RANKINGS
EVENTS
I COMMITTED
COLLEGE
ABOUT
Those of us who have been softball for a while can think of some great families that have multiple members involved with the sport.
You can quickly and easily come up with great sister combos, like Sierra and Sydney Romero, who starred at Michigan and Oklahoma, respectively, and their current high schooler sibling Sophia, a 2023 grad who currently plays for the championship-winning Athletics – Mercado 2023 team.
There are the Knightens with Marjani (“MJ”) and Marshaylee (“Shay”) who played at Nebraska and Oklahoma, respectively, and whose father, Kenny, coached them with the Corona Angels.
Heading that same Angels organization is Marty Tyson, whose daughters, Dena and Dawna also had strong DI careers at Washington and Nebraska.
And there are the Lamars, with James overseeing the Lady Blue Devil club organization including standout young daughters Layla (2024) and Jolyna (2025) and their mom, of course, who is Marissa Young, the former three-time All-American and now head coach of the Duke Blue Devils.
The list could continue for days, but there’s one family that has to be at, or near the top of, the list.
You may not be as familiar with the Nicholson family, however, but you should because, with three talented daughters in softball—all three have been ranked in the Extra Inning Softball Top 200 of their class—and the parents coaching together at the college level, they might be the First Family of Fastpitch!
Angela Nicholson is the head coach at Hampton University and next year will be her fifth year heading the Lady Pirates program, which plays in the Big South Conference.
“Angie” has also been a head coach at Cuyahoga Community College, Ursuline College, Butler, Cleveland State (where she was a two-time All-Conference catcher) and Eastern Illinois prior to taking over the Hampton head job in 2017.
Her two assistants are Lauren Kramer and Richard Nicholson, who is, yes, her husband and has been with his wife at Hampton five years.
This year started off strong as their Lady Pirates went 15-4, including wins over DePaul of the Big East and George Washington of the Atlantic 10, before the COVID-19 pandemic halted the season. The future, however, is very bright as the team had just one senior with the rest of the roster consisting of freshmen and sophomores.
If you’ve been on the club softball circuit, you’ve likely crossed paths with Richard, who is a tireless, energetic recruiter who seemingly can be in three places at once! Odds are, too, that he’s not just recruiting, but watching one of the family’s three talented softball-playing daughters.
*** Taylor Nicholson, age 18 and a 2020 grad, just moved into her housing at the University of Missouri and Richard commented: “It was pretty hard but we’re very proud of Taylor. Having three other kids made it a little easier because they keep us busy.”
The oldest of the three softball-playing, Taylor had a stellar club and prep career before graduating this year at Warhill (Williamsburg, Virginia) High where she was a two-time All-State shortstop, a three-time All-Region honoree and a 2020 Extra Elite 100 selection. Taylor rewrote the school record book and owns the Lions’ records for home runs, walks, steals, batting average and slugging percentage.
She was also a four-year letter winner in basketball as well as softball and was recruiting by ACC, Big Ten, CAA, Pac-12 and SEC programs.
In 2017, Taylor was part of a state championship as her team went 26-0 and she batted a team-leading .538 as a freshman while also leading the state of Virginia in home runs as a freshman. Taylor was also part of the Warhill’s Final 4 state basketball team as well.
At the age of 13. Taylor was invited to the USA National team tryouts, but not for softball, for soccer. As a, 8th grader in Illinois, she went to state in four sports: softball, volleyball (her team was state champs); basketball (her team was state runners-up) and track (Taylor qualified for State in the 100m and 4×100 relay team, which won state).
*** Mackenzie Nicholson, age 16 and a 2022 grad and the middle of the three sisters, played for the East Cobb Bullets-Biele/Heath 16U team last year and led the team in hitting with a .488 average while also being equally known for her Gold Glove skills.
A 2022 Extra Elite 100 honoree, Mackenzie—like her older and younger sisters—started for the Warhill High varsity team and as a freshman batted .534 with 28 steals and only had one strikeout all season.
She moved up to the 18U Bullets team to play with Taylor this summer and is expected to get ACC, SEC and Big Ten interest when coaches can start calling on Sept. 1.
*** The youngest softball sibling is Payton Nicholson, age 15 and a 2023 outfielder and shortstop known to cover a lot of ground with her feet and make plays with her sure hands and strong arm.
She is the third of the Nicholson girls to be listed in the Extra Inning Softball player rankings, making the overall ratings at #151 and ranked #56 nationally at her position.
The two youngest have moved up age divisions and will be playing in a new travel ball organization this fall.
The athletes’ father adds: “Both Mackenzie and Payton switched to Georgia Impact – Lewis 18s and 16s, respectively. It was a hard move for us but the Impact organization will help them get college ready and we’re super excited for both of them!”
Happy to announce playing with @georgiaimpact05 can’t wait for this season!!! pic.twitter.com/kftnC1yjIM
— payton nicholson (@paytonnich24) August 18, 2020
Following the girls is baseball player and youngest of the quartet of kids, Darian Nicholson, who is 12 and quite the athlete himself.
His father proudly adds: “He is still currently finishing up the summer and has already started his fall travel team. He hit his first home run and followed up with two off-the-fence which was awesome to see!”
Y’all thought I just had the two sisters? Nah I got a stud little brother and he hit is 1ST DINGER DEAD CENTER!!!! #familybusiness #stud #runsinthefamily pic.twitter.com/SWyi9emXGv
— Taylor Nicholson (@Tay_lor_16) June 14, 2020
Richard took a different course to getting onto the softball fields. Born in Elyria, Ohio—about 30 minutes from Cleveland—he played football and baseball at Elyria High but really shined in wrestling where he was ranked No. 1 in state at 112 pounds. He tried to wrestle in college at Cleveland State, but injuries derailed his career.
“I got hurt my freshman year and had a total of eight surgeries on my knees and could never bounce back. I stay with my team all four years in college, though.”
How does a softball standout player and a promising wrestler end up together?
“We met in high school,” explains Angie. “We started dating when Rick was a sophomore in high school.”
The romance continued into college at Cleveland State and, together, the pair would coach local little league softball teams during the summers. Angie was hired right out of college at a local junior college as the head coach and also taught 7th grade math at an inner-city middle school.
“Rick was always my assistant behind the scenes,” she laughs. “Every game day I would wake up and he would have a scouting report there for me next to my bed. We had three young girls at the time and he gave up his career to raise the girls. Then we had a boy.”
Over time as Angie progressed through her career and the kids got older, the fast-rising coach kept asking her husband to be part of the staff. It was inevitable they’d work together, he believes, if only to help develop their kids on the fields.
“I loved watching her and fell in love with the sport,” he recalls. “Our girls were also starting to play. All four of our kids have played just about every sport. We wanted them to find their passion and all three girls have a passion for softball. They basically grew up on the diamond, watching it at a high level from the moment they were born.”
When Angie got the job at Hampton, she asked her husband (again) if he wanted to be a part of the staff
“I finally said: ‘Yes, it’s time.” Our youngest was going full-time in elementary school; he also plays multiple sports including travel baseball. Things can be very busy in our house, trying to get all four kids to their practices, games or events. We are usually split up and often times depend on other families to help us out. It truly takes a village!”
One of the joys of being a parent, Angie and Rick agree, is seeing their children blossom in sports they choose.
“All three of the girls are very different and although we weren’t sure what sport they were going to choose we knew they were good at softball,” their dad continues, “but they were good at basketball, soccer, and Payton is also very good at cross country!
The girls, though, have gravitated towards the sport their parents coach together and it’s not surprising that they have excelled on their softball journeys.
We asked Richard to put on his “coaching hat” (versus his “dad glasses”) and describe how his softball-playing daughters are similar… and how they’re different:
On the field:
- Taylor is strong and powerful… many things come easy to her.
- Mackenzie is a hard-working fundamentalist, a perfectionist who is always thinking.
- Payton is very smooth and graceful.
Off the field:
- Taylor is very laid back, not as social.
- Mackenzie is as social as they come and is always on the go!
- Payton likes to go with the flow as she’s very easy going.
“I would say the way that they are alike on the field is just their passion and overall IQ of the game,” Richard believes. “They get it!”
“They have always played big because they have always watched their mom’s teams so they truly had an understanding at a very young age,” he concludes. “They get after it and take a great deal of pride in the little things.”
— Brentt Eads, Extra Inning Softball