GONZALES — Gonzales High School Spartans alum Natalie Basaldua has been named the head coach for the Hartnell College women’s softball program.
The 24-year-old has served as an assistant coach for the Hartnell Panthers the past two seasons and is currently an online instructor for health courses in the kinesiology department.
“I have helped coach with my father at Gonzales High School, contributing to their 2019 title,” Basaldua said. “As soon as I finished my collegiate softball career, I immediately started coaching at Hartnell. Since I was an assistant the past two years, I was asked to interview and take over as head coach when the position opened.”
Basaldua feels that her recent years of playing in the college level will be an asset in working with the young women on the Panthers team.
“The game has evolved so much and continues to do so,” she said. “Not only am I able to coach my athletes, but I am able to demonstrate the skills myself. As an assistant, I would actually join my players on the field. A lot of players are visual learners, so being able to demonstrate the techniques I am coaching, allows them not only to learn better, but also buy in to what you are teaching them.”
Basaldua expanded her knowledge playing college softball and even had the opportunity to have U.S. Olympian Ali Aguilar as one of her coaches. She said she is “ready to dive into the coaching material” that was passed down by her late coach, Tom Martinez, as well.
“Tom goes down as one of the best coaches at the College of San Mateo and I’m thankful to implement his wisdom into my coaching strategies,” Basaldua said. “This sport has given me so much, not only as an athlete, but as a person overall, and I’m excited to give that back to my players.”
According to Basaldua, one of her strengths is helping her players become confident and mentally strong on the playing field.
“As a coach, I care about my players as a whole,” she said. “To me, they are more than athletes, and I am happy to help them in any way I can. Mental health is very important to me, and I’m ready to help train my players to have a confident mindset that helps them prepare to compete with the best during the season. I’m ready to help my players reach the next level.”
Basaldua was a four-time All-League softball player for the Gonzales Spartans and played four seasons of softball at William Jessup University in Rocklin. She was an infielder at William Jessup and batted .372 in her sophomore year in 44 games and finished with 55 hits and made All-conference.
In the Covid-shortened 2020 season, Basaldua had a .322 batting average with 19 hits and 12 runs batted in and scored 14 runs.
