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Tigers' all-star pitcher signs to play with Coyotes
Nearly a year after the Mountain Home Tigers softball squad earned its first state title, one of the team's all stars has earned a chance to play in the college ranks.
During a ceremony Friday afternoon, Nickayla Skinner signed a letter of intent to play with the College of Idaho in Caldwell on a combination scholarship.
A senior at Mountain Home High School, Nickayla started playing softball when she was age 7 or 8, although she admits she's not entirely sure how she got involved. Her introduction to the sport was less than awe inspiring, the teen admitted.
"I wasn't very good. I ended up picking flowers in the outfield instead," she said.
Despite her awkward beginnings as a softball player, she got a chance to pitch for her eight-year-old youth team while the family was based in California. Her talents as a ball player improved dramatically, according to her mother, Katilia Skinner.
Over the years, the teen played different positions on various youth softball teams. Typically, she rotated between catcher, shortstop and pitcher.
As her abilities improved, so did her opportunities to play the sport. She received her first exposure to varsity competition in the seventh grade after she joined the local high school team.
Being a military family, her family moved a year later, and Nickayla took a one-year break when they moved to Mountain Home. In her freshman year, she again returned to the varsity ranks where she would remain as the team's pitcher the next four years.
Her pitching prowess caught the attention of Al Mendiola, who coaches the women's team at the College of Idaho. He hoped to recruit Nickayla after watching the teen compete against Bishop Kelly High School during her freshman year.
"I noticed that her abilities got better each year, so I kept track of her progress" Mendiola said.
Her skills as a pitcher advanced the Mountain Home Tigers varsity softball squad to the top of the district ranks over the next four years. In 2009, the team earned the high school its first state softball title.
According to her parents, Nickayla dishes up a mean pitch, hurling softballs at speeds reaching 67 miles per hour. At that velocity, batters have about five tenths of a second to react by the time the ball leaves her hand.
Her pitching speed equates to the average ability of college or professional baseball players. In fact, if she threw up a standard baseball instead of a larger and heavier softball, she could hurl the smaller projectile at speeds reaching 97 miles per hour, according to Mendiola.
The coach stands to lose his top pitcher at the end of this year and plans to move Nickayla to the pitcher's mound at the start of the next season.
"You build your team around the pitcher, and Nickayla was my number one choice," he said.
The teen becomes the next Mountain Home athlete to play for the College of Idaho since forming its first softball team eight years ago. Former Tigers athlete Andrea Cotton became the first player from the school district here to play for the Caldwell university.
Former Mountain Home Lady Tiger catcher Sammy Dodge, now a member of Mendiola's softball squad, accompanied the coach for the signing. She's happy to have Nickayla signing with the Lady 'Yotes.
"I'm glad I'll get to catch for her one more time," Dodge said.
However, Nickayla's life doesn't necessarily revolve around sports. A personal fan of stage performances and acting, she plans to major in theater while attending college in Caldwell.
"I'm just proud of her not just because of her athletic skills but because she's also done great academically," her mother said. "She's just a great kid."
Skinner went 25-2 last year with an earned run average of 0.42, including 302 strikeouts, to help lead the Mountain Home Lady Tigers to their first-ever 4A state softball title last May.