If you see David Rey walking around the Southern California softball fields these days with a smile, it’s probably because of the fact that he’s the proud parent of two high school softball daughters who were selected 1st Team All-State this year.
And the fact that the oldest, Victoria, a 2022 grad recently found her future college home as she is now committed to Weber State in Ogden, Utah.
Both Victoria, who goes by “Tori,” and Sam, a 2023 infielder, were honored by CalHi-Sports.com as 1st Team California All-Staters this year as the siblings helped their Notre Dame High team out of Salinas, California finish ranked as the #1 Medium Sized School in the state.
While Sam led the PCAL-Gabilan League in most offensive categories, Tori was up there too and lead the talent-rich league in RBIs with 27 batting in the 2-spot and finished in the Top 3 in batting average (.574), on-base percentage (.617) and slugging percentage of .907.
Both talented sisters also play for the prestigious OC Batbusters program with Sam competing for Mike Stith’s 18U team and Tori battling for Tony Bracamonte’s 18U squad.
Tori, in fact, helped led the Bracamonte team win the Tier 2 title in the Tier 2 inaugural Alliance National Champions as she hit over .300 and led the title-winning team in steals.
We caught up with the skilled elder sister to get more info on her commit to the Wildcats out of the Big Sky Conference….
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Extra Inning Softball: How did you get on Weber State’s radar to be recruited?
Victoria Rey: I was emailing Weber State for many months and then, when I was staying with one of my teammates who lives in Utah, I was at a hitting lesson there and was introduced to Head Coach Mary Kay Amicone. This is what I look back on as the start of the journey I would go on.
EIS: How did it develop after that initial meeting?
VR: I went to two of the Weber State camps and during the second one I was able to get a tour of the school. Walking around the campus and seeing all of the wonderful things about the school made me realize that this would be my future home. It’s like when you pick a wedding dress, you just know when it is the right one for you! That’s exactly how I felt about Weber State, I just knew this would be the school for me.
EIS: It sounds like you had no hesitation in leaving So Cal to go to school?
VR: The state of Utah was where I wanted to attend college—the mountains, landscapes, and scenery is extremely beautiful and very different from what I see in California. Also, I love the coaching staff and how any questions I asked they would do as much research as possible to give me the best answer they could. Talking to them, they believe in me and even, out on the field, they would always give great insight. They strive to teach their girls a championship mindset and not only do they prepare the girls for softball, but they prepare them for their futures.
I also love the environment—I went to a football game after one of my camps and noticed how tight-knit the team is with each other, it is similar to a family—one unit—as they go on retreats, go to football games together, and spend so much time with one another.
How did you commit to be a Wildcat?
It was in person, they offered me after one of the camps. I accepted the day after, so it was on campus.
