Nelson Has Learned to Play the Mental Game

Alisha Nelson never thought much about the mental aspects of playing softball until she had to--for a college class.

Nelson, a standout pitcher at Orange Coast College, is taking an English class this semester that incorporates sports psychology into the papers the students write.

It has afforded Nelson a chance to really consider what she’s doing, and how she reacts while pitching.

And it has been beneficial.

“This year I’m mentally stronger,” Nelson said. “It (the class) deals a lot with self-motivation and talking to yourself in a positive way so things like errors don’t bother you as much. Now, when I give up a hit, I worry about what I have to do next.”

She has a 14-5 record with a 0.46 earned-run average and eight shutouts. OCC has been shut out in three of her five losses.

While some dominating pitchers average about a strikeout an inning, Nelson relies on changing speeds and ball movement to deceive batters.

She has only 62 strikeouts in 138 innings. Nelson has allowed 57 hits and walked 21.

“She has the full variety of pitches and rarely throws a fastball,” OCC Coach Nick Trani said. “She keeps the hitter off-balance and our defense has done a good job as well. They have to, for her to be successful. She fields her position well also.”

OCC is 24-7, 14-3 in the Orange Empire Conference. The Pirates hold a 1 1/2-game lead over second-place Cypress with four games left. If OCC wins the conference title, it will be the softball program’s first.

Nelson, 19, played three years on the varsity at Woodbridge High School. She was the co-most valuable player of the Pacific Coast League as a senior in 1990 and came to OCC last season.

Nelson played center field and pitched as a freshman for OCC, which finished second in conference to Cypress. The Pirates advanced to the State tournament before being eliminated.

Nelson was 22-8 with an 0.81 ERA in 199 innings. She had 122 strikeouts and seven shutouts. She also hit .244 with 19 RBIs.

Nelson was selected to the All-Southern California team, something she hopes will happen again this season--but as a pitcher. Trani has decided that as long he can, he will let her rest between starts.

“I like to bat,” Nelson said. “But when I’m pitching, I don’t really notice that I’m not (batting) anymore.”

What’s in a Jersey? At Cypress, plenty of victories, it seems.

In an effort to end a four-game losing streak, baseball Coach Scott Pickler asked the equipment room folks to dig out the dark blue tops the team last wore regularly in 1989.

Cypress then beat Cal Poly Pomona JV, 18-3, Wednesday and L.A. Harbor, the fifth-ranked team in the state, 7-6, Thursday. The Chargers defeated Golden West, 12-2, Saturday.

Pickler loaned the uniform tops to his brother Brad, who is the Cypress softball coach. The Chargers beat Fullerton, 1-0, in nine innings Friday.

Chico and the Gaucho: Keith Calkins, the athletic director at Saddleback, has been elected to the the Chico region sports Hall of Fame.

Calkins was a four-sport star at Chico High School and Cal State Chico and was elected to the college’s Hall of Fame in 1988.

Calkins was also the football coach at Chabot for 11 seasons and had a record of 70-31-2.

Community College Notes

David Newhan tied a school single-game record with three doubles in Cypress’ 18-3 victory over Cal Poly Pomona JV. Newhan became the fifth Cypress player to get three doubles in a game. The last was Kevin Cook in 1990. Cook is currently playing for Chapman. Newhan, a freshman infielder from Esperanza High, leads the Chargers in hitting at .385 (47 for 122).