Meet The Bee’s All-Metro softball team: Freshman wins Player of the Year for first time

The first time Ayla Tuua slammed a home run over a fence, she wasn’t quite sure what to do. She was 9 years old, and she took off in a full-on sprint around the bases.

Tuua’s parents later told their giddy girl that enthusiasm is a good thing, but she didn’t have to race the bases on a shot that landed over the fence. The kid listened, learned, settled in, and in delivering a season to remember at Capital Christian High School, Tuua seemed to do everything right.

With this bonus: Tuua is the first freshman to earn Sacramento Bee All-Metro Softball Player of the Year honors in performing well beyond her years in terms of power, poise and production. She also exemplifies the true meaning of student-athlete: a superb student who embraces sportsmanship.

After striking out 18 in a CIF Sac-Joaquin Section playoff game, Tuua put out social media posts praising her teammates and the opponent. Her theme was that it wasn’t her that won the game. It was everyone in Cougars colors.

“I learned a lot about humility and how to handle myself from my parents,” Tuua said. “You really don’t win or lose games. You win or you learn. Losing is part of the game. How you handle that is important. My family has raised me to give back to people, to be humble, to thank coaches and teammates and family for supporting you.”

At 5-foot-11, Tuua casts an imposing figure at the plate and in the pitching circle, and she was the focal point of a resurgent Capital Christian program. The Cougars claimed their first league and section championship and then became the only area girls program to win a CIF Northern California regional championship.

A national recruit with interest from powerhouse programs such as Oklahoma, Tuua this season batted .545, drove in 50 runs and bashed 12 home runs. As the ace, she went 13-0 with 172 strikeouts in 93.2 innings. In the playoffs, she had strikeout totals of 18, 13, 16 and 12.

“I definitely enjoyed my first year of high school softball,” Tuua said.

What added to the joy was the chance to play with sister Alannah Tuua, a junior headed to Cal Poly on scholarship.

Cal Poly is where their mother, Shannon (Brooks) Tuua played after earning Bee Player of the Year honors at Sheldon High in 2002 as a feared power hitter who kept on slugging away at Cal Poly, where she met the man who would become her husband in Cal Poly lineman Julai Tuua.

Proud mom said of daughter: “There are times Ayla does things, especially at this age, that make me go, ‘Where did that come from?’ She’s just a kid, but she’s so good, and she’s so driven. She’s not afraid of the grind. Behind her physical gifts are hours and hours of hard work. I see a lot of joy in her, pure joy in her face, and that’s what we want.”

Tuua has even impressed the principal of her school.

“Oh, my goodness, the things she can do,” Chris Orr said. “She’s as humble and sweet as she appears, and then she competes with a humble confidence. We’re a small school with a big-school spirit and environment. Ayla and her sister fit right in. And what an athlete Ayla is. Our catcher had to get used to catching Tuua because she threw the ball so hard, and the catcher’s hands were purple. Ice up and go”

THE BEE’s 2023 ALL-METRO TEAMS

Large School Player of the Year: Avery Seva, P, Granite Bay, Sr.: The Santa Clara-bound ace helped power the Grizzlies to the championship of the best league in the Sac-Joaquin Section, the Sierra Foothill League. She went 11-2 with a 1.11 ERA, striking out 175 in 120.1 innings for a team that went 20-7.

Medium School Player of the Year: Ana Niles, P, Ponderosa, Sr.: The Western Michigan-bound star was paramount in helping lead the Bruins to their first section championship in 41 seasons and into a CIF NorCal final. She batted .426 and led the Bruins with 10 home runs, and she inspired in the circle with a 1.29 ERA, a 16-3 record and striking out 118 in 124.1 innings for a team that went 25-5-1.

Small School Player of the Year: Olivia Bauer, P/IF, Sutter, Sr.: The Boise State-bound star led Sutter with a .527 batting average, 59 hits, 15 doubles and six triples, and was 23-2 as the ace with a 1.04 ERA. She struck out 185 in 141 innings as the Huskies went 26-2.

Smaller School Player of the Year: Meika Lauppe, P, East Nicolaus, Sr.: Headed to Arizona State, Lauppe finished her amazing prep career in style, going 22-2 in the circle with an 0.30 ERA while striking out 179 in 117.2 innings. The Spartans won another Northern Section championship and finished 29-2-1.

Coach of the Year: Mike Mello, Whitney: In his final act as head coach of the Wildcats, Mello pressed all the right buttons in leading the team to another CIF D-I section championship and into the NorCal D-I playoffs, where they lost to state-ranked No. 1 Hollister, 3-2. Why stop now? It’s grandfather time.

“I’ve missed a lot of their growing up and I don’t want to miss anymore,” Mello said.

FIRST TEAM

Syd Barker, SS, Rocklin, Jr.

Madison Carda, P, Elk Grove, Jr.

Grace Carpenter, CF, Folsom, Sr.

Jenissa Conway, CF, Marysville, Sr.

Hannah Duncan, P, Whitney, Jr.

Danny Farris, Utility, East Nicolaus, Sr.

Alyssa Flindt, SS, Whitney, So.

Mya Flindt, C, Whitney, Jr.

Sakora Harvell, SS, Sheldon, Sr.

Maddie Lawson, P, Pleasant Grove, So.

Maliyah Lawson, CF, Woodcreek, Sr.

Olivia Manchester, P, Vista del Lago, Sr.

Nailyn Marshall, SS, Franklin, Sr.

Chase Mueller, P/1B, Ponderosa, Sr.

Kealani Nitta, CF, Franklin, Sr.

Samantha Stoll, Utility, Inderkum, Sr.

Rylei Trujillo, Utility,, Inderkum, Sr.

Savanah Warman, 2B, Union Mine, Jr.

Second Team

Micayla Arlotto, 2B, Franklin, So.

Karissa Avila, SS, Roseville, Jr.

Briseis Botonis, IF, Wheatland, Jr.

Jersey Brown, 2B, East Nicolaus, Sr.

Marisa Bryson, IF, Pioneer, Fr.

Charlize Cai, P/SS, Vista del Lago, Jr.

Taylor Fitzgerald, CF, Elk Grove, Jr.

Mariah Hopkins, SS, Cordova, Sr.

Tylie Kitchen, 3B, Whitney, So.

Felesha LePenske, P, Dixon, Sr.

Jaylee Marshall, C, Sheldon, Sr.

Drew McKown, SS, Granite Bay, Sr.

Savanna Newman, Utility, Capital Christian, So.

Tatum Silva, CF, Ponderosa, Jr.

Zoe Iverson, C, Pleasant Grove, Sr.

Jaylee Ojo, P/1B, Sheldon, Sr.

Brooklyn Paratore, C, Oak Ridge, Fr.

Zerenity Souza, C, Wheatland, Sr.

Alannah Tuua, INF, Capital Christian, Jr.

Maddie Ullensvang, SS, Rio Americano, Sr.

Savannah Lorenzini, 3B, Rocklin, Fr.

Honorable Mention

Xochitl Atayde, P, Vacaville, Jr.; Haylie Alkire, 1B, Capital Christian, Jr.; Alexa Carino, Utility, Sutter, Jr.; Brynn Escobar, SS, Ponderosa, So.; Marly Escobar, SS, Inderkum, Jr.; Maya Filger, Utility, Christian Brothers, Jr.; Makayla Freshour, Utility, Vacaville, Sr.; Alexandra Garcia, Utility, St. Francis, Jr.; Naomi Garcia, 2B, Christian Brothers, Jr.; Audrey Graham, SS, Dixon, Jr.; Sarah Hanf, P, Laguna Creek, Sr.; Brooke Hanson, SS, Elk Grove, Sr.; Eden Hobart, Utility, Cordova, Sr.; Keara Hendrickson, C, Rosemont, Jr.; Lauren Holcomb, C, Folsom, Sr.; Alyssa Jeffery, DH, Whitey, Sr.; Tiana Johnson, 3B, Christian Brothers, Sr.; Mia Kinsey, C, West Park, Sr.; Kaylee Kolhoff, Utility, Woodcreek, Jr.; Katelyn Maciel, C, Elk Grove, Jr.; Maryn Macneil, Utility, Woodcreek, So.; Nan Lose-Mahina, C, Capital Christian, Sr.; Whitney Montoya, OF, Ponderosa, Sr.; Daniella Morillas, P, Del Oro, So; Adriana Nebuloni, SS, East Nicolaus, Jr.; Sarah O’Dea, CF, Whitney, Sr.; Lindsay Paredes, IF, Pleasant Grove, Jr.; Isabella Pina, Utility, River City, Sr.; Sami Pinkham, Utility, Del Oro, Jr.; Makenzie Salazar, P/SS, Rosemont, Jr.; Ellison Schroeder, P, Oak Ridge, So.; Cassaundra Seifert, P/1B, Cordova, Sr.; Carly Short, SS, Oak Ridge, So.; Jessica Szelenyi, 2B, Oak Ridge, Jr.; Leilani Terrazas, 3B, Granite Bay, Fr.; Bella Tonso, Utility, Roseville, Jr.; Marica Watson, 2B, Oakmont, Sr.

▪ How the teams were selected: The Bee’s All-Metro teams were picked through Bee observations and through coaching nominations with extra emphasis on team playoff success.