An eight-year-old girl grapples with her mit, struggling to catch a ball and failing.
Her coach watches as she fumbles, reconsidering her choice to assign the fourth grader as catcher.
Little does she know, that’s exactly what this budding softball player had hoped for.
It’s hard to imagine that this young girl, pretending to be bad at softball to avoid certain positions, would grow into one of El Camino’s star softball players.
Raelani Camez, 19, psychology major, has been named by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association California as a 2017 Junior College All-American South Region player, for the second-straight year.
“I wasn’t expecting it. It was really surprising,” Camez said. “I don’t really like having the spotlight on me. My family is always like ‘That’s a big deal,’ and I’m all shy like, ‘Yeah, I know.’”
Camez ended the season batting .426, which ranked her fourth in the South Coast Conference-South. She led the Warriors with 58 runs scored, which ranks 11th in the CCCAA. Her 10 tripes lead the Warriors and are tied for the most in the CCCAA.
“She’s obviously been a great lead-off person,” Kattya Calderon said. “She’s definitely the fastest, if not one of the fastest girls on our team. She has power behind her. She can hit the ball for hours.”
Calderon is one of many players that will be transferring along with Camez to California State University San Marcos.
“(San Marcos has) had a rough year, but I’ve talked to the girls about it and we definitely plan on (not repeating the year it had),” Calderon said. “We feel like we’ll hopefully make an impact on the team. I know Raelani herself will be part of that.”
Sophomore first baseman Kamryn Fisher will also be joining Camez at CSUM.
“She brings speed to the field,” Fisher said. “She is a strong, positive presence in the outfield.”
As for her plans for her future college softball career, Camez hopes to beat her already notable record.
“I actually wanted to break my batting average, which didn’t happen from last year,” Camez said. “I want to hit .500, that’s my goal.”
Although she’s majoring in psychology, Camez hopes to return to school after she graduates to pursue her teaching credential.
“I either want to be a teacher or, during that, I actually want to coach,” Camez said. “I want to be an assistant coach and help the outfield.”
