Beat Goes On for Softball Slugger

Danielle Henderson prefers a little hip-hop before every softball game. 

Her pregrame ritual includes grabbing an MP3 player and selecting her favorite song by musician Chris Brown, “Look At Me Now.”

The former third baseman also has a reputation for rapping in the dugout between innings.  But when Henderson was offered a full-ride scholarship to play softball at UC Berkeley starting in 2011, she was speechless.

“The first thing I was thinking was just breathe, just breathe, you’re okay.  This is life, it isn’t a dream,” remembers Henderson, who just graduated from Sheldon in June.

Forget dreams—Henderson's high school accomplishments still give nightmares to opposing pitchers.  The fiery-haired slugger helped lead the Huskies to the 2011 Sac-Joaquin Section Division I championship while batting .563 and clubbing 13 home runs.  She was also named softball Player of the Year by the Sacramento Bee—just like her sister, former Sheldon pitcher and two-time Player of the Year Jolene Henderson, who is already attending Cal on a softball scholarship.

Last month, Danielle Henderson's feats even earned national recognition.  She was named one of ESPN’s softball players of the week after smacking two homers and earning MVP honors at the Sacramento-area Optimist All Star Game on June 8.

Sheldon softball coach Mary Jo Truesdale has no doubt that Henderson will succeed at Cal.

“Usually there’s an adjustment between the high school and college level. I don’t think there’s going to be an adjustment for Danielle,” said Truesdale.  “I think she was at that level for the past two years. I really believe that.”

Enjoying her last summer break before attending UC Berkeley next fall, Henderson talked to Elk Grove Patch about why she chose Cal’s softball program, her goals for the future and why the Henderson family dominates the softball diamond.

Congratulations on receiving a scholarship to UC Berkeley!  Once you arrive in Berkeley, you’ll be the third Sheldon grad in the past three years to attend Cal on a full-ride scholarship.  What makes Sheldon’s program so successful at churning out star players?

Most teams play together as a team, but Sheldon is different. The team is your family.  [Coach Truesdale] is basically the one who makes sure that each person is on top of everything. The chemistry on that team was ridiculous. 

Did you ever consider other university programs or were you always hoping to join your sister at Cal?

I think that the main reason I went to Cal was because of her, but I also wanted to go because it’s one of the most prestigious [academic] colleges and as much as I love softball, it’s not going to continue on forever. To be quite honest, I didn’t really consider any other schools.

What else attracted you to Cal?

I actually really like the city of Berkeley.  It interests me because it’s random and it’s fun. I just think it’s cool that you can walk around and you see all kinds of new things.  Also, I’m kind of nerdy, so school would be interesting for me. (Laughs).  I want to see what the classes are like. 

What do you think will be more challenging: the academic work at Cal or earning a starting spot on a team that made the softball College World Series this year?

I think [athletics and schoolwork] will both be equally hard because I’m going to be a freshman and the classes aren’t the same.  You don’t just go up to the teacher and ask a question like you usually would do when you’re in high school.  It’s going to be a different surrounding for me. 

Earning a scholarship to an NCAA Division I school must be an incredible accomplishment. Out of the many awards and honors that you've received at Sheldon, which one means the most to you?

My only goal every year was to earn that patch as [Sac-Joaquin Section] champion.  When the season was over, my goal was to get Player of the Year [from the Sacramento Bee]. It’s a really prestigious award and I was excited I was able to get it.  Also, my sister got it before, so I wanted to keep it going in the family.

Seems like athletic success runs in the family.  Did your parents play sports?

Let’s just say we have a huge background in sports—any sport you can think of, somebody in our family has probably played it.  So, we come from a lot of athleticism.  My mom played sports in high school, my dad played sports in high school and college.  If we’re hurt, you won’t see us come out of the game because we want to keep playing for our team.

In addition to achieving success as an athlete at Sheldon, you also volunteered for numerous charitable causes, including the Special Olympics, Sacramento Toys for Tots, Run to Feed the Hungry and the Sacramento Blood Bank.  How did you get involved in volunteering?

Our school has a community service hours [requirement] and that actually helped me find out that I like helping other people.  So, if I can go out of my way to help other people, I’m going to choose to do it.

Have you ever thought of coaching at any level?

Definitely.  I want to coach. I don’t care if the girls are terrible—if they’re going to listen to me, then I want to coach them.  I want to coach girls that want to play, not the ones who are out there because their parents told them to play.

Now that you've accomplished one goal—to play collegiate ball with your sister—what's the next goal on the list?

Of course, every kid’s goal and every teenager’s goal and even every college player’s goal is to play for the Olympic team.  So, that’s definitely one of my goals. If it doesn’t happen, I want to still play softball—but only if it’s competitive.