Merced’s Nickles, Pacheco’s Rodoni named All-Americans

The accolades continue to roll in for Merced softball star Madilyn Nickles. The soon-to-be senior was named a first-team All-American as a multipositional player by FloSoftball on Thursday.

Nickles was also named to the MaxPreps second-team All-American on Thursday.

“I’m actually surprised,” said Nickles, who was also the Sun-Star Player of the Year. “I’ve never gotten this many awards or had my name on so many lists. I think it’s really amazing.”

Nickles went 22-6 with a 1.18 ERA this season as a pitcher for the Bears. She finished ninth in the state with 287 strikeouts in 1782/3 innings, according to MaxPreps. She also hit .526 with eight home runs and 46 RBIs this spring. Nickles was named second-team All-American by USA Today earlier this summer.

Pacheco’s Gia Rodoni earned second-team All-America honors by FloSoftball earlier this week as a multipostional player.

“It’s awesome,” Rodoni said. “All my hard work and dedication have been recognized. I was thinking about it last season when a lot of the players I play travel ball with got this type of recognition. It’s cool to get it, too.”

Rodoni was named the Western Athletic Conference MVP after leading Pacheco (13-15) to a conference title with a 10-2 WAC record.

Rodoni was 13-6 with a 0.58 ERA as a pitcher with 256 strikeouts in 121 and 1/3 innings. Rodoni only gave up 47 hits all season.

The University of Baylor-bound hurler hit .324 and led Pacheco with three home runs and 22 runs.

“It’s quite an accomplishment,” Panthers coach Charlie Pikas said. “Any time you throw around the words ‘All-American’ you did something pretty good at a high level. Since I’ve been in town, Gia is the only player I’ve seen named to the first team Western Region and the only player to get any type of All-American recognition.”

Rodoni is spending her summer playing for the California Grapettes. She just returned from a tournament in Boulder, Colo.

She leaves for Baylor on Aug. 15.

“I’m so excited,” Rodoni said. “I have a countdown going. I’m excited to go to a new state and meet new people and coaches. I’m going to a college and playing softball, which is something I’ve dreamed of doing since I was a kid.”

Nickles, who has verbally committed to UCLA, has spent her summer playing on the ASA/USA Junior Women’s National Softball Team as the youngest member.

“It’s been cool,” said Nickles, who is home in Merced for 10 days before returning to Ohio with the junior national team. “We’ve traveled a lot and met a bunch of people. I’ve had little girls come up to me and tell me they want to do what I do when they’re older. It’s really inspiring and makes me want to be a better player.”

One thing Nickles has improved on is signing autographs for the girls at the games and the youth clinics the team has participated in.

“I’ve learned the messier the better with autographs,” she said.

Nickles has traveled to Oklahoma, Texas and Ohio before competing in the World Cup X softball tournament in Irvine last week, where the junior national team went 3-4 against older teams from other countries.

Nickles had at least one at-bat in the six of the seven games, going 4 for 14 with three runs and two RBIs. Her big game came in a 10-4 win over Venezuela in which Nickles went 3 for 4, including a double and a triple, with a run and two RBIs.

“I had a lot more family and friends at that game,” Nickles said. “I think them being there made me more comfortable and confident. I felt I was able to do more.”

Nickles said it took an adjustment playing the older teams.

“It was a lot different,” she said. “You look at these girls that have the name of their countries on their jerseys. It didn’t click in my head that I had USA on my jersey, too. Playing against teams like Japan, Mexico and Venezuela really did make me a better player.”

The junior national team will compete at the International Softball Federation Jr. Women’s World Championship from Aug. 9-15 in Oklahoma City.

This story was originally published July 9, 2015 at 8:04 PM with the headline "Merced’s Nickles, Pacheco’s Rodoni named All-Americans."