Big Follow-ups To Female Baseball Stars Story

(From left to right: Hannah Flippen, photo courtesy of San Diego Union-Tribune; Ava Gallegos, photo courtesy of José Gallegos; CaliSports News headline Jul. 28, 2019.)

Former Sweetwater Valley female baseball standout to play softball in Olympics. CaliSports News feature story reveals another girl all-star. CSN’s most popular article of 2019 is about Little League.

I lied. In my prior article, Little League’s Female Stars Shine In SoCal, I wrote: “This story marks CaliSports News’ final Little League article for 2019.” Wrong! Not even close! Since then, many events happened that deserve follow-ups. For starters, because of that feature story, another Southern California female baseball star surfaced. Surprised? We should not be once we realize that my article went wild among readers. Many people read it. In fact, I am proud to announce that Female Stars Shine is already this year’s no. 3 most-read CSN Little League story !!

On a similar note, 2019’s no. 1 most-read CSN Little League story is also the most popular article among everything that our web site published. That includes coverage of pro sports. In all, close to 140 stories so far this year. More about CSN’s most-read content later in this article.

Meanwhile, due to its popularity, CSN’s feature on female ballplayers was destined to uncover more stars. Sure enough, the story reached readers that know of a girl standout not mentioned in Female Stars Shine. One reader thankfully informed CSN of that player. My original goal was to spotlight every female all-star in SoCal. That goal went side-by-side with my other pipe dream of hiring an army of Little League writers. Sadly, I quickly realized that such lofty goals were not attainable. Thus, I am excited to discover that my feature unearthed at least one more player.

In addition, two softball superstars mentioned in Female Stars Shine, got selected this month to play softball for Team USA in the 2020 Summer Olympic Games. One of those two is a former SoCal Little League baseball all-star. So, we have much to discuss. Let us get right into it.

Where are they now?

Let us begin with 2019’s final installment of the popular segment called, Where Are They Now?

Congratulations to Hannah Flippen on being selected to represent Team USA in softball at the 2020 Olympics !! Flippen should seem familiar to my readers. CSN published a blurb about her last month. In Female Stars Shine, I mentioned that Flippen was an all-star baseball player at Bonita’s Sweetwater Valley Little League, and a varsity softball player for Chula Vista’s Bonita Vista High School Barons. A photo taken of Hannah during her time on the Barons graces the top left corner of this article. Flippen was twice named PAC-12 softball player of the year while leading the University of Utah Utes. She now serves as a Utah assistant coach. Team USA picked 15 players and three replacements. Hannah qualified as one of the replacement players.

Of USA’s 18 players, four are current or former UCLA Bruins. Three represent the University of Florida Gators. No other school contributed more than one. In Female Stars Shine, I mentioned one of the four Bruins. Her name is Rachel Garcia. She played softball for Palmdale’s Highland High School Bulldogs. Congratulations to Rachel !! In all, seven of the 18 hail from Southern California. Six come from NorCal. Only five players grew up outside of California. Our state, especially the southern half of it, owns softball. As I wrote, SoCal is “the softball capital to the world.” Here is hoping for a gold medal. Let’s Go Hannah !! Let’s Go Rachel !! Go U-S-A !!

Article reveals another female all-star.

Changing the topic, Female Stars Shine uncovered another Southern California girl baseball all-star worthy of mention. Her name is Ava Gallegos. This summer, according to multiple unnamed sources, Gallegos became the first female that Lompoc Little League of Lompoc ever selected to an all-star team in any Little League division. What a great accomplishment. Way to go, Ava !!

Gallegos not only got selected, but starred on Lompoc’s Majors 12U team. She batted third in the lineup. For those not so familiar with batting orders, the best all-around hitter on a team traditionally bats third. Gallegos helped lead Lompoc to its first California District 65 title. That Santa Barbara County league had last won a district championship back in 1997. That was when the then-Lompoc American all-stars captured the now-defunct District 50 crown. The following year, officials realigned districts. They created a new one called District 65. They moved Lompoc into it. This year, after finally winning District 65’s championship, Lompoc then reached the finals of the Southern California Section 1 tournament. There, Gallegos’ team lost to Moorpark Little League of Moorpark. That Moorpark squad then went on to finish second in all of SoCal.

In a league of her own.

Gallegos’ mother, Sarah Cortez, told CaliSports News that Ava was the only female that played in that Section 1 tournament. Ava’s mom said her daughter was also the only girl that competed in the District 65 tourney. In addition, Cortez told CSN that she never saw another girl compete at Lompoc. That includes during the entire time since Gallegos started with tee-ball. Remarkable.

“They just don’t play baseball,” Gallegos’ mother told CaliSports News regarding young females living within Lompoc Little League’s boundaries. “They do softball and cheer leading.” How did other players, coaches, and parents react to Gallegos? CSN asked that question to Cortez.

“Ninety-five percent of the people involved in Lompoc Little League never treated her like a girl,” she answered. “They always treated her like a baseball player.” One such coach is Joe Morín. Gallegos pitched and played shortstop for Morín’s Majors teams during the past two regular seasons. Morín told CaliSports News that Gallegos wanted “to be recognized as a ball player. Not a girl ball player, but recognized as a ball player.” Ava’s coach then praised his star pitcher.

“She pitches with excellent command, great velocity, and a change-up that she can spot all the time,” he said. “As a coach, there are players that you always want to have. Players with talent, athletic ability, the ability to learn quickly, leadership characteristics, competitors, toughness, and the want to get better every time they step on the field. Ava has all that.” Morín continued:

A team player.

“Ava is also one of the best assistant coaches I ever had. She will help every single kid on the team with anything. She is why I love coaching. The past two years have been the most fun ones in my life. That goes for playing and coaching. She gives you that excitement and joy to want to go to practice day in and day out. It is a great thing to know that there are still ball players out there that give you that feeling. I want to thank her parents for allowing me to work with her.”

Morín then spoke directly to Gallegos. “And to you Ava,” the coach said, “continue to be the inspiration that you have been. Not only to young women, but the inspiration you have been to all of us here in our community. Thank you, Ava. I’m honored to say I have coached you.”

Cortez told CaliSports News that her daughter plans to continue playing baseball, and that Ava aspires to play on her high school baseball team. The young star even dreams of playing competitive baseball after high school. Cortez said Ava has no interest in transitioning to softball.

CSN’s most popular article is about Little League.

Let us shift gears again. As mentioned, in terms of page views, a story I wrote this summer about Little League leads all other CSN articles published this year. And by a wide margin. As of Oct. 6, Sweetwater Valley To Play In SoCal Finals !! ranks as by far CSN’s most-read story of 2019.

CaliSports News’ no. 2 most popular article this year features hockey. My esteemed colleague, Ryan Cowley, wrote an excellent interview with a former member of both the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and the Los Angeles Kings. The player is Jim Thomson, and that no. 2 most-read piece is called, Ex-LA Kings Enforcer Jim Thomson on Thriving Past His Drug & Alcohol Addiction.

Another Little League write-up, Bonita’s Bashers Win SoCal Little League Title !!, follows closely behind Cowley’s interview in CaliSports News’ no. 3 overall position, as does CSN’s third-most-read Little League article, Little League’s Female Stars Shine In SoCal. In fact, on Oct. 6, only 53 page views separated Enforcer Jim Thomson, Bonita’s Bashers Win, and Female Stars Shine.

With page views in the thousands, it is astounding that only 53 separate those three articles. However, Sweetwater Valley To Play In SoCal Finals blew away that trio. CSN’s most popular story attracted roughly 65% more readers than did Enforcer Jim Thomson. I am not sure why.

But, I notice a common bond among the top three Little League articles. Each reported on both Moorpark and Sweetwater Valley. I believe CaliSports News enjoys a huge following within those two communities. Plus, each story mentions Tanner “Iceman Tan” Stotts. Oops! I just wrote his name again. Does that mean what I am publishing right now will likewise go viral big time?

Teamwork makes the dream work.

On that topic, CSN happily reports that a record-tying six different Little Leagues residing within District 42 each shared Little League’s Female Stars Shine In SoCal on their Facebook page. Leagues in Districts 13 and 65 did the same. So did the Facebook pages representing the Little League officials overseeing Districts 42 and 65. Moorpark reportedly blasted Female Stars Shine‘s link in a group email sent to everyone on that league’s mailing list. Bloggers joined the effort. A web site called Girls Play Baseball published the article on its blog. The softball world contributed as well. Moorpark Girls Softball, the San Diego Renegades, and the San Diego Brashear Firecrackers Mata/Garcia each shared Female Stars Shine on their Facebook page.

CaliSports News thanks everyone that shares our articles. Teamwork makes the dream work. That is how Female Stars Shine already ranks as the third-most popular of this year’s 20 Little League stories. Let us see after 2019 ends what the final tallies reveal. Until then, stay tuned !!

Finally, as hockey season is upon us, I must return my attention to writing about my beloved Ducks. Although the topic will not longer be Little League, I invite all of my readers to follow my upcoming contributions to CaliSports News. So stay with CSN, serving the communities of Moorpark, Sweetwater Valley, and all of SoCal. Until then, Let’s Go Ducks !! Let’s Go SoCal !!

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