior season with plenty of accolades already under her belt. She was named the North Dakota Gatorade Player of the Year for the second consecutive season last year.
"It is such an honor to be recognized in that light," Berg said. "There's a lot of work that goes into it behind the scenes, so being able to be the kind of person that people look to and say, 'Hey, this is what we want softball to look like in North Dakota,' it was really cool."
Berg earned all-state honors last year, ending the season with a 1.48 ERA and 7-2 record. She struck out 189 and walked 27 through 99.1 innings.
Berg also excelled in the batter's box, leading the Roughriders with a .587 average, 11 doubles and six home runs.
Berg is looking to end her prep career on a high note. The Riders came up just short of a state tournament berth last season with a 9-3 loss to Fargo Davies in an Eastern Dakota Conference state qualifier game.
"We're definitely going to be young," Berg said. "But I'm really looking forward to getting to work with a bunch of girls and just win as many games as we can, go compete and just have a bunch of fun in my last run of it."
Berg continued playing after the high school season ended. She competed for the Iowa Premier 18U team, a travel softball program based in Des Moines, Iowa.
"We travel all over for different tournaments," Berg said. "Kind of get looks, get seen. We had a great season, it was a lot of fun."