Jessica Merchant started her softball career at Wayland High, quickly made her name known and earned a scholarship to the University of Michigan.
She played four years with the Wolverines and became one of the top players in school history. She was captain of the team in 2005 when the Wolverines won a national championship and she left Michigan as the all-time home run leader with 46 and single-season home run leader with 21. In 2004 she was the Big Ten Conference Player of the Year.
Jessica went on to play for the U.S. National Softball team and was MVP of the International Cup after batting .500.
In her professional career she played for the Connecticut Brakettes and the New England Riptide.
After retiring from playing, Jessica went into coaching. She was an assistant at the University of Massachusetts, and then the University of Minnesota. In 2020 she was named Associate Head Coach at Stanford University.