Gabby Gelli Finds Her Swing for Peninsula High Softball

Gelli hovered around a .400 average for most of the season and had a standout game against North Thurston April 25, going 4-for-4 with three runs scored and three stolen bases.”

Gabby Gelli is pretty self-aware. She’s a little shy and knows her limits. She doesn’t bark orders in the dugout or soak up the spotlight after games. She prefers to let her play speak for itself.

So when the Peninsula Seahawks senior softball player steps into the left-handed batter’s box, something unexpected happens. She isn’t trying to crush a ball over the fence. She’s not looking to clear the bases or swing for glory. Gelli’s trying to create controlled chaos.

Her bat barely makes a sound. Just a soft slap, and the ball skips into play — not far, but just far enough. Before she finishes her swing, her legs are already churning. By the time the defense blinks, Gelli’s already halfway to first base.

It’s called “slapping” — a left-handed technique built on speed, timing, and footwork. In essence, it’s a running bunt, and for a quiet kid who never saw herself as a power hitter, it turned out to be the perfect fit. Gelli quickly made the shift permanent, ditching her right-handed swing and leaning into what made her unique.

“My (club softball) coach said, ‘Gabby, you’re super-fast. We need to find a way to get you to first base as quickly as possible,’ ” Gelli recalled.

That’s exactly what slapping is designed to do: give “super-fast” players like Gelli a head start. And with a home-to-first base time of just 2.62 seconds, she makes the most of it. According to her stepdad, Chris LaChapelle, who first introduced Gelli to softball back in sixth grade, that kind of speed ranks her among the top 100 high school players in the country in that category.

“All she has to do is make contact,” LaChapelle said.

That contact took time to develop. Gelli didn’t break into the varsity lineup until her junior year, and even then, she wasn’t a regular at the plate. She was a “flex” player: strong in the field but still searching for her rhythm with the bat.

“I just wasn’t confident,” she said. “That was most of the problem, but I was solid in the field, so that kept me going.”

Peninsula head coach Mike Paul summed it up during Senior Night, May 2, when he said Gelli “suffers through her failures and crushes her successes.” It was his way of acknowledging what her teammates and family already knew — that Gelli wears her heart on her sleeve.

“She’s so afraid to let her teammates down,” LaChapelle said. “But that’s just the game. She’s delivered game-winning hits before, and she’s also struck out in those moments. What matters is that she cares deeply.”

It’s not frustration or anger; it’s the weight of caring. Gelli wants to be clutch. And sometimes she is — she’s delivered game-winning hits and made key defensive plays in big moments. And sometimes she isn’t. Either way, she keeps showing up.

Gelli was part of Peninsula’s rebuilding season in 2024, when the team followed up its 2023 state championship year with a tough 4-15 record. But the Seahawks bounced back this year, finishing 16-8 overall, including a seven-game winning streak in April.  The team took fifth place at the District 3/4 3A tournament, putting Peninsula back in the state title picture. Results of the state tournament were not available at press time.

Her revamped batting style played a big role in the turnaround. Gelli hovered around a .400 average for most of the season and had a standout game against North Thurston April 25, going 4-for-4 with three runs scored and three stolen bases.

And once she got on base, she continued using her speed as a weapon to lead the Seahawks with 12 steals on the year. Her stats and stature in the club ranks also kept climbing.

Gelli didn’t have a long list of headline stats, but what she did have was reps — lots of them. Between club and high school ball, she plays around 150 games a year. That steady development, from late starter to speedy specialist, is what ultimately caught the attention of college coaches.

“She started getting noticed because of her speed,” LaChappelle said. “Then it was her defense. And then when they realized she could also hit from the left side, it was like, ‘OK, we’ve got something here.’ ”

This past December, Gelli signed with Grays Harbor College in Aberdeen, a junior college that LaChapelle called a program on the rise.

“We watched a couple of (Grays Harbor) games, and it felt like a high school game — a lot of energy and excitement. It felt like a good fit for Gabby,” he said.

Off the field, Gelli plans to study zoology. She’s always felt a connection to animals. Her mom calls her the “cat whisperer,” and Gelli hopes to explore animal behavior and biology in college.

“I’ve always loved animals,” Gelli said. “I just feel more empathetic toward them sometimes, maybe even more than I do toward people. I want to learn why they act the way they do.”

It’s not surprising that the same quiet observation and instinct Gelli brings to the game are what drive her curiosity off the field. Whether she’s watching a wild pitch or a wild creature, Gelli is drawn to the details others might overlook. And she’s always looking for the right moment to make her move.

Softball has been more than a game for her. It’s been a proving ground for her confidence, resilience, and quiet leadership. After years of showing up, putting in the work, and trusting her instincts, Gelli didn’t just find her swing. She learned how to use it to create just enough chaos — in her own, perfectly controlled way.