Portage’s Danica Bombagetti jokingly described herself as “the accident-prone kid.”
Bombagetti suffered a broken right elbow in kindergarten, a broken right wrist in fourth grade, a left knee injury in her freshman year and a broken right pinky in her sophomore year.
The junior pitcher/first baseman’s knee injury is the only one with any lingering effects after she was hit by a pitch during a travel softball game.
“I have nerve damage that runs through my leg,” Bombagetti said. “My leg went numb when I was playing. I couldn’t feel my leg, but I hit a home run in that game. It was my first home run, so it was really memorable. I couldn’t walk the next morning. I was in a boot for six months.
“It definitely acts up a lot. My knee, when I sit too long, my leg goes numb.”
But that hasn’t prevented Bombagetti from playing a key role for the Indians (11-12), who will play Hobart in the first round of the Class 4A Valparaiso Sectional on Tuesday. Before a game against Kankakee Valley on Thursday, she had a team-high 45 strikeouts in 46 2/3 innings in the circle, and she was batting .288 with 10 RBIs and 12 runs scored, usually as the team’s No. 3 hitter.
Portage coach Jena Alaniz believes Bombagetti has more room to grow.
“I’m glad we have one more year with her,” Alaniz said. “It’s nice to know she’s not going yet. She’s been a good asset this year. She’s definitely taken on a leadership role. It’s nice to see. Last year, she kind of floated between JV and varsity, and you could tell she was still young and not really sure exactly what her role was. But now as a junior, as an upperclassman, she’s definitely taking on the upperclassman and leadership type of role.
“She’s doing well. She knows how to stay positive. She knows how to keep the dugout up. A lot of girls respond to the positivity that she brings.”
Count Portage sophomore catcher Lilly Jennings among them.
“She’s definitely someone that we all look forward to seeing as a teammate,” Jennings said of Bombagetti. “She’s very uplifting and supportive as a teammate. She knows what to do when things are going south for our team. She’s really someone to look up to.
“She’s a very dominant pitcher. I’m very proud of her as a catcher. We’ve had a lot of ups and downs, but she’s very good at keeping her head up very high. She’s very positive, confident. We love her.”
Bombagetti said she recalled getting “thrown to the wolves” as a freshman and “learned a lot.” She began playing softball when she was 9 years old, following in the footsteps of her sister Laila, who is a senior.
“I wasn’t really a big softball person as a kid,” Bombagetti said. “I did it because I wanted to beat my sister at softball. She had just joined it. I wanted to beat her. I wanted to be better. That’s how I got started. Then I fell in love with the game. I wanted to pursue myself as potentially a college player for softball.”
Bombagetti started pitching when she was 11.
“I’ve come a long way,” she said.
Alaniz, a 2013 Portage graduate who started in left field when the team won the Class 4A state title during her senior season, agreed.
“Next year, she’s definitely going to be the ace,” Alaniz said of Bombagetti. “It’s good to know she’s going to be here one more year and she can help train the younger ones and let them know what they have to do.”
Bombagetti should be ready to accept that responsibility.
“My attitude has gotten better this year, especially my mental attitude,” she said. “I was held back a lot my freshman and sophomore year with it. This year, I’ve learned I can only control what they give me. I can’t control what other people do. I have to learn and accept it.
“That’s probably the biggest thing the coaches have taught us, just you can control what you can control and just stay positive.”
