When Amanda Gianelloni signed with the newly formed Women’s Professional Baseball League, she fulfilled a once-impossible dream, and it’s a feat she does not take lightly.
“I hold that weight of being the first to sign and being one of the first players in this league,” Gianelloni said. “Because all of these girls are looking up and saying, ‘Wow, I can set a goal to play professionally, and now it’s within reach.’”
Back to baseball
Gianelloni began her baseball career at 6 years-old in a local youth league, playing until she turned 11, when girls and boys split into softball and baseball.
As a softball player, Gianelloni had a successful career, earning a spot on the Nicholls State University softball team after graduating from Assumption High School.
Softball had been her sole focus athletically until then Nicholls softball coach Angel Santiago gave her a path back to baseball.
Santiago said Gianelloni approached the game of softball much like a baseball player and suggested she try out for the US Women’s National Baseball team that summer.
“He said, ‘This is your opportunity to get back into the game of baseball,’” Gianelloni said. “I’m the type of person who loves challenges and opportunities, so I said absolutely.”
Following the season, when teammates were resting and heading into off-season workouts, Gianelloni laced up her baseball cleats and began training for the August tryouts.
Unsurprisingly to those who know Gianelloni, she made the team and travelled with them to the 2016 Women’s Baseball World Cup in South Korea.
She spent the rest of her college career playing nearly all year round, softball in the spring, baseball in the summer and training throughout the year and has been on the national team since.
Nearing the end
Although she had long dreamed of playing baseball, she began to look at her future, knowing that, without a professional league, that dream might have to end.
“I’m 28 years old. I was starting to look into the future, knowing my playing career could be coming to an end,” Gianelloni said. “I don’t know when, but it could be coming to an end in at least the next five years.”
Signing with the league saw that fear begin to dissipate, and after becoming one of the 150 to make the final cut out of 600 players, Gianelloni felt completely re-energized.
“It’s like I’ve hit my second wind,” Gianelloni said. “I’m just getting started. I plan on playing in this league for many years to come.”
Shaping a star
Gianelloni left an indelible mark on Nicholls athletics, helping the Colonels to their first Southland Conference Softball championship and leaving with the records for RBIs, doubles and walks.
Nicholls inducted Gianelloni into its athletics hall of fame in 2024, the highest award for any former student-athlete.
Despite the mark she had on Nicholls, Gianelloni believes the school had a much bigger impact on her.
‘“Without my time at Nicholls, I wouldn’t be where I am professionally or athletically,” Gianelloni said. “So, to represent Nicholls on this stage, it’s for every athlete who came through Nicholls.”
Gianelloni will play with the US Women’s National Baseball team in the World Cup starting July 22, ahead of the WPBL’s inaugural season, with play set to begin in August.