In pitcher lingo, Danny Dunn could bring it.
That means she could hurl a softball with enough speed to put it right past hitters or at least have them thinking she could.
Dunn’s trademark was delivering pitches with a windmill motion and strong right arm that consistently reached velocity of 68 to 69 mph.
Her pitching took her to all-state honors all four years at Green Mountain High School and a state championship in 1990. Then it was on to New Mexico State and all-Big West Conference honors in 1996 and 1997.
Dunn, now a teacher at Fairmount Elementary in Golden and a volunteer instructor in the handicapped ski program at Winter Park, will be inducted into New Mexico State’s Athletics Hall of Fame on March 5 in Las Cruces, N.M.
“It was a waiting game for me,” Dunn said of the Hall of Fame honor. “I received a phone call telling me I had been nominated. I knew there were others who deserved the recognition. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn’t. It’s nice to be recognized for the effort.”
Dunn was a workhorse pitcher.
She pitched every inning when Green Mountain posted a 21-1 record and won a state championship in her sophomore season. Her ERA in her senior season was 0.23.
In her New Mexico State career, she pitched 820 innings in 114 starts that included 30 shutouts, 103 complete games and 462 strikeouts. In her senior season in 1997, she won 19 of her last 25 starts and during one sizzling stretch allowed no earned runs over 59 2/3 innings.
About the only setback of her career came in 1994 when she tried to make the U.S. Olympic team while not fully recovered from knee surgery. She was the last cut.
“I wasn’t 100 percent with my knee problem and not making the Olympic team was my only real disappointment,” Dunn said.
Dunn knows what it takes to be a successful women’s softball pitcher. Her height (5-foot-9) was an asset.
“The windmill motion was natural for me,” Dunn said. “I took a liking to pitching when I was 8 years old. It takes arm speed and putting the legs and the hips into the delivery. Heart and stamina are involved. A woman has to put everything together from top to bottom to get the velocity needed to be effective. I hit 72 miles per hour two or three times.”
Dunn had a natural drop on her pitches, but added a curve, a changeup and what she called a screwball that curved in to a right- handed batter along the way.
Pitchers have to be mentally tough as well.
“In softball, the pitcher is the main attraction,” Dunn said. “If you have a bad game, everybody sees it.”
Dunn developed some moxie over her first name. Her mother, Nikki, gave all four of her daughters boys names.
“I wanted them to have a distinguished name,” Nikki said. “I didn’t know how their personalities would develop, but I wanted them to have unique names.”
Danny’s given name is Daniel. She has sisters named Michael, Jamie and Cory.
“I kept hearing that people had never met a girl named Daniel and no, it wasn’t Danielle,” Danny said. “I didn’t appreciate it growing up, but I don’t mind it now. It provided a good sense of originality.”
After college, Dunn played professionally for a year in Italy. She was the only American on her team.
“Pitchers usually are the ones they want to come over,” Dunn said. “I played for a town called Massa. It was about 60 miles west of Florence.”
She just ended a three-year term as softball coach at Green Mountain. But she’s following a second love for teaching.
“I like to help people enjoy life to the fullest,” Dunn said. “The other day, I had a 13-year-old from Castle Rock who has cerebral palsy. He wanted to ski and he had fun. It was amazing.”
Her pitching will be the focus next month when she’s inducted into her alma mater’s hall of fame.
Danny Dunn could bring it.
Dunn bio
Born: Sept. 2, 1974, in Denver
High school: Green Mountain
College: New Mexico State
Family: Daughter Shayne, son Trey
Hobby: Physical fitness
Horizons: Traveling and being the best mom she can be
