The road to earning scholarships to play softball at the four-year level has been nothing short of adventurous for Amber Rodriguez, Dominique Monteon and Alyssa Ito. The San Benito High seniors took part in a ceremony—held at the Blackjacks’ facility—honoring their commitments on National Letter of Intent Signing Day Wednesday.
In front of family members, friends and teammates, the trio all shared something in common: How fragile their confidence was at one or more points in their journey. It’s part of the process for developing players, and all three persevered and worked hard to earn college scholarships. The grit and determination all three players show whenever they take the field has propelled them to play at the Division I level.
Monteon has signed with North Carolina, Rodriguez with Weber State and Ito with UC Davis. All three players talked about their journey, each carving their own unique path to become Division I players. While Monteon and Rodriguez made verbal commitments in their freshmen year, Ito committed to UC Davis in August. The San Benito High standouts mentioned the support system they had to help them along the way, from family members to hard-nosed coaches who got in their faces, reducing them to tears at times.
“When coaches yell at me, I know they’re doing it for a reason,” Rodriguez said. “They’re trying to get me to be a better player, and I had to be mentally strong and never give up.”
For Ito, the long wait was worth it. At 5-foot-2, Ito is usually the shortest player on the field. However, Ito plays much bigger than her size, a testament to her athleticism, demeanor and intelligence. Ito didn’t start playing softball until age 13 or 14 because of her love for baseball growing up. With two older brothers, Ito developed mental toughness and always played with competition that elevated her skills.
Ito credits former Balers standout and Hawaii-Manoa junior Callee Heen for “bringing me under her wing” on the Salinas Storm 18U team during her freshman year. Despite being the least experienced and youngest player on a star-studded club team, Ito became a product of her environment. In other words, Ito improved simply by being around talented players and demanding coaches.
“Curtis Heen and George Plascencia were great coaches on the Storm, and they worked with me all the time,” Ito said. “Playing that summer with the Storm made me determined to get to where I am today.”
Monteon credited Balers coach Andrew Barragan for not letting her quit the sport, something she was on the verge of doing in her second year of playing the game at 11 or 12. At the time, Monteon was struggling in nearly every facet of the game: hitting, fielding and game awareness.
“It was a big struggle and really degrading on my confidence,” Monteon said. “But coach Andrew never gave up on me, which really helped. I was really close to quitting and didn’t want to play anymore. But he talked me through it. Since I started playing at a pretty late age (compared to most players who end up with Division I scholarships), he told me not to worry about it and that things would get better.”
And they did. Slowly but surely, Monteon started to develop a skill set that attracted Division I programs. Her ability to drive the ball and her physicality are requisites for success at the Division I level. When Monteon wanted to quit, Barragan told her, “You’re a great player. I see something in you.” From that point on, Monteon dug deep and sacrificed time with friends, school dances and birthday parties to practice or travel to showcase softball tournaments, with the goal to realize her immense potential.
Rodriguez did likewise. She credited Monteon’s dad, Joe, whose family made Rodriguez’s transition to San Benito High smoother after the catcher transferred into the school for her sophomore year. Rodriguez has matured and grown, on and off the field. Playing softball has forced Rodriguez to get out of her comfort zone, the only period when real growth happens.
“When I was 7, I was always the shy girl in the corner,” she said. “Even now, I’m having a hard time because I don’t like public speaking. But I’ve pushed myself so much in softball, and I’ve become a stronger player and individual. I’ve pushed myself at times until I couldn’t push anymore, and everything has fallen into place because of that.”
Rodriguez credited her parents, Andres and Valerie, for pushing and supporting her throughout this journey. Rodriguez could strike out and know her dad would have something to say afterward. Rodriguez didn’t even have to look at her dad in the stands to know what he was thinking. For the most part, Rodriguez said it was a good thing.
“He kept pushing me knowing what my capabilities were in softball,” she said. “I kept on telling myself I needed to be a mentally strong player and that I would be fine in the end.”
Valerie provided the emotional comfort Rodriguez needed in those tough moments, an older best friend who was always there and reliable whenever Rodriguez needed a shoulder to cry on or someone to talk with. Ito had to be patient throughout the recruiting process. As her peers earned scholarships over the years, Ito was left wondering if she had what it took to play in college.
“It was rough not knowing why no one would pick me up,” she said. “I was wondering what I did wrong and what I needed to do to get here, so being recruited late was brutal on my mind because I thought I wasn’t good enough or would never be good enough.”
Even though there are similarities between baseball and softball, Ito said getting the intricacies of softball proved to be a tough process.
“The little things in softball are different than baseball, and it took me a while to pick up on,” she said.
In addition to Heen, Ito credited Monteon and former Balers and current Sacramento State standout Suzy Brookshire for believing in her abilities and always encouraging her to keep going. For all three players, earning a scholarship has been a dream come true. Monteon acknowledged she couldn’t have done it without the people surrounding her and the programs she’s played for.
“I’m very lucky to have the opportunities I’ve had playing for my club teams and at San Benito,” she said. “I’m going to a great school and a great program. It’s a great opportunity for me, and I can’t wait to get it started.”
