SOUTH HADLEY – The 30 extra feet between a softball and baseball first base line allows Jessica Nelson to translate.

She coached South Hadley’s softball program for more than a decade and played in college before joining Matt Foley’s varsity baseball staff at the school this spring.

“When it comes to softball, it’s such a quick sport. Even just the pitches, no matter how slow it’s going, it’s automatically faster because the distance is cut in half. Everything moves quicker. I’m used to the pace being quicker, plays being done a little bit faster,” Nelson said. “Now I’ve got this extra 30 feet. I can still say the same thing or teach the same thing, it’s just slowed down a little bit because of the distance.”

South Hadley’s baseball and softball fields share an outfield. No fence separates them.

When Nelson wasn’t rehired before the 2023 season, Foley reached out within a day and offered a spot on his staff. He’s coached the Tigers for 27 seasons and is the program’s all-time wins leader. She didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes or make anyone uncomfortable but found a team ready to receive her help.

“She knows the kids really well. They respect her and when I had the opportunity she was available to take someone on board, it was a no brainer to me. It's been great,” Foley said. “She's in the schools, and I'm not in the school and that's always difficult for me.”

Nelson works as a paraprofessional at the high school, her alma mater, as does her former softball JV coach Nicole Casolari, who is on South Hadley’s JV baseball staff. Players leave bat bags in their classrooms and pop by with questions.

“As nervous as I was about their perception of us coming over, as far as I know it hasn’t crossed their mind,” Nelson said. “It feels good, especially for me being worried about it coming over and within a day they were, ‘hey coach, what do you think about when I’m swinging, when I’m standing like this, what should I do?’ OK, if you’re not going to have a problem with it, I’m not going to have a problem with it.”

Her biggest adjustment has come with pick off moves from the pitcher. In softball, the pitch has to be thrown before it can go to a base.

“We have a lot of conversations, and it's great to see a new perspective. I've been coaching a long time, and to see her perspective on how she sees things, how she sees the kids emotions, sometimes after at bats and things, is just another set of adult eyes,” Foley said. “She brings a lot of experience to the table and I couldn't be more happy to have her here.”

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Foley has a large staff with three varsity assistants who all do a bit of everything. They all coach first base and work with hitters. Nelson played first base at Western New England and coaches infielders.

“With her being in the high school, it almost feels like she’s been coaching us for more than these past two months,” South Hadley senior Nate Carillon said. “The impact she makes in our dugout is all positive stuff, and I think it really keeps the team morale at a high.”

Nelson greets each starter with a fist bump as they exit the dugout before the national anthem. She helps set up the live stream from a series of iPads and watches innings from atop a bucket just outside the dugout. The “South Hadley baseball” black long sleeve T-shirt suits her along with the orange Tiger paw hat shading her eyes with her aviator sunglasses.

“It’s the same animal but a little bit of a different breed,” Nelson said.

Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.]]>