Despite finishing the season just short of making playoffs, the LA Mission Softball program has much more to celebrate.  This year, 9 sophomores will be transferring to 4-year institutions, with 8 of them continuing their softball career. 

"Our coaching staff has worked extremely hard to help each of our sophomores reach the ultimate goal of continuing their education while also continuing to play the sport they love," said Chris Hylland, LAMC's Softball Head Coach. "These past 3 years have been about changing the culture of this program and moving it in the direction of creating pathways, to 4-year institutions, for our athletes and pushing them towards building successful futures." 

Three of our sophomores, Sydney Caballero, Ashley Silva, and Mitzy Rodriguez, will be continuing their education and softball careers at the Indiana Institute of Technology (NAIA).

Sydney has made a huge impact on the program.  She ended her freshman season with a .409 BA and 33 RBIs. She was selected as Co-MVP and Co-offensive POY.  She was also a CCCAA-state nominee and voted onto the Western State 1^st Team All-conference list.  This season she has continued to work hard, with a .353 BA, leading the team with a .441 OBP, 26 RBIs, and 3 HRs and has proven to be an amazing leader and team player on and off the field.

Ashley has been a huge part of our team, offensively, defensively and as a leader. She ended her freshman season with a .410 batting average, .534 OBP– earning her a spot on the Western State 1^st Team All-Conference list, Co-MVP, Co-offensive POY, was top 20 in the state for hits and average, and an all-state nominee. Ashley has been a strong player for the past 2 seasons and has come through in big time opportunities to help push our team to some big wins.

Mitzy has worked hard this season, and most notably has done an amazing job defensively at 2B for us, with only 3 errors in 30 games played.  Some of her highlights included our game versus Ventura College, where she led off with a single to spark the inning to lead us to a 3-1 victory.  And batted in our final 3 runs of the game, in our upset against Southwestern, where she singled for 2 RBIs in the 5^th, and singled for an RBI in the 7^th.  

Three of our sophomores, Crystal Aragon, Alyanna Martinez, and Ariana Luna, have signed to the University of Dubuque (NCAA DIII) where they will each continue their education and playing softball.

Crystal has worked extremely hard this passed year to improve her overall game and has been nothing short of an amazing teammate.  Despite having to red shirt last season she showed up every single day with a smile on her face, as a leader, and ready to help in any way she could. Her highlights this season were against Glendale, when she hit a double in the 2^nd inning to score our first 2 runs of the game, and coming up with a hit in a big game against Grossmont.  She also worked extremely hard in the classroom and knew Dubuque would be the perfect fit for her.

Alyanna (Aly) has played at Mission for 2 years and has been a standout athlete in both seasons.  At the end of her freshmen season she was selected as defensive player of the year and voted onto the Western State 1^st Team All-conference list.  This season she continued to work hard offensively.  She has a .343 BA, .431 OBP, 7 stolen bases, 17 RBIs, and one (inside the park homerun). In both seasons Aly impressed us with her tremendous range in the outfield and her cannon of an arm as well.

Ariana (Luna) has played at Mission for 2 years and has worked extremely hard to improve her overall game. Luna has been a DH for us and has come off the bench in some big time moments as a pinch hitter. Her highlights include a double (RBI) vs Imperial Valley, and most notably in our most recent upset against College of the Canyons, she came up with a big time RBI. Luna has worked very hard all year, always with a smile on her face, and never once complaining.   

Sofia Castro will continue her education and softball career at the University of Jamestown in North Dakota (NAIA). Sofia came back this year after taking some time off from softball and has proven to be a strong asset to our team.  Despite taking time off, she came hungry and ready to dominate on the mound and work hard offensively too. This season Sofia has done an amazing job on the mound winning some very important games, including a complete game win against El Camino.  This season she has done well offensively and has an ERA of 3.49 with 33 strikeouts in 22 games pitched. Offensively she also brought a strong presence, leading the team with a .378 avg, 23 RBIs, and 2 HRs.

Julissa Rodriguez has committed to continue her education and softball career at Whittier College (NCAA DIII). Julisssa, a transfer from Alderson Broaddus University, has had an outstanding year offensively and continues to work hard to continue that success. Finishing the season with a .338 avg, 45 hits, 27 RBIs and 4 HRs, Julissa proved to be a threat at the plate and one of the strongest batters in our lineup. Some of her highlights include her first HR in a big game against the WSC champions, AVC, to tie the game up in the 3^rd inning. And against the #5 team in So Cal, El Camino College, she went 2 for 4 with a big homerun in the 1^st inning to give us a 2-0 lead. Julissa worked hard all season, on and off the field, and will be a strong asset to the Poets in the seasons to come.

Arianna Ramos (Ari) has committed to continue her education at Arizona State University. Ari has played at Mission for 2 years and has been an asset to this team, especially with her speed.  In the past 2 seasons, Ari has maintained an outstanding GPA of 3.9 and has excelled in the classroom overall.  Her highlights for this season include, a base hit in our game against El Camino to help in our 9-5 win, a base hit in a big win against Southwestern, and 7 stolen bases. Ari has worked extremely hard in the classroom and will continue to make us proud throughout her future endeavors.

"This was a whirlwind of a season, filled with so many emotions, but at the end of the day this program is about helping these athletes get to the next level and ultimately build a successful future," said Coach Hylland. "Each of these athletes worked extremely hard to get to this point and I know they will do great things in the years to come.  I look forward to watching them grow as student-athletes and see where the future takes them."

*Not pictured:  Ashley Silva, Julissa Rodriguez, and Arianna Ramos.