Kristen Archuleta said it’s not that common to play against a
former teammate at the collegiate level, although you might have
been fooled by that statement during last weekend’s Stanford
Invitational in Palo Alto.
PALO ALTO
Kristen Archuleta said it’s not that common to play against a former teammate at the collegiate level, although you might have been fooled by that statement during last weekend’s Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto.
Five different collegiate softball teams and three former Lady Balers were in attendance during the three-day tournament, including Megan Smith with Santa Clara, JC Clayton with BYU, and Archuleta, a 2006 graduate of San Benito High School who now plays second base at Cal State Bakersfield.
“It feels like I’m still in high school, especially when I see JC and everybody else,” said Archuleta, who played with Clayton for one year when she was a senior at SBHS. “It feels like I’m still in high school playing with everyone, even though I’m playing against them now.”
Archuleta is in her senior season at Bakersfield (10-20), where she is currently batting .277 (26 of 94) for the Roadrunners with six doubles, three homers and 17 RBI, and carries a .929 fielding percentage at second base to boot.
And although her Bakersfield squad missed the chance to play against BYU last weekend in Palo Alto, the two teams will be opposite each other on Friday in St. George, Utah for a pre-conference tournament.
“I think it’s pretty cool — all these people from a small town going on to play softball at the highest level,” said Clayton, who is in her freshman season at BYU and is currently batting .375 (30 of 80) for the Cougars — the second highest average on the team and seventh highest in the entire Mountain West Conference.
Clayton’s fast start at the plate even positions her with the best batting average among freshmen in the Mountain West, as five of the top six spots in hitting average belong to seniors.
“I heard she’s doing really well. I don’t think she needs any advice,” joked Archuleta. “I’m really happy for her.”
The CSUB second baseman said she hasn’t played against many former Lady Balers in college, with most of her previous teammates playing either out of state or farther north than her Central California location. However, Archuleta did compete against former teammate Megan Smith, a 2005 SBHS graduate who is currently enjoying her senior season at Santa Clara.
For the record, Santa Clara has won all three matchups against Bakersfield — including an 11-3 victory last Sunday in Palo Alto — with four meetings remaining within Pacific Coast Softball Conference play.
Smith’s Broncos were unable to upset Clayton’s Cougars last Saturday in Palo Alto, however, as BYU earned a 3-2 victory in eight innings.
Although Smith never played with Clayton at SBHS, she was certainly aware of the former Lady Baler.
“I heard about her from my dad, of course,” said Smith, whose father, Scott Smith, is the manager of the San Benito softball team.
“It’s cool that we got to play them,” added Smith, who is currently batting .233 (10 of 43) for the Broncos (8-14) with two homers, 10 RBI and a .941 fielding percentage at second base.
The three former SBHS standouts are only a small sampling of the local softball talent that is currently playing at the collegiate level, however. Marisa Ibarra is currently attending San Francisco State, Lizzy Gatto is playing at Canisius College in Buffalo, N.Y., and Elena Fata is playing at nearby UNLV.
With the fundamentals being taught at all levels, Smith said Hollister offers great support for softball.
“I think it tells a lot about the quality of girls (in Hollister),” Smith said.
