Del Valle softball player Julianna Santos to gain national Experience this summer
Del Valle sophomore-to-be softball player Julianna Santos helped Del Valle to a major turnaround season in her first year on the varsity team.
This summer, she'll get to parlay that success into international competition. She will represent Mexico in the Canada Cup on July 10-16 in Surrey, Canada.
"I'm really looking forward to this opportunity to gain more experience and learn more about the game and more about a different place I've never been to," Santos said. "I want to show that others can achieve this opportunity with hard work. I just want to represent my city, my family, my school."
Santos burst onto the scene for the Conquistadores this season as an infielder and pitcher. She was used in the circle and won five games and at the plate drove in 26 runs and hit .458.
"It was my goal to play varsity for four years and to make varsity my freshman year was a tremendous opportunity for me," Santos said. "I learned so much and had great teammates and coaches. As a player, I bring energy and positivity. There can't be any negativity when we are down. I try to keep things loose. I was really proud of our team at Del Valle this season. We made lots of progress, we have lots of players back next year and we got great experience by advancing to the area round in playoffs. We showed we can compete at a good level and our goal is to win that area title next year."
Santos has gained a great deal of experience in her career playing in El Paso city leagues and in Mexico where she has played at a high level.
Softball is Santos' passion and Del Valle coach Erica Rodriguez said the rising star has brought a great deal of experience and energy to the program.
"Julianna gets a great opportunity this summer and that will benefit her tremendously," Rodriguez said. "She came into our program as a freshman and really stepped up for us. Julianna has a bright future and she'll continue to improve with hard work and her great attitude."
More: All-District Softball Teams 2023 El Paso high school All-District softball teams
Felix F. Chavez can be reached at fchavez@elpasotimes.com; @Fchavezeptimes on Twitter
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Del Valle softball player Julianna Santos to gain national expericne this summer
