We continue our list of the Top 15 Softball Stories of 2021, which will run through December 31st when we’ll present our No. 1 story of the year.
Here are the previous stories (clink on link to read):
- #15… FAU’s Riley Ennis Feels Her Team’s Support After Hurricane Devastation
- #14… Four Football Helmets, One Anonymous Bidder, and a Difference Made for ULM Softball
- #13… High School & Club Coaching Great Mark Campbell Remembered in Collegiate Classic Bearing His Name
- #12… TV Ratings Continue to Climb – & Viewership Records Set – on Softball Telecasts
- #11… Former Softballer Rachel Balkovec Makes History in Professional Baseball
- #10… The Transfer Portal Winds On; Are College Superteams Now a Thing?
- #9… Mental & Emotional Health Pressures Lead to Anxiety, Depression & Even Suicides in Young Athletes
- #8… Carol Hutchins Retires as the NCAA All-Time Wins Leader
- #7… Rawlings Gold Gloves Expand to College Softball
- #6… The Top 15 Softball Stories of 2022: #6… Former Raider & Softball Ump Clarence Davis Dies (Or Does He? Yes… & No!)
- #5… The World Games Goes Down to the Wire & Is a Great Showcase for the Sport
- #4… Oklahoma Dominates Their Way to the National Championship
Also, on New Year’s Day 2023, we’ll list all 15 of the top stories of the year as well as run 15 more that were considered.
We’ve surveyed the softball community and talked internally as well to come up with what were the most impactful and relevant stories of the year pertaining to the world of fastpitch softball.
Where applicable, we are providing the text to the original articles and/or references when the story first happened.
- Click Here to see the Top 15 Stories of 2021
- Click Here to see the Top 15 Stories of 2020
- Click Here to see the Top 15 Stories of 2019
- Click Here to see the Top 15 Stories of 2018
To provide comments, insights or thoughts, email: info@extrainningsoftball.com.
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Today’s Story of the Year: #3:
Softball-Playing Daughter Helps Dad Find a New Kidney Through Her TikTok Account
This may be the softball “feel good” story of the year… or perhaps the last decade, for that matter.
Daniella Neve is a talented 10-year-old softball player from South Fayette, Pennsylvania located in the Pittsburgh area and, like many her age, is big into social media.
So big, in fact, that she is just shy of 100,000 followers on TikTok and has received 5.2 million likes as the 2030 lefty-hitting middle infielder shares her life on and off the fastpitch fields.
Her social media following became a crucial part of her family’s story as her 45-year-old father, Ryan, began having shortness of breath, restlessness and extreme fatigue in the Spring of 2021.
Daniella’s father went to the local emergency room where it was discovered his kidneys were only functioning at four percent and he immediately was forced to go on dialysis three days a week in a painful process that would leave him weak and exhausted.
And, long-term, the husband of Jackie and father of Daniella and 13-year-old baseball player, RJ, faced receiving a kidney transplant.
“At that moment my life and my family life changed,” Ryan recalls. “Every family member and friend I knew jumped into action and tried to be a donor, but unfortunately none of them were a match.”
Daniella immediately jumped into action as she created bracelets which gave out at her travel softball tournaments giving those at games the website to sign up to try to be a donor.
She also went to her adult sponsored TikTok page @bucktiktok and began posting clips such as this one sharing her story:
@bucktiktok @dmoneybackup
Several radio and TV stations in the Pittsburgh area soon picked up on the story including the CBS News Pittsburg affiliate which did an excellent on-air and accompanying video piece on Ryan’s situation in July of 2022 titled 10-year-old from South Fayette goes public in hopes of finding living kidney donor for her dad.
“My entire family was involved,” Ryan continues, “but Daniella always took charge and was in the spotlight for every interview.”
Meanwhile, the young shortstop nicknamed “D Money” continued to play softball for her Midwest Firecrackers 12U team and flashed a smooth glove in the dirt which drew in more softball fans and followers as she posted highlight clips such as this one of her at shortstop:
@bucktiktok
…. as well as this one of Daniella at second base:
@bucktiktok
The athlete, who will turn 11 in January, has been playing softball for as long as she can remember.
“She’s played since she could walk!” her father laughs. “Everything her older brother did, she did.”
That has included training at the Performance Velocity Systems baseball facility in Pittsburgh where she can be found working out at least five days a week.
Daniella had previously played on several travel softball teams and this year she is competing on a 2010 birth year team with the Midwest Firecrackers. When she was 8 years old, she tried out for the USSSA All American Games and was a Direct Select for the 9U team.
Her love for the sport is stronger today than it ever has been, she believes.
“I absolutely love everything about softball,” Daniella confesses. “When I run out onto the field, the first thing I do is scoop up the dirt in my hand because I love the way it feels and it connects me to the game. I value training above all, and I work on something at least six days a week. My goal is always to never let anyone out work me and to compete against myself every day. My goal is to play D1 softball at a top school and win a national championship.”
Her softball experiences and relationships has helped the soon-to-be 11 year old develop friendships with players her age all over the country and the word quickly spread about the player’s father facing what he described as “end stage kidney disease.”
For her part, the talented softballer believed her call to action to help her father was the top priority in her life.
“To me, helping my dad fight for his life was the most important thing on the calendar every day,” Daniella said. “I owed it to every follower and every girl that came up to me at the tournaments asking how to spread the word and help with my dad’s situation.”
The social media call-to-action worked in a miraculous way as each TikTop clip drew more than 100,000 views and found the one key person that made all the difference in the world.
In October, the family received the news they were praying for: an anonymous donor was found, and the kidney transplant surgery was scheduled for January 5, 2023—a week from today.
“The donor is a literal angel for me and my family,” an appreciative Ryan says.
For the one-time softball coach of his daughter, the experience has naturally helped the parent and sibling relationship grow stronger.
“Daniella’s a special kid for sure,” the dad proudly begins, “and she has done so much for me on a whole different level than softball. She helped save my live by using her followers and the softball world to find me a kidney donor.”
“This is truly the greatest gift I could have in my life right now. Daniella is a big-time daddy’s girl and she fights right beside me every step of the way. To think that she put a ton of effort into helping her dad, instead of going out with friends, going to parties, etc. shows what a special kid she is and how much she loves her dad.”
Others such as Amit Tevar, Ryan’s doctor and surgical director of the Kidney and Pancreas Transplant Program at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), marveled at how the needed organ was found via social media.
“This is fantastic,” he said in the video produced by CBS Pittsburgh, “and I think it will serve as a model for how things are done in the future.”
With the end goal of the kidney transplant being just days away, Ryan admits he’s excited for the future in advance of the surgery next week at UPMC Presbyterian Montefiore Hospital.
“It’s been a crazy month getting ready for surgery, but I’m feeling extremely excited and optimistic to get this transplant done! We all go through difficult times but with the support of family, friends and your faith, anything is possible.”
And, with the New Year and surgery both soon to come, the father of two looks forward to a brighter future.
“We got this,” Ryan continues,” and I’m looking forward to recovering quickly and having a great 2023 softball and baseball season with my kids. Currently my health is as good as it can be and I am so very excited for January 5th. This, literally, was the best Christmas present ever!”
And, when asked about her thoughts on TikTok followers hitting a home run, so to speak, for her father, the talented athlete sums it up perfectly.
“I loved using social media for something good and I am so thankful to all of my followers.” Daniella concludes. “When my dad is healthy, I am healthy and happy and, when my dad is healthy, I am at my best.”
— Brentt Eads, Extra Inning Softball
Note: Ryan Neve can be followed on Twitter at @RYBOB35 and Daniella at @DNeve_24.
