She may not appear all that menacing, but Jessica Maio is an all-around monster for the Diamondbacks of the Orcutt Youth Softball League.
During a recent midseason Division-I League tournament, the 11-year-old hit five homeruns in four games. The fifth-grader also pitched all four games of the single-elimination series on March 28 against teams from Orcutt, Santa Maria, Lompoc, and Nipomo, leading her club to the championship game.
When she wasn’t racking up the strikeouts with her arm, Maio was fearsome at the plate, carrying the D-Backs with her penchant for round-trippers.
“I just tell myself it’s not about winning, it’s about having fun,” she said. “I take a little bit of hitting practice with my grandpa once or twice a month. I just got the confidence in myself, and I hit homeruns.”
Now in her fourth year in the Orcutt Youth Softball League, Maio’s always felt right at home on the mound.
“This year, she’s really kind of bloomed into that position,” said her mother and assistant coach Shelly Maio. “I didn’t want her to pitch, but she wants to be a pitcher, so that’s where she’s going with that.”
Maio wants to try out for the Orcutt All-Stars in May, and—watch out, future prep athletes—she plans to play softball for Righetti High School when she’s a little older. For the moment, however, it’s all about letting the good times roll.
“I have lots of good friends over there,” she said. “They make me laugh, and I really like my team this year.”
This article appears in Apr 8-15, 2010.