Get on board with Extra Inning Softball’s regular feature, The Last Inning!
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Here’s our TLI for Friday, May 13, 2022:
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EXTRA SPOTLIGHT: KAILANI TATRO
Extra Inning Softball caught up with California junior Kailani Tatro to talk how she’s doing now, what was her greatest softball experience, how recruiting is going for the 2023 Extra Elite 100 talent and what pitching great is her sports hero…
EXTRA SPOTLIGHT Q&A
Name: Kailani Tatro
Hometown: Pinole, CA
High School: Pinole Valley High
Club Team: Universal Fastpitch 18U Gold-Quiles
Graduation Year: 2023
Height: 5-foot-4
Position: P/DH/1B
Nickname: Kai
Twitter: @kailanitatro
Honors: #55 in the 2023 Extra Elite 100; 2nd Team All-State (2021); East Bay Player of the Year by the San Francisco Chronicle (2021); All-Metro Bay Area 1st Team by San Francisco Chronicle (2021); and Honorable Mention National Player of the Week by Extra Inning Softball (twice).
Travel Ball Fall Highlights: Finished in the top 8 at the PGF shootout and played a lot of great showcase-style events.
High School Highlights: Pinole Valley is 22-2-1 so far and looking for the #1 seed in the CIF-North Coast Section playoffs for Division 3. The Spartans went 10-0 in the Tri-County-Rock League. Hitting — .533 AVG, 11 doubles, 5 HRs, 18 runs and 47 RBIs; Pitching — 21-2, 1.56 ERA, two no-hitters, one perfect game, and 216 Ks in 144 IP.
Talk about Universal Fastpitch and how you became involved with them…
Universal Fastpitch is based in Martinez, Calif., about 15 minutes from my house. I played for them in the fall of my second year of 10U and then moved on until last year when I came back to play 18U with Coach P (Martin Garcia). Coach P retired after the summer of 2021 and Coach Rick Quiles came from another organization and took over. I have known Coach Rick since I was 6 years old. He let me come out to my first travel practice with his Benicia Fired Up team just to get an idea of where my skills needed to get to so that I would be ready to play at that level.
What can you tell us about your junior season at Pinole Valley High and how you have done there so far?
This season at Pinole has been so much fun. The team is 22-2-1 so far with our league championship game still to come this week before we start NCS next week. We have a really good team with some really good players. Melina Mendoza (Batbusters-Ching), Aneesa Brewer (Ohana Tigers-Atkinson/Tobola) and Vanessa Castaneda (NorCal Choppers-Castaneda). And my battery mate and travel teammate Brianna Swihart (Universal Fastpitch 18U-Gold) all have been huge to the success of this team. I have pitched every inning of the 24 games but one. This team plans on making a deep run in the NCS Division 3 playoffs.
You have been known as a big power hitter, but you have become Pinole Valley’s pitching ace. Tell us about your role on the team this year…
I started to find my power about three years ago. I always a was good hitter that would hit in the middle of my Batbusters-Brooks team’s lineup, but the power took a while to start coming. I have been the ace of Pinole since I stepped on campus as freshman. I was the only pitcher on the team for the most part, so I have pitched every game but one since my freshman year. Pitching is my first love, but I do love to hit and work very hard at both parts of my game and I plan on doing both in college. I started coming around the girls and the program in the 7th grade because my dad and his best friend, Coach Victor Sample, were the coaches. My role on this team is to be a leader, a great teammate and competitor. I was a team captain since my freshman year and I take great pride in that and try and lead by example. This team is full of great team players, so it makes it a lot fun and hopefully we can go all the way this year.
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