Perseverance pays off for Highland's Castro with spot on Long Island
Jul. 12—Alexia Castro's visit to Azusa Pacific on March 29 seemed like the culmination of her high school softball journey. After a recruiting process derailed by the pandemic, and some moments of significant demoralization and self-doubt, the Highland senior was ready to commit to play for the Cougars that day.
But there was still one loose end to tie up.
"My dad just told me that day, 'Just call Long Island,'" Castro said. "'See if they have changed their mind about anything.'"
Castro had been introduced to the Long Island coaches earlier in high school by the club softball coach George Colón, who had worked with her younger sister. Colón's daughter Ashley had played for them at LIU Brooklyn, before the school unified its two campuses, and he was impressed: "These coaches are really about the life lessons, and my daughter couldn't have played for better people."
Castro had consistently stayed in contact with the staff, without a scholarship offer in hand. Now, presented with the chance to go to Azusa Pacific, Castro made one last call to the school "on the other side of the world," as she put it.
Sure enough, the Long Island staff told her they were just days from offering her. By April 12, she was committed to play Division I softball in New York.
"She's obviously got the skill set, she's got the talent, she understands commitment, work ethic," Colón said. "I think Alexia's going to do great things there."
Few Division I softball players come out of Bakersfield each year and even fewer go as far from home as Castro. But the middle infielder proved herself uniquely qualified during a stop-and-start career with the Scots.
As a junior in 2021, Castro teamed with senior Marissa Campos to fuel a high-powered Highland offense that won a D-IV SoCal Regional title. She kept up the production in 2022, hitting .506 with a team-leading seven home runs and 31 RBIs en route to Southeast Yosemite League Player of the Year and BVarsity All-Area first-team honors.
She also shone in the field: "I'm not sure there's a better glove in town," Highland coach Jorge Moreno said.
All the while, she took on a more prominent role in the clubhouse, helping unite players from a variety of club teams, Moreno added.
"When you get together in a high school team," he said, "you're kind of blending a lot of these stars together, but I think she realized what was missing was leadership and that vocal leadership."
Between the leadership of Castro, emergence of Chloe Garcia and Natalie Macias, and two-way production of pitcher Briana Solis, the Scots ran roughshod through the SEYL before falling to Garces in the D-III playoffs to conclude the 2022 season.
"Overall, I feel like it went by super fast," Castro said.
Castro played 56 games for Highland, but she crammed those into just over two years. She transferred from Foothill after her freshman year, then had her first season at Highland cut short after less than a month due to the pandemic.
That was when her recruiting process — which had initially been buoyed by her performance in club sports — ground to a halt. She and her Highland teammates kept practicing however they could during the hiatus, but colleges lost interest when they couldn't see her play in person.
"I was still in contact with these coaches, it just wasn't anything big," Castro said, "because I couldn't really show them anything until around my junior year."
And even when she had film to show — of a championship season, no less — she wasn't drawing the interest she had hoped. She figured she would really kick things into gear over the summer of 2021, but by then, she felt, schools had already moved on to younger athletes.
"It's tough to be a 17-year-old kid and have that kind of pressure on you," Colón said. "Your teammates, the people around you are getting recruited."
The build-up was what made her Hail Mary call to Long Island, and the ensuing offer eight games from the end of her high school career — her second in a row after years of silence — all the more gratifying.
"It's a beautiful campus, and really competitive softball," she said. "I love the coaches. I've been in contact with them for a really long time."
Colón said that Castro's parents had done an excellent job instilling in her the work ethic that allowed her to persevere. Moreno agreed, noting that Castro doesn't need to have prototypical size — she's listed at 5-foot-5 — to excel, and still plays "as big as any of them."
"Her family is very strong-minded," Colón said. "They'll do whatever they have to do to give their kids that platform to succeed.
"Alexia's really grown into that mindset."
Reporter Henry Greenstein can be reached at 661-395-7374. Follow him on Twitter: @HenryGreenstein.
