Northwest Christian, pitcher Mattea Nelson steam ahead with undefeated softball record
Mattea Nelson has perfected her routine inside the pitching circle.
Before every batter steps up to the plate, especially when it’s a “good hitter,” Nelson seems to let the world go. She takes three deep breaths as she changes her line of vision from the batter to her catcher.
And then the field goes silent – at least to Nelson.
“Everything else in my life goes away and I just focus on that moment,” the Northwest Christian pitcher said.
Her big breaths before she begins her windup don’t completely dissipate the nerves that build up ahead of each batter. But Nelson said she doesn’t mind a little bit of butterflies when she’s inside the circle and facing a big bat.
“They’re the nerves that I look forward to,” Nelson said.
Her father, Paul, doesn’t handle the stress nearly as well as Nelson.
“I have a harder time with her in the circle than she does,” Paul said. “It’s nerve-wracking for dad.”
“He’s a pacer,” Nelson said.
Paul can’t seem to stay put on the bleachers when his daughter takes the field. He has a good excuse for his nervous walks between the stands – Nelson has yet to lose a game for the Crusaders.
For the first time in school history, Northwest Christian is undefeated this deep into a season. The Crusaders have a 21-0 record, and every one of their wins has been earned behind a tough, young roster and Nelson’s steadfast leadership inside the circle.
Nelson is a junior on an NWC team of only two seniors, but already she is a veteran. Nelson, who is finishing up her fourth season on the varsity team this year, joined the Crusaders when she was in the eighth grade. The team pulled her up a year before she entered high school to bulk up a small roster since the Crusaders had a low number of girls turn out for the team that year.
Nelson started pitching for the Crusaders when she was a freshman, but she didn’t work in the circle full time until her sophomore year when the Crusaders went 19-4.
The team failed to go to state that season – the first time in five years that the Crusaders hadn’t moved on from districts – when Northwest Christian fell 8-7 to Colfax in a loser-out game.
“This year we talked about, ‘What did it feel like at the end of last year? You never want to feel like that again, knowing that it was so close but we let it slip away,’ ” NWC head coach Renee Stewart said.
Nelson said she’s sure that this season will be different than last year’s flop. The heartbreak suffered at the end of the season was enough motivation for the Crusaders to not let another trip to state get away from them for a second straight year.
“We were pretty emotional after last year,” Nelson said. “We don’t want to be done yet, especially for our seniors.”
Nelson knew this season’s roster was a force on the field when NWC took on Rogers in an early nonleague showing. It was tough matchup on paper for the Crusaders, who come from a smaller 2B league as opposed to Rogers, which lives in the much larger Greater Spokane League 3A.
But NWC powered through and took down the Pirates 9-4 that day, a surprising defeat on Rogers’ end. Nelson was 3 for 4 and struck out five.
“I don’t think they were expecting us to (beat them),” Nelson said. “It kind of proved to us that we can compete against anyone.”
Stewart said the team might be perfect, but a good record won’t keep them going in postseason.
“We’re 1-0 now in the postseason, and that’s really all that matters,” Stewart said. “You’re not playing for a record, you’re playing to get to state.”
Stewart has coached Nelson to have a short memory and to not look beyond NWC’s next opponent on the schedule.
Nelson was quick to voice what she had been taught all season.
“It’s one game at a time this year,” Nelson said, and she and her team plan to follow that notion heading into the weekend.
Nelson and the Crusaders face Davenport next on Saturday in the District 7 2B semifinal at 1 p.m. at Franklin Park. The winner qualifies for state and moves to the championship game at 5:30 p.m.
Nelson said she has already started looking at several universities to play softball – mostly in the northern states. She has her gaze fixated on playing for the North Dakota State Bison, her father’s alma mater.
“They have a good softball program,” Nelson said. “I’ve always like them.”
Nelson said she hasn’t talked to any schools yet, but she has put together film of herself pitching and playing other positions on the field, such as the middle infield.
If her videos showcasing her abilities on the field don’t get her noticed quickly, she’ll certainly standout on paper. Nelson was named the league’s Most Valuable Player this week for her efforts in the circle and for her strong bat.
She and the Crusaders were also awarded the Academic State Championship award this season, which is given to the team highest cumulative grade-point average. Nelson falls in the middle with a roughly 3.6 GPA.
Nelson has also stood out on the basketball and volleyball courts at NWC, but she said she only wants to pursue softball after high school.
Nelson said she hopes to find a school that could offer her a decent program in psychology. She said after softball, she wants to continue her studies and eventually become a counselor for either a school or for private clients.
whitneyo@SPOKESMAN.com