Grens' Goranson big hit with her hitting

You can call Elk Grove catcher Nikki Goranson a student of the game.

One of less than a handful of Elk Grove softball players to bat .400 in a season, Goranson began studying the art of hitting when she was just 8 years old. At that time, her older brother Jim was going to hitting lessons at a facility in the south suburbs.

Nikki couldn't wait to hop in the car, joining her father Jim and her brother.

"When Jim was taking the lessons, Nikki would sit there, watch and soak everything in," said her father, Jim, who played football at St. Viator. "She'd watch and listen, watch and listen. Then she'd pick up a bat and start swinging. She always wanted me to take her into the batting cages there and pitch to her. We'd always joke that she was born with a bat in her hands."

Watching her hit .407 with 27 RBI and 14 extra-base hits last spring, it's hard to argue with that joke.

Goranson is one of many Grenadiers returning from a team that went 30-6 last spring and hopes to have another banner season.

Nikki knows it will be a special season for her, because she is playing with nine seniors and her sister Dani, a promising freshman third baseman and pitcher.

"Dani and I have played all the time together on travel softball teams and now, in my last high school year, it's great to have her as support," Nikki said. "We've been doing this together since she was 6 and I was 8.

"And this season means a lot to our nine seniors because it's our last year. It's our last chance to go out big and we all equally want to do that."

Nikki will play for Kankakee Community College next season. An "A" honor roll student, she would like to study kinesiology.

"I want to stay in sports after college and have as much fun as I've had playing sports," said Goranson, who wears the same No. 34 her brother Jim wore when he played baseball at Elk Grove.

Jim was a three-sport athlete, while her other older brother Michael competed in wrestling and football.

Nikki's older sister Melanie was a two-time state qualifier in the discus and also played basketball.

Suffice it to say, parents Jim and Wendy have put in their fair share of time at sporting events.

"My mom has driven me everywhere since I was 8," Nikki added. "She gets me Gatorade, Kleenex, my equipment, whatever I need."

Goranson was needed to take over full-time catching duties for the first time last spring.

She put an emphasis on the defensive part of her game in the off-season.

Goranson's catcher's glove is signed by her favorite Olympic softball player, two-time gold medal-winning catcher Stacey Nuveman, whose 91 career home runs for UCLA are an NCAA Division I record.

"Defensively, Nikki is getting better and better," said Elk Grove coach Ken Grams, who has run the program for the past 29 seasons. "She obviously had studied the game a lot, and in addition to that, she has worked hard at it."

Of course, though, Goranson loves being at the plate without the catcher's gear.

"I love hitting," she said. "It's a lot of fun. When I first started, I was always nervous about hitting. I wouldn't even want to bat. Now I look forward to it. I'm always thinking 'when am I up, when am I up!?' "

In the batter's box, Goranson tries to keep it simple.

"It's kind of like the battle of the pitcher and batter," she said. "You've got to be confident that you can hit anything they throw. I just take it simple. I don't use a lot of steps. It's just see the ball and hit the ball."

Goranson hit the ball last spring as well as anyone. She hopes to do the same these next two months.