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Riley Nelson has never been in the dark on any subject.

The Edwardsville High senior pitcher and slugger sports a 4.0 grade point average and can speak eloquently about almost anything.

Yet being in the dark, at least physically, still scares her.

"I sleep with my light on, always have," Nelson said.

Ironically, the most feared hurler in the area has a phobia, at least when it comes to a dark room.

"The worst part about it is my mother tells my friends about it every time they come over," Nelson said. "I'm like, 'OK, thanks, Mom.' "

Nelson may sleep with the light on, but she has certainly put the lights out on opposing hitters.

The hard-throwing righthander fashioned a 19-4 record with a 1.12 ERA in helping the Tigers reach a Class 4A sectional final during the recently completed campaign. She fanned 214 batters in 143 innings, almost 10.5 per contest.

Most importantly, Nelson was money with the season on the line. She did not allow an earned run in 10 of her last 11 outings covering 74 innings prior to a 6-1 loss to Bradley Bourbonnais in the Normal West Sectional final.

That late-season surge, along with a consistent two-way performance all year long, helped Nelson earn All-Metro spring softball player of the year honors.

Bound for St. Louis University, Nelson played key role in the Tigers' winning 26 of 35 contests.

"When we needed a big game, she was there to do it," said Edwardsville junior catcher Remi Werden, who is also one of the Nelson's best friends. "You could always count on her."

Just don't try to force her into a dark room.

Werden has witnessed Nelson's phobia first hand during numerous sleepovers between the friends.

"It's something you have to get used to at her house," Werden said. "Just Riley being Riley and you go along with it."

Her parents, Carmen and Mark, get a kick out of their daughter and her uneasiness with the lights out.

While Mom likes to embarrass Riley by telling everyone within ear shot, Mark likes to tease her about the fear, which is not uncommon and grips many people.

"She's a big baby about it," Mark said. "But when she steps on the mound or at the plate, she's all business.

"She kind of flips the switch when she gets out there."

Nelson is a true two-way threat. She hit .394 with an .809 slugging percentage and led the team with nine home runs. Her 32 RBI were second on the squad.

Yet pitching is where Nelson's future lies.

Originally, Carmen wanted Riley to follow in her footsteps as a cheerleader, not an athlete. Riley was enrolled in several cheer camps from age 5 to 8 before she finally put her foot down.

"I didn't want to be cheering at sports, I wanted to be playing," Riley said.

Nelson's skills began to blossom when she hit the Under-14 level, and she has been getting progressively better each year, as Mark painfully found out.

He used to catch his daughter during pitching lessons on a regular basis before she delivered a deadly drop ball that tore the nail off his big toe.

"It was his fault for wearing flip-flops," Riley said.

It took two more similar incidents before Mark threw in the towel and let Werden take over.

Nelson finished second on the all-time strikeout list at Edwardsville with 487, which is even more impressive considering she did not claim the role of staff ace until her junior season.

"Each year she got better and better and got motivated more and more," Edwardsville coach Caty Happe said. "It's made her work harder and that developed her into the leader that everybody on the team could look up to."

Nelson turned a myriad of stellar performances this season, but she feels her best effort came in a 10-0 no-hit win over Pleasant Plains on May 2. She struck out seven and walked just one. At the plate, she drilled a homer and drove in three runs.

Softball is a huge part of Nelson's life, but she also has some other interests. She loves to cook and regularly whips up three or four complete meals for the family during the course of a week. Her specialty is a nifty garlic chicken dish.

Nelson credits her penchant for cooking to her grandma, Earline Parsons, who got her started at an early age.

"Just watching her got me interested," Nelson said.

Nelson likes to have the kitchen to herself while preparing meals. No one is allowed in except Parsons, who gets free rein when visiting.

The future appears bright for Nelson, who sports a variation of six different pitches. She has been clocked in the mid-to-upper 60s (miles per hour). That speed, coupled with her pinpoint control, makes her very hard to solve. She has 387 strikeouts over the last two seasons.

"When she sets her mind to it, she can do almost anything," Werden said. "There's a big future ahead for her."