College athletes from Yuma: How they fared in ’18

More than 50 former Yuma-area high school athletes competed collegiately in a winter or spring sport this past school year.

For a full list — minus fall-sport athletes, who were covered in a December 2017 edition of the Sun — check out Page C2.

Of the 50-plus athletes — 17 who were baseball players, 14 softball, and 24 of a different sport — here is a look at some of the more notable ones and performances.

Kennedy Garcia pitches in NCAA softball tournament

Former Gila Ridge pitcher Kennedy Garcia (Class of 2014) ended her collegiate career by appearing in the NCAA tournament for the first time.

Though Garcia was on the team when DePaul also made the tourney last year, she did not pitch in either of the Blue Demons’ two losses. This time, she entered DePaul’s elimination game against Oklahoma State on May 19 with her team trailing 5-0 after the second inning and pitched well the rest of the way. In five innings of work, she allowed just one run on four hits while striking out five — though the Blue Demons did go on to lose, 6-0.

For the season, Garcia made 20 appearances (13 starts) and improved on her junior year numbers by compiling a 2.41 earned run average with 57 strikeouts and a 7-4 record over 84.1 innings. In 2017, Garcia’s first season with DePaul after transferring from Phoenix College, she went 11-9 with a 3.14 ERA.

Garcia wasn’t the only local kid playing Division I softball this year, as AWC transfer Sally Gastelo (Kofa 2015) had a semi-regular role in her first season at North Texas. The junior outfielder started 24 of the team’s 52 games, hitting .250 with four home runs and