Pacheco’s Rodoni finishes career with MVP

Gia Rodoni had little left to prove in her high school career.

The Baylor-bound star and two-time Western Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year had the Pacheco softball team in position for the school’s first league title in any sport and ranked 10th in the state with 256 strikeouts. Still, a league MVP remained absent from her résumé.

The final game of the regular season presented the senior an opportunity to rectify that and exorcise some demons against a Ceres squad that had knocked her around in their previous two meetings. Rodoni rose to the occasion, striking out 20 and limiting the league’s most potent offense to three singles over nine shutout innings. She even scored the game-winning run in the ninth for a walkoff win as Pacheco earned a share of the league title.

The performance likely gave Rodoni the edge over Offensive Player of the Year Nicole Bates of Ceres as Rodoni was named the WAC MVP.

“I think that game might have been the difference maker for some of the coaches,” said Pacheco coach Charlie Pikas, who was named co-Coach of the Year along with Los Banos’ Dustin Caropreso. “It was an extremely close vote that I don’t think we could have gone wrong with either way if it was Gia or Nicole Bates. Both deservedly received special recognition.

“The one thing I’ve heard over and over from some of the coaches and people that know softball that have come and watched us play, is (Rodoni) has incredible composure. Even when things aren’t going her way, she never really shows it. It’s a great attribute, because things are only going to get tougher when she’s pitching in the Big 12 next year.”

Rodoni was a useful addition offensively for Pacheco as well, hitting .321 with a team-high 22 runs scored. She went 13-6 in the circle with a 0.58 ERA in 1211/3 innings pitched. Rodoni was joined on the WAC first team by sophomore shortstop Sammy Jacquez, who hit .329 and had a team-high 21 RBI.

Los Banos and El Capitan also had two first-team representatives.

Brianna Flores helped lead the Los Banos Tigers to a playoff appearance, winning seven games while hitting .344 with two home runs and 21 RBI. She was joined by sophomore Ali Waltman, who hit a team-best .397. El Capitan’s Gauchos had two sophomores earn first-team honors in their first varsity season – Cassie Gasper (.397 average, team-high 23 RBI, 15-9, 2.37 ERA, 218 strikeouts) and McKenzie Schumacher (team-high .481 average, 36 runs, 37 stolen bases).

LB had Haley Quintana and Kylee Cardoza make the second team. Jennifer Eagleton made the second team for Pacheco.

Crystal Gutierrez (Livingston), Mel Silva (LB), Kyla Valdez (Pacheco) and Jasmine Yruegas (Pacheco) were all honorable mentions.

This story was originally published May 22, 2015 at 7:13 PM with the headline "Pacheco’s Rodoni finishes career with MVP."