Sky’s the limit for pitcher Nell

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This article was published 22/03/2024 (909 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When Danika Nell hurls a softball 105 km/h toward a gymnasium wall, the sound of ball meeting concrete makes a terrifying, yet somehow satisfying crack.

You wouldn’t want to get in her way.

In fact, there might be little stopping the 18-year-old Vincent Massey student, who was recently named to the four-person pitching staff for the Canadian team that will compete at the U18 Women’s WBSC Americas Pan American Championship in Monteria, Colombia, later this month.

“That idea formed right when I started learning how to pitch because I’m self-taught — I taught myself how to throw through YouTube,” says the personable Nell. “I watched pitchers like Jennie Finch. She played on the U.S. national team and I started watching (NCAA Division 1) softball all the time and I just kind of knew what I wanted to do at eight years old. I was a softball nerd.”

The 6-foot Nell might be a softball nerd but growing up on a farm near Boissevain she has the talent and opportunity to diversify.

“Being from small town, you kind of play all the sports, right?” she says. “So, I did gymnastics and softball and I loved it as well. It was kind of season to season, right? Winter was hockey and gymnastics, and summer was gymnastics and softball, and then I started playing volleyball.

“I really loved gymnastics, and then I got too tall for gymnastics and it was down to volleyball and softball and then I could never imagine a future where I didn’t want to play softball in college.”

The idea of playing U.S. college softball really took hold in Grade 9.

“I was told that Twitter was the hot spot for recruitment for softball so I made an account on there and started posting videos — of just me training — and quickly grew a following with lots of coaches and other players,” she says.

Nell’s training videos and consistent presence while playing for the Nebraska Gold travel team had the desired effect.

After Grade 10, she chose to move to Winnipeg, living with her older brother, Meyer, while transferring from Boissevain School to Vincent Massey where she could take advantage of the school’s wider range of academic options while also playing softball with the Smitty’s Terminators, a local AAA powerhouse.

Her first phone call in 2023 with Boston University head coach, Ashley Waters, went so well she was offered a scholarship on the spot.

“Anyone who has seen her can see there is just a world of potential in her,” says Waters, from Boston. “I watched a video and then I found myself watching another video. It’s interesting because I always feel like when someone sends you a video clip to get recruited, it’s usually within the first 10-15 seconds that you either recognize their talent and you want to watch more or you quickly move on.

“With her, I found myself diving in deeper and Googling her name, trying to look up as much information as I could on her. And then I kind of took my shot.”

Nell was was stunned by the development.

“I was sitting in my room thinking, ‘I can’t believe that just happened,’” says Nell, who decided to carefully consider her options before committing.

Nell narrowed the field of suitors to a pair of choices — BU and the University of California Santa Barbara — and went on official visits to both schools. Eventually, she decided on BU and will join the Terriers program in fall.

“The intrigue was just totally based on her potential and then you talk to her you realize she learned from videos,” says Waters. “She’s never really had a pitching coach. I mean, this is self taught. To me, that is some inner motivation that can’t be taught. She has a knack for wanting to be good. She obviously loves her craft and what she does, so to me, her potential is endless.”

Prior to her first college season, Nell will play for Team Canada and when she returns from Colombia, she’ll be trying to help Massey’s softball team repeat as provincial high school champions. Nell also played for Boissevain’s provincial titleists in 2022.

“I feel like the sky’s the limit for her,” says Trojans head coach Krystal Morgan. “She is one of the hardest-working players I’ve ever coached. She’s always looking to get better and better. She’s practising on her own. She’s on multiple teams. She literally eats, sleeps and breathes softball. In the few months she’s got in September and October, November, she played volleyball. She’s got immense talent and a lot of it was self taught until she’s joined a club program.”

Nell, a left side on Massey’s varsity girls volleyball team that reached the provincial AAAA quarterfinals, was ranked No. 10 in the Free Press volleyball coaches’ poll.

“She’s good at everything she touches,” says Mandy Wolfe, who coaches the Massey volleyball squad and serves as an assistant coach of the softball team. “I mean, for her to walk on to the volleyball team that I had last year and this year and be a direct impact player speaks volumes for her not only as an athlete, but her work ethic, her flexibility, her adaptability and her leadership. She is a dream kid.”

Nell is a right-handed pitcher but hits left-handed. Morgan has witnessed many instances of her hitting prowess, including Nell’s walk-off grand slam to beat Prairie Mountain in the provincial semifinals a year ago.

When she’s not pitching, Nell is adept at first base and could get some work there for Team Canada.

“I’ve worked really hard on my hitting,” she says. “Hopefully I’ll get some at-bats in Colombia.”

Nell can expect to get an opportunity to play immediately as a freshman at BU, even as a hitter despite the usual practice of DHing for pitchers. The Terriers program is graduating nine seniors this spring.

“I’m really big on if a pitcher can hit and you’re one of the best nine then you absolutely will be in the lineup,” says Waters. “We have two starting pitchers right now who are hitting for us and doing exceptionally well. So I’m very open-minded.”

Nell’s career trajectory could eventually put her in contention for a spot on the senior national team and even a trip to the Summer Olympics. Softball is not on the menu of sports for Paris 2024 but it will make its return to the Games at Los Angeles in 2028.

“I believe that she’s going to be in that (player) pool for the 2028 Olympic team because she works so hard and those are her goals and I don’t think she’ll stop until she reaches it,” says Morgan. “She’s got the physical ability, right? And I feel like with her mental toughness and her maturity — that’s kind of what you need.”

Nell cemented the impression she made over the phone during her official visit to Boston, accompanied by her mom.

“You spend time with them and you realize, whether she pans out or not — which I think she will — she’s a very cool kid that you would be honoured to have in your program,” says Waters.

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca