RANKINGS
EVENTS
I COMMITTED
COLLEGE
ABOUT
Yesterday we previewed the 2023 U-15 Pan American Gamestaking place this week in Lima, Peru…. Click HERE to read the article. These games run until April 9 and feature the first-ever U-15 competition at the Pan Am games with a lot riding on it: the top four teams will earn a berth to the U-15 WBSC Softball World Cup this October in Japan.
There are teams from 10 countries competing:
- Group A features the USA squad along with Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala (Team WBSC) and Peru
- Group B includes Argentina, Ecuador, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and Mexico.
The Mexican squad has 16 players from the home country as well as some from the United States and one of those is Ava Tapia, a 14-year-old freshman who is playing varsity softball at Upland (Calif.) High.
Ava’s road to make it onto this team has been a years of softball in the making and took her over a year to get her dual citizenship in order to be eligible.
Since 10U, she has been recognized as one of the best players in the country in her age group and was a starter on her 10U Corona Angels – McCullough team that won the PGF National Championship in 2019.
And since then, Ava has been the starting catcher and offensive contributor on every nationally-ranked softball team she has been on and currently plays for one of the premier 14U teams in the country: Firecrackers Premier 2026 – TJ Houshmandzadeh.
According to the young athlete’s father, Eric Tapia, Ava has benefitted greatly under the tutelage of Coach Houshmandzadeh, who played 10 years in the NFL and was a Pro Bowl receiver.
“Coach TJ knows how to get the most out of his players,” Ava’s father begins. “He has a great relationship with Ava and continues to bring the best out of her as he knows how to get her in the best mental headspaces during games.”
The club coach reciprocates the praise towards his young backstop.
“As a person and young lady,” Coach TJ begins, “Ava has a very nice soul and is willing to do whatever is needed for anyone. On the field, she is a fierce competitor with a great arm and has hit many a home run when we needed a big hit which shows me pressure doesn’t bother her. Overall, Ava’s an excellent player, but an even better teammate and person.”
Last year, Ava was ranked in the Top 25 of the 2026 Extra Elite 100 and part of her bio writeup included: “With her framing skills that are polished beyond her years, Ava regularly steals strikes for her pitchers and at age 13, with one of the strongest arms in the country in 14U, her overhand throwing velocity is consistent at 64-to-65mph. Her in-game pop time has been clocked in the high 1.6 range with HitTrax pop times consistent in the 1.6 to mid 1.7 range.”
And that was a year ago… since then, the talented catcher/outfielder was featured in a one-on-one episode of FastPitchFilms called Follow Through. The spotlight helped Ava earn a following of more than 5,250 on her Instagram page and her dad adds: “People and players go to Ava’s Instagram to see her in workouts and game footage for motivation and to learn techniques.”
Last summer, the Southern California freshman was the youngest player chosen out of 600 girls trying to earn a spot and represent Team Mexico 16U in the TCS International Challenge in Colorado.
Ava was also chosen to play in the Colorado Sparkler 14U Future Stars game and, this Summer, will play up in the 18U TCS International Challenge for Team Mexico. Her Firecrackers team will also be competing in top national events including Zoom Into June, Colorado Sparkler Power Pool, Triple Crown Sports Nationals and PGF Nationals—the latter three events being at 14U.
Shortly before Ava jumped on her flight to Peru a few days ago, Extra Inning Softball caught up with her to get her thoughts on this amazing international experience… here’s what she had to say:
*****
Extra Inning Softball: How awesome and proud are you to be on Team Mexico?
Ava Tapia: Making Mexico’s Junior National Team has been one of my goals for a long time. I did an interview with Fastpitch Films last year and mentioned it was one of my biggest goals at the time, so to finally accomplish that goal feels amazing!
I’m so proud to be American but am also really excited to be able to represent my Mexican heritage through Team Mexico.
EIS: How did you find out you made this team?
AT: It all happened pretty quickly! I attended a tryout at Cal State – Fullerton at the end of January and was pulled aside after by Coach Jorge Araujo. He expressed wanting me for the team and introduced me to the President of the Mexico Softball Federation, Rolando Guerrero.
At that time my Mexican citizenship paperwork was still processing so it really came down to getting that approved for me to be able to play. I finally received my citizenship in February after a year-long process so from there I was officially offered a spot on the Junior National Team.
EIS: You’ll be gone for a week plus now in Peru… how does that work for school?
AT: I had to submit a letter from the Mexico Softball Federation excusing me from school during that time. My teachers have all been great about getting my class assignments and homework to me so I can keep up and have everything done so I’m still on track when I come back.
EIS: Talk about your Insta following… well over 5,000 followers! That has to make you feel good…
AT: I feel so fortunate that this many people are interested in what’s happening with me and I’ve met so many great people through my social media. I can’t even tell you how many messages I get from people supporting me from different countries and it’s kind of a “wow” moment of like, “Dang, I can’t believe something I did in my sport made such an impression on someone so far away!”
EIS: Tell us about your relationship with Coach TJ and what it’s like to play for him.
AT: Let me just say I love Coach TJ! He’s been one of my biggest supporters and I know he believes in me and, to an athlete, that’s everything. I always loved playing for him but I think the real turning point for me was last summer at the Colorado Sparkler. I was putting tons of pressure on myself that tournament and had a rough moment in one of the games.
Coach TJ pulled me to the side and had a long conversation with me which will probably stick with me forever. It really showed me that he understood me as an athlete and a person. It’s a blessing having a coach that has played at the highest level in his sport because he can relate to us and all the pressures that come with it all.
As for playing for Coach TJ, he definitely expects the best out of us and isn’t afraid to let us know if we are messing up, but he always picks us back up when we do something great. He pushes us to be our best but still makes it really fun.
EIS: Who else in the sport has helped you to get to where you are today?
AT: Coach Randy Yuge (Firecrackers – RTY) is another coach that I’m so grateful to have. Even though I don’t play directly for Coach Randy, I will sometimes pick up with his 16s or practice with them. He’s done a lot for me and my softball development and can’t thank him enough for the opportunities he brings me and for always supporting me!
EIS: What do you love the most about softball and playing it?
AT: Honestly, I love everything about my sport, but the competitiveness is everything to me. I’m competitive about pretty much everything in life so this sport just fills my competitive drive. It’s also a humbling sport that constantly makes you work to stay at the top of your game and I love that, because it never allows you to get too comfortable.
— Brentt Eads, Extra Inning Softball