Merced’s Nickles wins gold with Team USA

Madilyn Nickles’ whirlwind summer with the 2015 Junior Women’s National Softball Team took her to places like Oklahoma, Ohio, Texas, Oregon and Southern California.

The summer culminated with Nickles and her teammates accomplishing their No. 1 goal: A gold medal.

Team USA defeated Japan 8-1 in the championship game of the 2015 World Baseball Softball Confederation Junior Women’s World Championship in Oklahoma City earlier this month.

Japan was defending world champion after winning the event in 2013 in Canada.

“It was a dream come true,” said Nickles, who played shortstop and first base. “That’s what we worked hard for all summer. To step on the podium, receive the gold medal and listen to the national anthem playing … it was an awesome feeling.”

Team USA went 10-0 in the tournament, outscoring its opponents 119-6.

Nickles, who has been named the Sun-Star Softball Player of the Year the past three seasons, hit .400 during the tournament with 10 hits in 25 at-bats. She hit a two-run homer in a 7-0 win over the Czech Republic. She also finished with one double, a triple and 10 RBIs while hitting fifth in the lineup most games.

“At first, it’s kind of nerve-racking,” Nickles said. “I grew up watching all these players play for Team USA when I was younger, and now I was on the same field. It was cool getting to play against other countries, and eventually you get used to playing with the USA across your chest.”

Nickles was named a first-team All-American by FloSoftball.com and a second-team All-American by USA Today after her junior season in which she hit .526 with eight home runs and 46 RBIs for Merced. She also compiled a 22-6 record with a 1.14 ERA and with 287 strikeouts in 1782/3 innings.

The Junior National Team kicked off its summer playing against older national teams in the World Cup X tournament in Irvine. Nickles went 4 for 14 with three runs scored and two RBIs in the tournament.

Nickles, 17, was the youngest player on the Junior National Team.

“It was kind of funny, but also a little frustrating early when they gave me nicknames like ‘Baby’ and ‘Little Child,’” Nickles said. “They gave me a hard time, but when it came down to the tough situations, it didn’t matter how young I was.”

Nickles, who verbally committed to UCLA before playing a high school game, is scheduled to take her official visit to Westwood on Oct. 1 and expects to sign her national letter of intent in November.

El Capitan’s Ward returns from 2015 NTIS

El Capitan’s Braiden Ward returned from Cary, N.C., this past weekend, where he represented Northern California in the 2015 National Team Identification Series.

Ward, who just began his junior year, was selected for the Northern California team by surviving two tryouts. Ward participated in an open tryout in San Franciso in May, where about 60 players took battling practice, played in simulated games and ran 30-yard dashes.

Ward was invited to participate in a second workout at Sacramento City College in July, where he was selected for the Northern California team and flew to the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary to play against teams from other regions in the 16U 2015 NTIS.

“I had the biggest smile on my face when I found out I was selected,” Ward said. “It was right after a baseball tournament and we had stopped to eat. My dad got an e-mail saying I made the team. I couldn’t stop moving in my seat, I was so excited.”

Ward hit .388 and led the Gauchos with 22 runs and 20 stolen bases last season.

Ward, an infielder, had tried out for the Northern California team the past two years, so finally making it was extra special.

Ward turned heads in North Carolina when he recorded the top 30-yard dash time of all the 16U players at 3.7 seconds. Ward and the Northern California team went 3-0 in its three games with Ward going 1 for 8 with a stolen base.

“I’ve been attempting this for two years and this was the first time I made it back there,” Ward said. “It meant a lot to represent my country and my state.”

Volleyball foundation games on Monday

Many area volleyball teams will play Sac-Joaquin Section Foundation games on Monday.

The foundation games raise money for the section scholarship funds. Half of the money collected at the gate goes to the section. The officials working the matches have agreed to waive their fees.

The foundation games do not count toward the 27 contacts allowed for each team. Some of the featured matchups include El Capitan at Le Grand, Golden Valley at Los Banos, Livingston at Merced and Hilmar at Pitman.

The matches are varsity-only and are scheduled to start at 7 p.m.

This story was originally published August 26, 2015 at 6:29 PM with the headline "Merced’s Nickles wins gold with Team USA."