In 2020, under a new coach and with a rejuvenated squad on the field, the San Diego Toreros will look to move up in the West Coast Conference standings after a 5th-place finish a season ago. The Toreros hired NAIA National Championship-winning coach Jessica Pistole this summer.
One player that Pistole will likely lean on heavily this season is pitcher Delaney Heller. A senior from Castro Valley, California, Heller led the team with eleven wins and a 3.96 ERA last season. She finished the year with eighty-seven strikeouts in just over 118 innings of work, assembling a strikeouts/walk ratio better than 3/1.
An all-conference honorable mention selection in 2018, Heller is also a two-time Academic All-Conference selection, earning that distinction in both 2018 and ’19.
Heller recently sat down with us to talk about her career and her goals and expectations for her final collegiate season.
Justin’s World of Softball: How did you get started playing softball?
Delaney Heller: I started playing softball at seven years old for my local rec league in Castro Valley. I was always on a team with my best friends from elementary school at the time, which made practices and games really fun!
JWOS: What made you decide on San Diego as your home to play college softball?
Heller: I committed to USD at the start of my junior year of high school. Prior to this, I attended several USD camps. I really knew the university could be my future home when I saw the campus. The amazing academics, a competitive softball team, and the abundance of resources available to student-athletes made it easy for me to picture myself there.
JWOS: You’ve placed twice on the all-conference academic team; tell me how you balance your academics with your softball workouts, games, etc.
Heller: My success on and off the field is mostly due to my strong time management and organizational skills. As a student-athlete, you have to know going into college that most of your “free” time is going to have to be spent on academics. And when you’re not catching up on schoolwork from the week, you’re trying to get ahead. Of course, there is time to be social and enjoy yourself, but having this mindset has really helped me stay on top of my work. Another thing that has been extremely helpful has been the resources available to student athletes. Having an academic advisor, a quiet place in study hall to do work, and others in administration that know what student-athletes are going through has really helped me over the years.
JWOS: Tell me what it’s like, from the student-athlete’s perspective, to go through a coaching change, especially right before your senior year.
Heller: Going through a coaching change right before my senior year was exciting. There were times when I felt anxious or nervous due to not knowing what to expect with the fall semester approaching so quickly, but I knew we would eventually start the year with a strong coaching staff.
JWOS: What is your favorite moment or memory from your career to this point?
Heller: My favorite memory from my career was a game against UC Davis my freshman year. I was coming back from a hip injury and recorded my first win of the season after this game. We were down by seven or eight runs and ended up coming back and winning with a walk-off triple.
JWOS: What are your goals, both for yourself and for your team, that you’d like to accomplish during the 2020 season?
Heller: During the 2020 season, a team goal that has been brought up year after year is winning WCC. If it’s going to happen any year that I’ve been here, it’s this year. We have so much talent on the team and we’re really eager to start season. A goal that I have for myself this year is just to have fun and enjoy the game for one last season. This will be the last time I ever play softball, and I really just want to enjoy it and embrace every moment with my teammates.
JWOS: If there was one thing that you have not yet accomplished in your career that you could ’check off the list’ in 2020, what would it be?
Heller: If there was one thing that I could check off my list in 2020, it would be to throw a no-hitter. I’ve come close in the past but it would be great as a pitcher to accomplish this with the team!
