Last week, the NCAA announced changes to recruiting that will affect softball for years to come. No college team will be able to contact an athlete prior to their junior year in high school.
Many college softball programs have been recruiting players as young as middle school. Arizona coach Mike Candrea did just that with Ironwood Ridgeโs Isabel Pacho. Pacho was in eighth grade when colleges began recruiting her. She verbally committed to Arizona the summer after her freshman year.
Three years later, Pacho has lived up to the promise she showed as a freshman. The shortstop is hitting .652 as a senior with nine home runs and 34 RBIs. She carries a career .549 batting average, and has nearly as many career RBIs (145) as hits (167).
Pacho said she supports the NCAAโs recruiting changes. So does Candrea.
โI wouldnโt change my decision now, and I would never change it,โ Pacho said. โArizona is my top school, but it would have been nice to be a little bit older.โ
Pacho, who started playing at 4 years old, said she felt pressure from her teammates, parents and coaches to sign early. Even after verbally committing, Pacho felt like she had to play well enough to justify Arizonaโs scholarship. She has since learned to shake off that pressure.
โNow, I just play the game,โ Pacho said. โI know Iโm not perfect.โ
Before she enrolls at Arizona, Pacho will try to lead the Nighthawks to a deep run into the state playoffs. Ironwood Ridge has reached the championship game five times since 2008. It last won a state title in 2016.
โFor us, itโs expected,โ Nighthawks coach Dave Martinez said. โWe do expect to have a good regular season. We expect to qualify for state playoffs and we expect to do well in the state playoffs. Weโve got five banners out that say weโre good to make it to the championship game.โ
During Senior Night, Martinez presented his five seniors with a hand-written card. Martinez praised Pacho for leading the team to a state championship two years ago and now, as a senior, mentoring the team into another playoff run.
โSheโs just been a complete captain in the best sense of the word: Verbal, by action, just getting it done in games,โ Martinez said.
Midway through the season, Martinez brought up freshman Desirae Salese so she could learn from Pacho. He wanted to make sure she saw the way she prepares, practices and plays.
โI said this to her before and I say this to the kids, โShe makes spectacular plays look routine,โ Martinez said. โSo, we have to make sure that we appreciate what weโre watching and appreciate what weโre seeing when sheโs out here.โ
Regardless of Pachoโs upcoming future with Arizona softball, the Ironwood Ridge senior said sheโs going to stay focused on helping her team win and advance through the state tournament.
โSo sometimes I donโt really focus on exactly how Iโm doing it,โ Pacho said. โI want to do well, but if Iโm helping the team, then nothing else really matters.โ
