Ducks Add Nieto as Fourth Signee to 2010-11 Newcomer Class
EUGENE – The No. 16 University of Oregon softball team was excited to welcome junior-to-be Christie Nieto as another top addition to its incoming newcomer class for the 2010-11 season.
The Placentia, Calif., native graduated from the same El Dorado High School as current Duck senior Neena Bryant, and is currently a star first baseman at Mt. San Antonio College.
“Christie offers a great left-handed bat with lots of power,” Duck head coach Mike White said. “She had an excellent Canada Cup last summer and was an all-tourney team pick. She’s a physically gifted athlete capable of playing first base or outfield and has also played catcher.”
As a prep, she helped her team to a No.1 NFCA national ranking, two Century League titles and a second-place CIF finish. Individually, her .470 batting average helped her earn all-league and all-county honors.
At Mt. SAC, the all-state and all-conference first-team pick helped her team win the 2009 California state junior college title (44-11). She ranked second in the league in RBI (46), third in home runs (10), and fourth in batting (.508, 69-for-130), doubles (16) and triples (3), and claimed the best hitter award in the state tournament and Easton All-America honors.
Last summer in club action in the Canada Cup, the first baseman led her TFS International team with 11 RBI and batted .480.
This season for the third-place Mounties (30-10), she ranks third in the conference in hitting (.490, 50-for-102), and second on her squad in homers (3), doubles (13) and RBI (35).
Nieto joins a trio of current prep seniors who signed National Letters of Intent with the Ducks last fall - utility players Kailee Cuico (San Pedro, Calif.) and Alexa Peterson (Salem, Ore.) and infielder Courtney Ceo (Meadow Vista, Calif.).
Ceo was a 2008 Under Armour All-American as a sophomore, and a 2009 all-state pick as a junior for Bear River High School which went 30-3 last spring. Cuico was a 2009 all-state underclassmen second-team pick among underclassmen and helped her team win the Los Angeles City Section title last spring. Peterson was a first-team all-state infielder as a junior and second-team pick at catcher as a sophomore and honorable mention as a freshman, and her Northwest Bullets Gold club placed fifth in the 2009 national tournament.
Looking ahead, No. 16 UO (30-8, 6-3) heads to No. 9 Arizona State (35-9, 4-5) for 7 p.m. games Friday and Saturday, April 23-24 and a noon finale Sunday, April 25. The national champion two years ago, the Sun Devils were swept at home last weekend by then-No. 16 California by 3-1, 8-0 and 11-3 scores, respectively.
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