Bullock Creek softball coach Dave O’Keefe is pretty confident that his offense will put some runs on the board this season. And if pitcher Heidi Nagel has the kind of senior campaign she’s hoping for, the Lancers could be looking at a very special season.
Formerly Creek’s No. 2 pitcher, Nagel said she is “excited” about the prospect of now being the Lancers’ go-to hurler in the circle.
“It’s what I’ve wanted all of my years on varsity. And, with me being a senior, it’s going to be cool,” said Nagel, a tall hard-thrower with a variety of pitches. “ … I’m a lot stronger (physically) than last year, and mentally it’s the same thing – I’m stronger this year.
“I moved up in travel ball (from 16U to 18U), and that helped with my confidence, and being offered a scholarship to pitch in college helped with that, too,” she added. “That made me think, ‘OK, I’m really good enough to do this.’”
O’Keefe said that he, too, is counting on Nagel to be his leader in the circle after fellow senior Sydney Borsenik decided during the offseason not to pitch any longer.
“I hope Heidi leads the way. I think our offense has promise and will score a lot of runs. We just have to make sure we hold opponents down,” he noted. “And I think Heidi will go a long way toward making that happen.
“ … Heidi is the proven, seasoned one among our pitchers, and she’ll be used in that ‘ace’ role,” he added. “I’m hopeful that she’ll continue to stay healthy.”
As a junior, Nagel compiled a 14-5 record with a 2.77 earned-run average and 143 strikeouts with only 28 walks in 124 innings pitched, and she logged the bulk of the Lancers’ innings in the latter stages of the season. She said she has put in “a lot of work” to continue getting better in preparation for her senior season.
“I’ve had the same pitching coach for a long time, and I worked a lot with her (during the offseason), and I’ve done a lot of work on my own, not just pitching but also working out and getting reps in,” she said.
Nagel, who pitches in the summer for the Bolts travel team and who will pitch at the next level for Mid Michigan College, said that her arsenal includes a fastball, a riseball, a changeup, and a curveball.
“I also have a drop(ball), but it’s not the greatest,” she noted with a chuckle. “My outside fastball and riseball are my best pitches. I love to work the outside corner, especially if the umpires are giving it to me.
“I just try pushing (the strike zone) further and further out,” she added with another chuckle.
According to O’Keefe, Nagel’s fastball is “sneaky quick.”
“Heidi has a very smooth, easy delivery. From a hitter’s standpoint, it doesn’t look like she’d be a power pitcher, but the ball comes out of her hand with good velocity,” he said. “ … You don’t expect the ball to come that hard, because she has such a smooth, natural delivery.
“ … Her velocity coupled with her control (makes her effective). She can locate pitches and spot up on the corners when she needs to, and she has decent movement,” he added. “She’s a valuable pitcher that any team would love to have.”
Nagel said she appreciates getting input from O’Keefe, himself a longtime pitcher.
“He does have a different approach than my pitching coach, but anything he offers, I listen to and take into consideration,” she said. “He’s just very encouraging, even though our styles don’t always match up. He wants to learn how I work so that he can help when I need it.
“ … I think he’s great. He’s fun. He makes practices fun and makes everything enjoyable,” she added of O’Keefe, who is in his first season at the Lancers’ helm.
O’Keefe admitted with a laugh that the pitching coach within him sometimes wants to take over, but he has no intention of micro-managing.
“I like what Heidi is doing. There are moments when I’ve had an inclination to talk with her about what she’s doing, but she sees her pitching coach, and I don’t want to disrupt that, because she’s doing well,” he said. “I like how she’s throwing, and there’s no sense in trying to fix things that are not broken.”
Beyond being the Lancers’ ace, Nagel is a “terrific person,” O’Keefe noted.
“She’s a positive influence on everybody. She’s pleasant to be around and happy and very positive. She’s an easy teammate for everybody – just a genuinely nice person who is fun to be around,” he said.
Asked about her goals for the upcoming season, Nagel replied, “As a team, just to have a winning season.”
“As long as we’re winning games and having fun and being a good team together, that would be amazing,” she said. “And, personally, I just want to keep my strikeouts way above my walks and keep my walks way down. I want to continue to work on really getting my pitches defined and perfected and to be able to hit my spots consistently.”
When she’s not working on her pitching, Nagel said she enjoys raising pigs, as well as hunting ducks and squirrels.
“I’m always outside doing something,” she said.
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Smooth operator: Senior pitcher Nagel ready to lead Lancers - Midland Daily News
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