Diamond’s Nychelle Goad has accomplished a lot in her time playing softball in high school.
She has been twice named to the Neosho Daily News All-Area team, she was a four-team all-district first team player, a four-time all-conference player and was named to the first-team all-conference, all-district and all-region this past fall.
And on top of that, she helped Diamond win its first ever district and conference titles.
She can now add college softball player to that long list of accolades as she inked her letter of intent to play with Evangel University in Springfield next year.
Goad, a senior, looked at fellow Heart of America Athletic Conference schools in Graceland and William Jewell before deciding to be a Lady Crusader.
“It was rough making a choice,” Goad admitted. “I wanted to go somewhere that I could grow a lot and not go to Southern just because it’s here. I wanted to find the right fit that made me unique. It will be awesome playing college softball.”
Goad will be a third baseman for Evangel, a team that went 34-13 last year and won its sixth straight HAAC league title. This past fall for Diamond she hit a team-leading .391, while clubbing four home runs and driving in a team-high 25 runs. She finished with 12 extra base hits.
“She is a great kid,” Diamond softball coach Brian Brimacombe said. “She started for me four years and was one of our building blocks getting to where we are now. Her and the other seniors will be sorely missed.”
Goad becomes the third softball player in three years from Diamond to move on to play softball at the college level, following Kelsey Henson and Cassie Sharon.
“We saw her play once and we had her in for a personal workout and that is where she really sold us,” Evangel coach Jerry Breaux said. “She has a good background. She was an impact player in high school. We were really impressed with her. The most important thing for students and the type of school we have is that it all has to fit. She graded-out really high softball wise and academic wise. It seemed to be the perfect fit.”
