USA Today names Merced’s Madilyn Nickles second-team All-USA

Merced High star Madilyn Nickles was named to the All-USA Softball second team by USA Today. The Bears ace was one of just four juniors selected of the 20 players named to the first or second team by Brentt Eads of FloSoftball.com.

“It’s pretty cool,” Nickles said. “I didn’t think I’d receive something like this or be recognized for something nationally. It’s pretty awesome.”

Nickles, who verbally committed to UCLA before playing in high school, went 22-6 for the Bears this spring with a 1.18 ERA. She struck out 287 hitters in 178 2/3 innings, pitching five no-hitters and recording 11 shutouts. She also hit .526 with eight home runs and 46 RBIs.

Nickles helped lead Merced to a fifth consecutive Central California Conference championship and a deep run in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II playoffs.

“We’ve never had anyone get recognized for something like this before,” Merced coach Bart McAfee said. “It’s quite an accomplishment, especially because she is only a junior.”

Nickles is training with the 2015 USA Junior National Team in Southern California. She is the youngest player on the team.

The junior national team will compete in the World Cup of Softball X from June 29-July 5 in Irvine and then will travel to Oklahoma City later this summer to play in the International Softball Federation Junior Women’s World Championship from Aug. 9-15.

“The training has been going pretty good so far,” said Nickles, who also has a 4.067 GPA. “It’s kind of tough because we’re doing two-a-days. We do morning practices and then we scrimmage at night. It’s pretty cool to get to know everyone.”

This story was originally published June 11, 2015 at 5:41 PM with the headline "USA Today names Merced’s Madilyn Nickles second-team All-USA."