Inducted 2003. Four-year Starter as Volleyball Setter, 45-3 with 0.47 ERA as Softball Pitcher. Class of 1983.
Damhorst was another of the great female athletes who played for Quincy Notre Dame during its heyday of the late 1970s and early 1980s, and her career statistics rank favorably with other past Hall of Fame athletes.
Damhorst, a 1983 graduate of QND, was a four-year starter in volleyball, and as a setter, she quarterbacked a team that made the Elite Eight in Class AA in 1979, then won the 1980 state title and placed third in 1982. During her four years, the volleyball team posted a record of 146-7. She ranks fourth in school history in career serving and played in 140 games, also fourth overall.
On the softball field, Damhorst pitched and played first base as a four-year starter. During her four years, the softball team compiled a record of 114-5 and won two state championships and one third-place finish in a single-class system. She was named to the all-state tournament team in 1982. Her career pitching record was 45-3 with a 0.47 earned run average, and she struck out 282 batters in 300 innings while posting 26 shutouts. Her career batting average was .356.
Damhorst went on to play volleyball and softball at Quincy College, and she pitched on QC’s 1985 NAIA national championship softball team. She now lives in Quincy and operates her own business making ornamental candles.
“It seems like only yesterday, but nearly 30 years have come and passed since I began my ambition to be a softball pitcher. This all started when I was in the fifth and sixth grade CYO league as a student at St. Dominic School. Dad had a backstop put into place in our backyard to help keep my errant pitches from going into the Quincy Mall parking lot. As time passed, I played for the Quincy Jets under the very capable help of Harry Phillips, and that led the way to playing at QND. Mr. Starkey was very patient with me, and with the help of my teammates, he was a winning coach at QND. Thanks to my mother and father for guiding me and for always being there when help was needed. It is with great humbleness and sincerity that I accept this induction into the QND Hall of Fame.”