The Last Ivy League Rookie of the Year, Emma Nedley’s Reintroduction to the Softball World

What if we never saw Montana Fouts throw a perfect game in the Women’s College World Series? What if Megan Faraimo never became the next star of UCLA softball? What if the Big Ten fans didn’t get to watch Danielle Williams, Lexie Blair or Natalie DenHartog excel each week? 

You might be asking what these players have in common. Each burst on the scene as freshmen in 2019. Even through the subsequent COVID-19 global pandemic, they all returned to the field after the abbreviated 2020 season. We have again been able to appreciate their prodigious talents. 

But what about Emma Nedley? You might not know who Emma Nedley is. If you’ve only started watching softball the past two seasons, you haven’t had many opportunities to see her play. 

The Penn outfielder had a phenomenal freshman season in 2019. Like the aforementioned players, she was among 25 finalists for the NFCA’s Freshman of the Year award. But Nedley, who was the first from her conference to earn that NFCA recognition and remains the reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Year, hasn’t exactly been able to flourish and become a star like the others.

When the Quakers take the field for their season debut Friday in Hampton, Virginia, it will be only Nedley’s 24th game since the end of her freshman year (due to local and conference pandemic restrictions, Penn played just 10 games in 2021). The senior’s current plans don’t include a fifth season, although she would be eligible for one. This is it for her softball career. While many might feel robbed of what could’ve been, Nedley feels no angst about the events of her life that she couldn’t control. 

“Every day is a gift, and you have to be grateful for everything you have in that day,” Nedley said. “Our team motto is all about hunting the good stuff and being grateful. To just carry that through the day, find the good things in each day. None of us planned for this, but we’ve all found different passions and formed deeper connections with one another. We can carry that forward for the rest of our lives.” 

Nedley’s upbeat, forward-looking personality helped her persevere. But like all of us, that came with challenges. One of the most difficult being that her sister, Morgan, played 45 games last season at Carlow University, an NAIA school in Pittsburgh. 

Don’t get her wrong, Emma was clearly happy for her sister. They share a sibling rivalry that everyone who knows anything about them knows all about. The struggle came when seeing her sister play started to get her own competitive juices flowing again. 

“It was hard to watch her out there, but at the same time I was glad she got her own time with softball,” Nedley said. “My whole family got to go and watch her, which is really exciting for her.” 

On the bright side, the normally crazy, busy life of being a student athlete didn’t fill up Nedley’s entire schedule, allowing her to go and see her sister play. It also allowed her to focus more on her organic and biochemistry classes. Nedley thrives on being busy. Despite facilities being closed to her, she tried to fill her free time by staying in shape, even through the Northeast’s often unforgiving weather. 

So what’s next for Nedley? She’ll be putting those chemistry classes to good use. Nedley will start her path toward becoming a dentist at the University of California San Francisco, which has one of the best dentistry programs in the nation. 

“I’m really excited for that next chapter in my life,” she said. “I realized in high school that I wanted to pursue dentistry. But I’ve always wanted to be some form of a doctor since I was a little girl.” 

Nedley will get her chance to go out her own way, starting at the Battle of the Bay this weekend. As she noted, Penn’s six seniors are the only players on the roster who have played an Ivy League game. Nedley and Columbia’s Maria Pagane are the only players left in the conference from the 2019 All-Ivy team. When the Quakers play UCLA on March 10, it will be the 21st game in 29 days for the Bruins. For Nedley, it will be her 39th appearance in 1,047 days, since the end of the 2019 season.

“Most of those girls have played so many games,” Nedley said. “But if you can find a group of girls that can stick together and have all their hearts on one goal, you can accomplish so much.” 

It’s not all about Nedley expanding on her .946 career OPS. It’s about being back on a bus with her teammates again. Going through tough practices again with her best friends. Walking down Penn Park every morning and cherishing the sunrise paired with the city skyline. 

“Just enjoy the little things life has to offer you,” Nedley said. “I hope everyone going forward can appreciate those things.”

Life’s uncontrollable events can consume us all, especially in the world’s current state. Yet we all can learn a bit from this future dentist. Take the time to tune into a Penn game this season. Appreciate the way Emma Nedley plays the game. Because the only people who should feel robbed are the softball fans who didn’t get to see her more the past two seasons.