Danni Napoli batted .605 this year. No typos there. Six-oh-five.
In her senior season at Riverhead, she was named All-County, League II Player of the Year, Suffolk County Co-Player of the Year for Large Schools and All-State.
Quite a resume she beefed up before she graduated.
That’s just softball.
She was also a part of a very strong field hockey midfield in which featured only two players in a system that usually calls for three. Playing alongside Maria Dillingham, she earned her second consecutive All-County award while being among the team’s leaders in assists. The field hockey team also won its first playoff game in 30 years this past season.
“She’s a gutsy competitor,” Riverhead field hockey coach Cheryl Walsh-Edwards said. “That’s what makes her so good.”
She played every minute of every game.
“That’s just who she is,” Walsh-Edwards said. “She’s passionate about the game.”
Former Riverhead softball coach Bob Fox, who still coaches her in summer league softball, mentioned what she’s like in practice.
“She is always diving, sliding, playing aggressive,” Fox said. “It doesn’t matter that it’s just practice.”
“She’s just got that drive that many don’t,” Fox continued. “She’s going 100 percent, 100 percent of the time.”
Napoli’s played softball as long as she can remember. Field hockey was only introduced to her in 7th grade. So it’s understandable that she would be better at softball. Napoli agrees.
“Yeah,” she laughs. “I think I’m better at softball but I love them both.”
Field hockey gives her that relief in between her year-round softball career.
“It’s an entirely different game,” Napoli said. “There’s obviously a lot more running,”
After getting All-County her junior year, she played travel field hockey and travel softball all in the same summer.
“Yeah I didn’t really have a social life,” Napoli said. “Maybe I could squeeze someone in on a Tuesday or Wednesday. I was traveling every weekend and still am.”
Now the question was which sport would she give up for college?
To play a sport in college is demanding. Trying to balance the rigors of academic life and essentially a full-time job of training, challenges athletes everywhere. That’s why multi-sport high school athletes decide on one sport to pursue at the next level.
Napoli could have gone Division I in either sport. She visited Northeastern for field hockey and Binghamton for softball but neither had the opportunity to play both. So instead of making that choice, she decided on Division III SUNY Geneseo. She’ll major in math and play both field hockey and softball.
“I always had that as an option all along,” Napoli said. “I was just exploring other possibilities.”
Playing two sports for Division III is less demanding than doing it at a D-I level but it’s still going to take up the majority of her time.
“When I made my schedule, my advisor was like, you’re going to have class then field hockey practice then softball practice, homework and then sleep,” Napoli said. “I’m not scared because it’s not like I’m going to be miserable. I love playing both sports and I love math. I think it’s going to be a lot of work and I’ll be tired all the time but I’m always tired all the time.”
The only issue will be how both coaches work with one another.
“As long as both coaches are on the same page,” Walsh-Edwards said. “I don’t see any issues with her playing two sports and handling the academic workload. She’s always had a tough school schedule.”
Napoli will play softball through the rest of the summer and hop right into field hockey season come the fall.
“I’m going to run a lot to stay in shape,” Napoli said. “I can’t wait to get started.”
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