Nottingham High junior Kristin Hallam goes by “Z,” a nickname that evolved after a coach called her “Godzilla.”
The biggest question concerning Nottingham High School junior softball player Kristin Hallam has never been how she manages to hit .500, or field ground balls so adeptly, or strike out batters so easily.
What people really want to know about one of Mercer County’s top players is how she got the nickname “Z,” which has stuck with Hallam since her days with the Hamilton Hurricanes. There have been theories, but it’s time to set the record straight.
“OK, this is the true story,” Hallam said. “When I was playing 10U for the Hurricanes, one of our coaches (John Terry) called me Shorty. I didn’t like that. In my eyes, I wasn’t short, even though I probably was. One day, I said ‘I’m not short.’ And he said ‘What do you want me to call you, Godzilla?’ I said ‘Well that’s better than Shorty. But then I realized that was [former Yankee Hideki] Matsui’s name so Jess Giordano said ‘Why don’t we call you Baby Zilla?’ So it went from Baby Zilla, to Baby Z, to just plain Z.”
In a way, Godzilla was a pretty fitting tag for Hallam, who has enjoyed two monster seasons with the Northstars. As a freshman, she evolved into the Northstars main pitcher down the stretch and helped Nottingham to the Mercer County Tournament and Central Jersey Group III championship games. Last season, she played mostly shortstop to fill the gap left by Division I talent Val Suto’s graduation the previous year.
In two seasons as a leadoff hitter, she has 93 hits, a .563 average, 27 RBI, 54 runs, 15 doubles, seven triples, a home run and 30 stolen bases. She has struck out just six times in 174 at-bats. In the circle, Hallam is 16-9 with 153 strikeouts and a 2.21 ERA in 152 innings.
Where she ends up this year was anyone’s guess at the start of preseason practice, especially since the Northstars were stuck indoors due to snow on the ground.
“We have talked, she knows she’s going to be doing some pitching at times and will play shortstop as a well,” coach Danielle Wilson said. “I’d like to see her jump back in the circle, but we’re waiting to see how the whole team can work defensively. That’s what happened last year, we had to make a decision.”
Hallam said she’ll go where she’s told.
Pitching is something she loved as a little kid and she continued to do it in travel ball until last year. She already has committed to attend Hofstra University and play shortstop for its softball team.
One thing she knows is not in her future is appearing on stage.
“We thought I would be a dancer at one point, don’t ask me why,” Hallam said with a laugh. “I took dancing lessons when I was three or four, maybe till I was like, five or six. I saw a video of it and in the video I started crying. I thought I liked it, but I guess not. Everyone was dancing on one stage, and I was just there waving hi to my mom. I was paying no attention whatsoever. And then I left crying, so it went downhill from there.”
The dance floor’s loss was the diamond’s gain. Hallam was determined to follow in her sister Jen’s footsteps and began playing in the Hamilton Girls’ Softball Association and for Our Lady of Sorrows School.
She snuck into HGSA travel ball at age 6 and stayed with the Hurricanes travel program until age 12. During her two years on the 12U team, she and current Steinert seniors Gaby Bennett and Alissa Brugnoli reached two straight Babe Ruth World Series, finishing fourth and then third in the nation.
“Ah, they were the days,” Hallam said with a laugh.
At age 13, she switched programs and went to the West Jersey Witches, and she is still with that team although they now go by the Jersey Outlaws.
Despite her success in high school, Hallam was noticed by college recruiters while playing travel ball, as is usually the case these days. Overtures began coming during her freshman year, and by the end of her sophomore season she narrowed her choices to Fordham and Hofstra, with Stony Brook also in the running.
She was recruited by long-time Hofstra coach Bill Edwards, who stepped down last year. But Hallam was not shaken by the change, as she knew long-time assistant Larissa Anderson was taking over so there would not be a major upheaval. Former Steinert star Julie Meyer is also in her first season as a Pride assistant.
“Hofstra grabbed my attention right away,” Hallam said. “You consider scholarships and all that, but my final choice came down to where I wanted to go. I loved the campus, I went up and watched a game. You know when you get that feeling when you’re in the batter’s box, where you know you’re gonna blast that next pitch? Where it’s just a good feeling inside? That’s what I had.”
And if there was any doubt it was the right choice, it was erased when her mom, Kathy, saw Hallam’s reaction when Hofstra came up with scholarship money.
“When they gave me the offer, I cried,” she said. “My mom said ‘This is the reaction we were waiting for.’”
With the decision out of the way, it provides Hallam with peace of mind for her final two high school seasons.
“She does seem very relaxed,” Wilson said. “I think knowing where she is going to college, now she’s in a good place school-wise and softball-wise. She seems happy.”
Hallam agreed.
“I think it really eases a lot of pressure,” she said. “School ball is school ball and travel ball is travel ball and then in my down time I can work on what I need to improve on. It’s definitely less stress. Everyone says junior year is a big stress year when it comes to college. Now I can concentrate on school work, school ball and travel ball. I kind of did it all last year. It’s also motivation, too. Now people know you’re going to play in college, so you have to go out there and prove yourself every day.”
Wilson can’t wait to watch Hallam this year as she takes a leadership role on a young team that lost six seniors last year, including Jen Hallam. But the coach feels this is the kind of situation Hallam, a co-captain this year along with Brittany Kelly, is ready for.
Wilson took over the head coaching job from Mike Walsh in Hallam’s freshman year, and she knew about Z from the previous season’s softball banquet.
“She was at the banquet because of Jen,” the coach recalled. “Mike Walsh pointed her out to me. She was already a strong young lady and so excited about softball and being excited being at the banquet for her sister. That was the first time I got to meet her. She sat there, and she was really quiet. But you could tell she was ready to be sitting at the softball table and not with her parents. She was ready to play. You could tell she couldn’t wait until the next year.”
Hallam—who also plays varsity soccer, serves as the wrestling team’s scorekeeper and also has some artistic talent—has always been excited about softball no matter the level. She credits Jen, her dad Ross and HGSA coaches John Giordano, Frank Bennett and Terry for laying the foundation.
She is a student of the game and over her first two years in high school she shifted from a right-handed hitter over to the left side to put her a step closer to first base after hitting the ball.
“It was a little tough to adjust, reading the ball coming from a different way, getting my feet down, getting my mechanics,” she said. “It was frustrating. If I didn’t get it down after the first five times I’d get frustrated. It took a while, but it definitely helped me realize I’m not going to do something the first time.”
In other words, there are no shortcuts and Hallam follows each and every step—from A to Z.
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