By Courtney Hughey
Staff Writer
When Mira Costa softball players Ulufa Leilua and Nikki Gialketsis first started playing softball, they never imagined that they would one day be playing at the college level.
Leilua has stayed in contact with many coaches of the top 10 NCAA Division I softball programs, such as the University of Florida, University of California Berkeley and the University of Oregon. Despite attention from these schools, Leilua accepted a five-year scholarship to the University of Washington.
“The recruitment process was really nerve-wracking,” Leilua said. “When I got my first letter, from Cal, I felt I was fitting in with my teammates, since only three people on my club team aren’t committed to colleges yet.”
Coaches saw that Leilua had the potential to be a college athlete and began recruiting her in the beginning of her freshman year. Her defensive skills are constantly improving as a first baseman, and her inherent ability as a hitter equals that of most collegiate softball athletes.
“Ulufa has a natural skill to hit a ball,” Mira Costa coach Richard Amberik said. “We play from 100 to 200 foot fences, and Ulufa can hit the ball 300 feet; that’s why everyone’s impressed.”
Leilua was set apart from other softball players because of her strength and ability to hit the ball. She exhibited a high slugging percentage of .864 and made it on base 110 times as a freshman.
“Washington is betting on the future, and they’re betting on her potential to be something,” Amberik said. “She still has a lot to learn; she knows that, but when she hits a ball it never seems to come down.”
According to Leilua, she owes her success to her father.
“He’s the one that pushed me and helped me exceed to that next level,” Leilua said.
Gialketsis brings a leadership role to the softball team. Gialketsis has been contacting coaches since her freshman year in pursuit of her dream of playing softball in college.
“I have a lot of motivation,” Gialketsis said, “I have to work hard everyday.”
Gialketsis has been playing softball since she was six and started playing travel ball in seventh grade. During her first years of playing club, Gialketsis began thinking seriously of her future as a collegiate athlete.
“This has been my dream ever since I was young,” Gialketsis said. “I would always go to UCLA or LMU games, and I would say that I wanted to be like those college players.”
Gialketsis took a proactive step during her freshman year by contacting various schools, which were mostly Division I and on the East Coast. Gialketsis decided to go to the first college that gave her an offer at the start of her junior year, Sacramento State University. She will join the team in the fall as a catcher.
“When I went to go visit Sacramento I fell in love with the campus, the coaches and [the] team,” Gialketsis said. “They have a really good chance at winning their division next year, and I also really loved it was on the West Coast.”
Even though Gialketsis didn’t get recruited as early as some of her teammates, her persistence with coaches, her continued dedication and her hard work has finally paid off in her goal to play college softball.
“I may not be the strongest softball player, but I work really hard every time I step on the field,” Gialketsis said. “Everyday I have to try to keep getting better.”
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