CHULA VISTA – The ground ball caromed off Mater Dei Catholic High School pitcher Arri Romero’s protective facemask, the facemask tumbling to the dirt.
Romero’s eyes searched for the ball, which bounced straight to the second baseman, who threw out the runner at first, sealing Mater Dei Catholic’s 6-1 San Diego Section Open Division softball championship game win over Bonita Vista on Saturday night.
Before retrieving her facemask, Romero, a sophomore, celebrated hard, slamming her glove into the dirt, then was swarmed and splashed with water by teammates.
“She is so into the game,” said Mater Dei Catholic co-head coach Liz Centrullo. “The emotion, the pride. You can’t teach that. She just has it. Her ion for the game is just incredible.”
Mater Dei Catholic (25-7) and Bonita Vista (25-7) will get together for the fourth time this season Thursday afternoon in the semifinals of the Southern California Regional playoffs.
Romero, no doubt, will be in the circle again for the Crusaders, trying to tack an exclamation point onto an incredible season.
Romero is 22-4 with a 1.43 ERA. In 152 innings, she has walked just 15 batters, striking out 130. She bats third for MDC and is hitting .436 with 31 RBIs, both best on the team.
Asked what makes Romero so special, the first thing her coaches talk about has nothing to do with her rise ball, drop, changeup or bat speed.
”It’s her will,” said Liz Centrullo. “She doesn’t want to lose. She just has this aura.”
Said co-head coach Mike Centrullo: “The physical skills are there. We have seen many pitchers with the physical skills, but if you don’t have that drive, the will, you won’t have the same results. She doesn’t want to lose. And if she does, she’ll figure out a way to come back and get you.”
Her full name is Arrianna Evangelia Romero. She was exposed to sports when she was a year old, maybe 2. Her parents were gonzo San Diego Chargers fans. Her father, Ricardo, re going to a fanfest at Qualcomm Stadium, meeting players and some of the Chargers holding Arri while mom and dad bagged autographs.
By age 6, Romero was playing rec softball. By 7 she was pitching.
”I wanted to be the one holding the ball all the time,” she said. “You can control the game.”
By 12, she was playing travel softball. Mom or dad would drive her to Temecula once a week for pitching lessons. And she plays for a travel team based in Corona.
Word about Romero’s pitching ability leaked to Mater Dei Catholic before her freshman season. Many pitchers focus so much on their craft that they’re not very good with a bat in their hand. Before practice started Romero’s freshman year, Mike Centrullo asked her, “Can you hit?”
In a matter of fact tone, with no trace of arrogance, Romero said, “Yeah, I hit.”
She batted .451 as a freshman, was 13-3 with a 1.24 ERA and was named first team All-CIF.
“I think she likes hitting more than pitching,” said Mike Centrullo. “She takes both so seriously. She takes pride in being a pitcher who can hit.”
Romero said she likes hitting, in part, because, “I don’t like just sitting in the dugout.”
Romero said she has been clocked pitching a softball at 63-65 mph. From softball’s 43-foot distance, that’s roughly equivalent to a baseball pitcher throwing 93 mph from 60 feet, 6 inches.
Mater Dei Catholic’s San Diego Section championship last week was the 10th in program history, dating to when the school was Marian Catholic.
The Crusaders have won nine of those titles from 2010 to this season. However, it had been three years since the last championship.
”They were adamant about winning this year,” said Mike Centrullo.
Away from softball, Romero said her favorite subject is English.
”I like writing about anything, expressing feelings, emotions,” she said. Powerfully built at 5-foot-7, she likes paddleboarding in Glorietta Bay.
Liz Centrullo said Romero is “the sweetest kid I know. She’s goofy, has a big heart, likes to include her teammates. She’s like a momma bear. She’s a natural born leader.”
Catcher Charlize Masingale said that when she’s struggling, Romero tells her, “Relax. Get out of your head. You’ve got this.”
“It really helps,” Massingale said
While Romero cannot be formally ed by colleges until her junior year in high school, she said that “via the grapevine” college powers Oklahoma, Arizona, UCLA and Oregon have expressed interest.
”She’s a big name in the softball world,” said Liz Centrullo. “She’s going to go to a Power 5 school, for sure.”
About the attention, Romero said, “It makes me happy knowing all my hard work has finally paid off.”
