Bobb Servoss is coaching a Shepherd softball team that has a lot of talent.
That talent includes Adri Nelson, who hit nine home runs and 33 RBI in her first 25 games as of mid-May with a .488 batting average, .907 slugging percentage and 1.423 on base percentage.
Nelson is a sophomore who was brought up at the end of her freshman season. It’s her first full year, but she has already established herself as one of the top power hitters in the area.
“I knew she was a heckuva talent,” Servoss said. “She kind of took off this year. She’s gotten a lot stronger.”
Nelson has played strictly catcher this year.
“She caught every game on JV last year,” Servoss added. “When I brought her up, I brought her and the pitcher up, and we started practicing. We noticed she chased a flyball as well as anyone on our team. We were having a few problems in the outfield. So when I brought her up, we put her strictly in the outfield.”
Nelson played six games as a freshman and hit .364.
“From what I saw last year, I could tell she was a really good hitter average wise,” Servoss continued. “I never thought she would hit that many home runs. I didn’t see the power she displayed this year. We spend a lot of time in practice hitting. We went out and bought a pretty nice pitching machine and spent a lot of time hitting a softball.”
“I have high expectations for myself,” Nelson said. “I feel that I could exceed more than I have been. We’ve been working at practice on hitting more line drives than home runs.”
Against Alma, she had back-to-back at-bat home runs.
“In our game against Bullock Creek, one of their coaches is one of my summer ball coaches, and he pitched around me a little bit,” Nelson recalled. “I hit a single, double and triple off them in the first game. I’ve been working on my mechanics this year and have been loosening up.
As a catcher “she’s a pretty good receiver and has a very strong arm,” Servoss said. “Nobody seems to run too much on her. I think they watch her throw during infield practice.”
Nelson has been playing softball since she was five. It’s her best hitting season ever so far.