To follow a long line of Cottonwood baseball greats is a tough ask for anyone. 

For starters, there is Porter Hodge who’s already played in 45 games for the Chicago Cubs over a three-year career in the majors. Then there’s Oliver Dunn, who played meaningful major league games in 2024 for the Milwaukee Brewers before suffering an injury that ended his season. His brother Ross is in the minor leagues in Class A with the Minnesota Twins now. 

Next in line may be Cameron Nielson, a 6-foot-1, 175-pound right-handed pitcher who also prepped at Cottonwood and graduated in 2023. In 2021, while he was a Colt, Nielson had already committed to the University of Utah, where he redshirted in 2024 and played in a handful of games for the Utes—his dream team growing up. 

“The first time I stepped on the dirt at Smith’s Ballpark, I was standing next to a University of Utah ballplayer,” said Nielson several years ago when he committed to the Utes in 2021. “The next time I stand on that dirt, it will be as a University of Utah ballplayer. I am grateful to my family, coaches, teammates, who helped me achieve this dream.”

There was a good reason for Nielson to take a redshirt year at the U—he was still recovering from a serious injury. 

“Haven’t posted in a while. Been working back from a broken ankle. Today I played in a baseball game for the first time in many months,” said Nielson in April 2023. “Grateful for Dr. Nixon at U Health for fixing my ankle and Adam at SportsMed Utah PT for helping me get back to play.” 

In 2025 though, Nielson is beginning to show the talent that led the Utes to recruit the Cottonwood High alum in the first place, and the grit that earned him the nickname “Cambo.” 

“I chose the University of Utah because of the great background of the coaching staff, as well as the team chemistry. The player development is impressive,” said Nielson of the school in the foothills of Salt Lake City. 

Nielson joins Oliver Dunn as another player who, in addition to former Ute All-American and ex-Colts head coach Chris Shelton, will look to make his mark for Utah; the difference is that Nielson has been doing it in the Utes’ first season as a member of the Big 12 Conference. 

Whereas the Utes had to travel as far as California, Oregon and Washington along the Pacific Coast, the Big 12 has schools in Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma and Iowa, stretching as far east as West Virginia and Ohio. In addition to schools in Utah, Arizona and Colorado, it’s gotta be difficult on Utah to play in so many time zones in one conference. 

Nielson has been able to accomplish that feat though. 

Nielson started his freshman season at Pepperdine Feb. 17. The Cottonwood Colt scattered five hits over three innings of work, picking up a save in the Utes’ 6-1 win. In Utah’s next game at neutral site Tony Gwynn Stadium in San Diego, California Feb. 22, Nielson picked up his first win of the year after he came into the game in the top of the ninth inning in relief, striking out two Seattle batters in a 4-3 victory. 

On the road for all of February and some of March while the state of Utah thawed out, the Utes won their next three games—and showed that good things come to those who have waited. The Utes’ final win of this monthlong California trip came March 8 at San Jose State. In relief, Nielson stepped on the mound in the bottom of the ninth and struck out one batter to capture his second save of the season as Utah eked out a 5-3 win. 

Nielson has dealt with some setbacks, particularly as March was moving quickly into April. In the Utes Big 12 home opener at Kansas State March 14, Nielson suffered his first loss of the year, giving up four hits and two home runs in one inning of action in a tough 7-6 loss. He’d follow that up with two more difficult learning lessons in Big 12 play that resulted in him getting two more losses added to his freshman season record. 

As a redshirt freshman at Utah, Cottonwood’s 2021-22 5A second-team All-State selection and Region MVP Nielson has a 2-3 record, with two saves and a 5.32 earned run average. He’s allowed just 29 hits in 22 innings pitched and has 10 strikeouts for a Utes squad that has a 13-16 record as of April 8. Utah’s season will run through April and May, with the Big 12 Conference Championships slated for June.  λ