Devyn Yanello, Conference Softball Player to Watch
Earlier this year, Yanello, a mechanical engineering senior in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science at The University of Texas at Dallas, was named a preseason “Player to Watch” in the American Southwest Conference. Yanello is a former high school state champion from Houston.
“When a batter comes to the plate, I need to connect with the catcher on what pitch I’ll throw. We have a mental connection being able to talk to one another without saying anything,” Yanello said.
Her college teammates, the UT Dallas Comets, are a young group lacking senior leadership, but they showed improvement this past season under new women’s softball head coach Kelly Archer.
Softball is a statistic-heavy sport where every action is assigned a numerical value. Whether on the mound or in the batter’s box, staying ahead in the count requires athletic and mental ability. Having spent hundreds of hours in math and science classrooms, with equal time in the bullpen, Yanello’s knowledge of the ball’s speed, rotation and trajectory are attributes she applies automatically from the pitcher’s mound.
“It’s a lot about physics and how the ball spins in line with the plate,” she said. “If one little thing is off, the ball shifts its movement. I’ll think about how to fix it, like in math where one little number can drastically shift the solution.”
Those changes in ball and bat movements are governed by Sir Isaac Newton’s second law of motion, where the force of an object is equal to its mass times acceleration. What happens on softball fields and in the classroom are not that far apart. Classroom test scores and wins and losses on the diamond measure her academic and athletic success.
“As a pitcher, I strive for perfection,” Yanello said. “A perfect game is no hits, no runs. But it’s hard, and the margin of failure is high. So, if they get a hit, it’s okay, we’re fine. You have to keep going.”
It’s a lot about physics and how the ball spins in line with the plate. If one little thing is off, the ball shifts its movement. I’ll think about how to fix it, like in math where one little number can drastically shift the solution.
Devyn Yanello
Yanello transferred to UT Dallas primarily because of the Jonsson School’s reputation. The University’s close ties with North Texas companies helped her decision. But the chance to play a sport she loves effectively sealed the deal.
The University helps student-athletes succeed by offering tutoring and early class registration. Even demanding professors provide a touch of empathy. Nevertheless, the rigor of college-level academics is challenging. Add in team practices, travel and games, and the commitment becomes a handful. Then consider that women engineers are breaking barriers in a field with very little gender balance.
“I’m in a class with two women and 60 men. I feel it shouldn’t be like that — women should want to do STEM and be a part of it,” Yanello said. “I want women to know that you can do anything you want. Even for young girls, if you want to be a mechanical engineer, yes! If you want to work in STEM, yes!
She continued, “Anything is possible, and just because right now the field is dominated by males, it could later be dominated by females. That would be an amazing shift.”
The 2022 season ended 23-18. Yanello pitched in 22 games with team-high of 15 starts, striking out 24 batters in 86.0 innings pitched, with a season-high of three strikeouts.
Discover More
UNLOCKING INTEGRATED CIRCUIT SECURITY
UT Dallas’ logic locking team in the cybersecurity competition included (from left to right) Dr. Kaveh Shamsi, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering; Dr. Kanad Basu, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering;...
A New Take On Royalty
JONSSON SCHOOL STUDENT ELECTED HOMECOMING KING Homecoming at The University of Texas at Dallas is designed to celebrate students and their unique experiences at a university with an internationally ranked chess team, nationally ranked esports team and no football...
Love & Stem
Jonsson School faculty and staff members pose with their spouses who also work at UT Dallas at the iconic Love Jack sculpture on the University mall. Back row (from left to right): Tonya Griffin, senior director of finance and administration in the Jonsson School Dean’s Office and Leonard Griffin,...
Partner Profile
ENTREPRENEUR STEPS UP BUSINESS THROUGH UTDESIGN PROGRAMSRick Tett MS’21, center, tests the rotating virtual reality controller chair created by one of his many capstone teams. Braydon Schramm BS’21, second from right, was Tett’s first hire at...
ICPC TEAM RAISES STANDING,
QUALIFIES FOR WORLD FINALS
Above: The 2020 team qualified for the world finals after finishing 15th out of 65 teams in the ICPC North America Championship in February 2021. (Left to right): Dr. Bill Poucher, ICPC executive director; Mohammadreza (Reza) Haghpanah, the team’s assistant coach; An Q. Nguyen; Duy Vu; Darrin...
Scientist in the A.M., ‘Snack’ in the P.M.
Bioengineering PhD student Leroy Arthur was at a Dallas restaurant with friends when he received what seemed like a random message through his Instagram account, which shows a video of him skydiving and photos of him fashion modeling and spending time with friends and...