The Fabulous Four: Atwater High celebrates 4 softball players signing with colleges
The Atwater High School softball team had a series of celebrations on the softball team to four Falcons signing their national letters of intent to play softball at four-year colleges.
It started with a ceremony for pitcher Mia Gonzales, who is headed to Washington D.C. to play at Howard University.
On Wednesday afternoon it was outfielder Marley Gonzales’ turn as she will play at San Francisco State University.
Kendall Flatt and Shelli Faulk on Thursday celebrated that they will continue as teammates at Concordia University Irvine.
“I don’t know if this will ever happen again,” said Atwater coach Jenna Boesch. “We have four girls who are going on to play at the next level. They are all going to good programs. We’re fortunate to have this kind of talent.”
Marley Gonzales
Boesch credited Gonzales’ incredible work ethic to making her scholarship opportunity possible. Boesch says she may never see another player match the work Gonzales put in during her time at Atwater High.
“She’s working all the time,” Boesch said. “I have to come out to the field to do some work stuff for PE or put stuff in the shed and she’s out here in the cage or taking infield and outfield. She’s probably here more than me.”
During her sophomore year, Gonzales started workout out with the baseball team during the offseason, lifting weights and running. She formed a strong relationship with Atwater baseball coach Jarrod Pimentel and would often hit in his batting cage.
The Falcons baseball team usually practices at Memorial Ballpark off campus. The team held practice on campus on Wednesday to the team could be there for Gonzales’ signing ceremony.
“It means a lot that the baseball guys were here,” Gonzales said. “It definitely makes me feel special.”
Gonzales participated in a softball camp at San Francisco State in December in 2019 and instantly fell in love with the campus.
“I knew it was a good fit for me,” she said. “I knew I could be happy there.”
Gonzales, who has compiled a 3.75 GPA at Atwater, plans to major in psychology or sociology.
“Softball was the only thing that kept me going sometimes,” she said. “There were so many times I was having a rough day and then I’d come out to hit or do something on the field and made me felt so much better.”
Mia Gonzales
Mia Gonzales met Howard University softball coach Lauren McCoy when Gonzales was 12 years old. She later played travel softball for McCoy’s father.
The Howard coach had seen Gonzales grow and improve over the years and offered her an opportunity to play for her at Howard.
“She told me she had seen me grown tremendously,” Gonzales said.
Gonzales visited the Howard campus in January of 2020.
“I felt at home,” Gonzales said. “I liked the atmosphere.”
Gonzales also is excited to learn about the culture at Howard, which is a historically black college and university.
“I want to learn more about that,” she said. “I’m excited for this new journey and the obstacles that I will have to overcome.”
Gonzales compiled a 3.5 GPA at Atwater and plans to major in criminology with the hope of going into forensic science or behavior analysis.
“I’m sad to leave my family, but I’m proud to represent Atwater and I’m excited for my future,” Gonzales said.
Kendall Flatt and Shelli Faulk
Flatt verbally committed to Concordia University Irvine during her sophomore year.
Flatt, who has compiled a 4.0 GPA at Atwater, plans to major in liberal studies with plans of becoming an elementary school teacher.
Faulk, who also has a 4.0 GPA, plans to major in biology with plans on becoming a nurse.
“I was looking for a smaller school, also a private school,” Faulk told the Sun-Star in December. “The nursing program is really good there and that’s what I want to do in the future. That’s why it was a perfect fit for me.”
This story was originally published March 4, 2021 at 1:11 PM.
