All-Star Lineup Series: Concord's Class of 2020 Top Athletes Week 4
This Week Visit Concord Looks At Some of The Best Softball Players Around Town
Softball
Stepping up to the plate are the senior players who best exemplified what it means to be an All Star on and off the field. We would like to highlight the accomplishments of these wonderful seniors during their high school tenure.
Carondelet
Gabriella Williams has been a four year Varsity starter with a pitcher arm that’s a force to go against when she stares batters down from the pitchers circle. Williams has pitched 251 total innings throughout her four years and has been named player of the game four times.
Ella Romero fell in love with softball at 10 years old. The youngest of five siblings, she was nervous about pursuing this sport at first as she comes from a family of basketball players. However, she knew softball was the sport that could teach her the most on and off the field. A three year varsity pitcher, Romero plans to play softball at the collegiate level. Not only is she passionate about sports and academics, she enjoys giving back to her community” volunteering at John Muir Hospital and at her church.
Concord High
Amber Desena has been a four year Varsity starter, her first three seasons she played third base and this year she shifted over to play shortstop. According to her coach, “Desena has so much passion for the game of softball, and it is evidenced by her work ethic at practice as well as countless hours spent on her own time getting better at her craft. Amber has a funny personality, but when she steps on the field, she is all business.”
For the past two seasons, Desena has done an amazing job as a lead-off batter and led the team in hits, doubles and runs scored. Desena carried a 3.71 GPA during her time at Concord High She will be attending the University of Iowa on a softball scholarship next year.
Madi Mays has been a three year Varsity starter as pitcher as well as rotating to other positions including 3rd base, 1st base, and outfield. In the 4th game this year, she pitched a no-hitter against Monte Vista-- it was almost a Perfect Game - just one walk in the 4th inning! Her coach said, “Mays’s confidence and control in the circle this season was the best I have seen since she came into the program. In 17 innings pitched, she had 20 strikeouts, and an ERA of 0.824.”
Mays is also well established at the plate, batting from the #3 spot, she’s near the top of her team in RBI’s, on base percentage, and OPS. In previous seasons, she led the team in homeruns and slugging percentage. Mays excels off the field too. Her cumulative GPA is a 4.48 and she will be attending Harvard next year on a softball scholarship.
Ygnacio Valley
Before high school, Anissa Lopez did not know what sport to participate in. She’d been performing Tae Kwon Do for ten years, and once she earned her black belt, Anissa knew she wanted to stay in shape and find something new. She opted to play softball her freshman year, and she went from never stepping on a diamond to playing almost every position on the field.
A two sport athlete, Lopez also ran cross country. Her team won the 2019 Diablo Athletic League Girls Varsity Championship for the first time in Ygnacio Valley history. She also participates in Interact, CSF, Color Guard, Madrigals and the Spring Musicals.
Anissa is also recognized for her work volunteering with Concord Rotary to clean local parks. Lopez is a full International Baccalaureate student at Ygnacio Valley with a 5.0 GPA. This year she was accepted to ten different universities and plans on going to University of the Pacific (Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy) to become a pharmacist. If all goes to plan, she hopes to be a Doctor of Pharmacy in six years!