Earned 12 Varsity Letters
Voted best female athlete by the class of ’97
Nikki Savastano-Gadsby made an impression on female athletics at Amesbury High School from the moment she stepped onto the soccer field as a determined freshman in August of 1993. The next 4 years proved to be full of many outstanding accomplishments and high points for Nikki, tossed together with one huge challenge. In the fall of 1995, her biggest fan and supporter, her dad, Will,
passed away. This challenge fueled Nikki’s desire to succeed even more. She counts her dad and her mother, Rita, as two of the reasons for her success, both on and off the athletic field. Their support, along with her desire to win, hard work, and dedication to improving her athletic skills, led to many local and statewide accolades over her outstanding 4-year career at AHS.
Nikki played 4 years of varsity soccer under Coach Karen Iworsky. Coach Iworsky remembers her as a powerful athlete whose strength gave her the advantage to win a ball from an opponent. Coach Iworsky also recalls Nikki’s tremendous kicking ability. She reports that she could kick the ball high and more than half the field. She remembers her as being a supportive teammate with a fun-loving attitude.
For the winter and spring seasons, Nikki played basketball and softball for Coach Chris Perry. Coach Perry recalls Nikki as a good defensive basketball player who could shoot the 3. In one game alone she sunk 5! He calls her an exceptional team player and leader who practiced hard, played hard, and was a pleasure to coach, as evidenced by her receiving the coach’s award in both her junior and senior seasons. Despite Nikki’s short stature, she calls basketball her favorite sport to play.
Nikki’s greatest athletic accomplishments occurred on the softball diamond. It is on the softball field that she took her game, in particular her craft of windmill pitching, to the next level in honor of her late father. The hard throwing right hander was an amazing 62-6 on the mound. Over her 4-year career, the Indians went 87-9 overall, winning a sectional title in 1995, an Eastern Mass. title in 1996 and the ultimate, a state championship in the spring of 1997. Nikki finished her senior season with a record of 20-1, striking out 152 in 127 innings. Her earned run average was a microscopic 0.77. As powerful a pitcher as Nikki was, she was just as dangerous at the plate, especially with runners in scoring position. In her senior season she led the Indians with 39 runs batted in and a .488 batting average.
During Nikki’s incredible softball career, she was a three-time Lawrence Eagle Tribune All-Star and three-time Cape Ann League Player of the Year. She was also recognized as an All-Scholastic by the Boston Herald in 1996 and 1997 and was selected as a Boston Globe All-Scholastic and Player of the Year in 1997. Hard work and talent. A tough combination to beat, according to Coach Perry.
Nikki fondly remembers the support of her teammates and the guidance of Coach Perry during both the highs and lows of her high school years. Nikki credits both him and her late dad, her hero, for their guidance and help in becoming the best player and person she could be.
Congratulations to inductee, Athlete Nikki Savastano-Gadsby, class of 1997.
