Rivas, Gutierrez sign with USK softball
Best friends from MHS to play together in college
Alexandria “Mia” Rivas and Oriana Gutierrez are living the best friend dream.
Not only are the childhood best friends going to attend the same college next year, but they will do so as softball players after signing letters of intent to play for the University of Saint Katherine in San Marcos Friday. The Monache High School seniors held a joint signing ceremony at the Marauders softball field with family, friends, and teammates to commemorate the occasion.
The university ticked off a lot of boxes for the duo as they both wanted to attend a small college, stay close to home, and of course, play together.
“I like it because it’s a smaller school,” Rivas said. “It’s really, really small. And that’s what I like. My other choice before softball was UC Davis, which was a huge campus, so it’s something completely different. And not only that, I get to go with my best friend and two other softball teammates that are on our travel team. I feel like it’s where I’ll feel more at home and feel more comfortable at.”
At Saint Katherine’s, Rivas and Gutierrez will play on partial scholarships while majoring in kinesiology. The Firebirds are an NAIA program that plays in the California Pacific Conference.
On signing, Gutierrez said it felt like all her hard work over the years had paid off.
“I feel like everything that I worked for since I was small, to taking travel ball seriously, to now; it’s all just paid off,” she said. “And I’m glad that my parents are here to see it. My other family, my friends. It’s a really big moment, and I can’t wait to see what happens in the future.”
Softball has been a part of both players’ lives since they were little.
The two started taking softball seriously when they were young and played travel softball for Porterville Magic. Now they play for West Coast Wolverines GLO8 out of Visalia. GLO8 put together highlight videos and reached out to coaches to help the girls find a place to play next season.
“All I did was give these girls just the opportunity to shine,” GLO8 coach Leroy Smithson said at the ceremony. “They did everything themselves. They put in the hard work….like I did when I first met these two girls, the (USK) coaches fell in love with them. Fell in love with them and wanted to find a way.”
Rivas and Gutierrez are threeyear varsity players who can play in the infield and outfield.
“They’ve been in this program for four years, and they’ve always produced,” MHS head coach Dave Koontz said at the ceremony. “Ups and downs, out and around, but they’ve always produced for me. They’ve always been a joy to coach. I’ve never had an attitude from them. Like Leroy said, excellent effort. They’ve grown up in four years...and I’m just so, so happy that we were blessed to have them in this program.”
As Marauders, the two have enjoyed playing with teammates they’ve known since they were little. From team bonding nights to practice, they’ve had a great time in the blue and gold.
“I don’t have one favorite moment,” Rivas said. “I feel like the most fun that I’ve had at Monache would be the practices with the girls because the majority on Monache, I played Magic with. So these are the girls I’ve grown up with. I enjoy coming out here and spending time with them.”
When their senior season commences, the two are looking forward to their future with Saint Katherine. Rivas said she’s most looking forward to getting better and learning how to be independent, while Gutierrez is excited to experience college-level softball.
“I think college softball is going to be a whole different level of knowledge, experience,” Gutierrez said. “And I think it’s going to be really fun to be exposed to everything I’m not here. The competition is going to be so much wider, and that’s really good for a player because you get to know where you’re at on the spectrum of playing. So I’m just excited to see the new competition and players.”