Makenzie Shellnutt is determined.

She loves softball and won’t let anything slow her down in her quest to be the best softball player she can be and take her skills to the next level and the senior infielder from Billings West (Mont.) has succeeded at both.

Makenzie hit .412 with 36 RBI last year and went 4-for-4 with a homer and four RBI two days ago.

This week, she signed this week with North Greenville University, a Div. II school in South Carolina after being noticed by the school last summer.

But her triumphs are more impressive when you see where’s she’s come from and where she’s had to go… literally.

As detailed in a nice piece by the Billings Gazette titled “West’s Shellnutt plays hard, plays loud,”  Makenzie was diagnosed with 90 percent hearing loss in her right ear at a young age and it was later found that she only had half of her balance function.

“… It might not seem like it, but I do,” she told the Gazette.  “For me it just pushes me harder. I know I have to work harder than most people do to make plays. It’s a gift that I actually embrace because it’s allowed me to do so many things.”

And it certainly hasn’t affected her play on the field.  Over the last two years she’s committed only three errors and says it makes her focus more when she’s hitting.

She says her teammates and her even joke about her hearing loss and balance difficulties.

“It’s kind of a big joke on the team, so we laugh about it,” the Montana standout told the newspaper. “They call me Helen Keller. You can hear them cheering it. It’s funny.”

That’s only half the story however.  Makenzie knew that to get exposure she’d have to play with a high caliber club team and went across the country to play for a team she liked in the Central Florida Stingrays Gold program coached by Mark Tamanini.

“When I tried her out I had no idea about her physical issues,” he begins, which shows that the high schooler didn’t want any extra attention and help.

Nicknamed “Montana” by her Stingray Gold teammates, she originally asked to guest play with the team at Rising Stars and Diamond 9 in the fall of 2012.

“She was a nice fit for our team both as a young lady and a player,” the coach continues. “She joined us full time and played with us in 2013.  Mack played first base and third for us and was an anchor  defensively – especially covering for a hole we had at first.  She was nearly flawless there.  I couldn’t have been more pleased with her game knowledge and her on field performance.  Nothing got by her.”

Her club coach was equally impressed with her abilities at the plate.

“Hitting wise Mack was thrown in against some of the best pitchers on the summer circuit and held her own well.  When she put a charge in one it went out in a big hurry.  She has such natural strength it is fun to see it in full effect.”

Although the Shellnutt family drove more miles this summer than a Greyhound bus driver, the family and the Stingray players quickly bonded.

“The fun part of our experience with her was the enjoyment her whole family had during the time she was on the road with us.  Because we only play a couple events in Florida every summer we are always on the road – but the Shellnuts put an a explanation point on the ‘on the road’ comment.”

Before the Stingrays first event of the summer, Mack’s mother Tonya put the athlete and her two younger brothers in the family van and left Billings and headed to Orlando–three days in a van with three youngsters.

And that was just a start.

From Orlando the family made their way up the coast to New Jersey.  Additional tournaments in Ohio, back to Florida and then to Atlanta meant the family would not only get a curbside view of the East coast–and Washington DC rush hour traffic–it also allowed the family to make quite a few campus visits.

“Mack knew exactly what type of school and campus environment she wanted,” says Coach Tamanini.  ” In my opinion she made a great choice. As a coach that’s all you can hope for.  I am not sure if the van will ever be the same though.

Her club coach says it’s more than Mackenzie he’ll miss.

“She’ll definitely be missed as a player on the team, but I have also lost her little brothers as ball shaggers!”

“Makenzie is a great story about a kid quietly fighting through adversity, constant teasing growing up, and a family that supported her,” Coach Tamanini explains.

“It also shows that given the desire to play college softball, a family can find opportunities and schools that truly fit their needs.”