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Gabby Salcido
After helping the Superior softball team win a state title as a junior in 2015, now-graduated Gabby Salcido accepted a scholarship to play at Paradise Valley Community College during her senior season.
Salcido was one of the best players in the state as a junior and a senior, as evidenced by her career .539 batting average, 26 homeruns, 27 doubles, 98 RBI, and 124 hits in 69 high-school games.
The question was: How would those numbers and overall success translate at the next level?
After not cracking the starting lineup in the fall, Salcido went to work.
“I had to work hard for my position,” she said. “I didn’t have a starting spot for fall ball, but I worked really hard and now I’m starting at second (base).”
Salcido admitted there’s been an adjustment in moving to other side of second base from where she played in high school but she’s “getting the hang of it.”
On offense, so far this season, Salcido is hitting .263 with three doubles, a homerun and five RBI for the 10 – 10 Pumas.
The biggest adjustment from high school to college has been the level and intensity of competition in addition to balancing academics and athletics. A familiar face helped Salcido with the latter during her first semester at college.
“My whole day is about softball now,” she said. “My first semester I was everywhere; I couldn’t plan my day out and I was struggling. But my dad talked to me, told me I needed to get it together and he taught me how to plan my day. Now I’m doing well.”
As a collegiate student-athlete, Salcido says she doesn’t have much, if any, of a social life, but she acknowledged playing the sport she loves has made a positive impact in her life.
“I’ve made so many new friends,” she told the Superior Sun. “They’re going through the same thing as me, so we understand what each other is going through. When I do have some time, I’m usually at the field, hitting.”
Salcido’s parents, Dora and Joseph, are her biggest fans. They attend just about all of Gabby’s games and she finds comfort in looking in the stands and “knowing exactly where they are.”
Dora, who served as an assistant coach on the Lady Panthers’ staff during Gabby’s career, is watching her daughter with a different eye these days.
“When we go to the games, we’re excited for her and her teammates,” Dora said. “Before it was us getting everything ready for her, but now it’s her responsibility. She’s growing up and it’s amazing to see her playing at the next level.”
Indeed, it is. And with great success too.
Andrew Luberda began writing for Copper Area News Publishers (CANP) in February 2013 after working 15 years in Healthcare Financial Management. Andy covers sports for 11 high schools. His stories are published in Copper Basin News, San Manuel Miner and Superior Sun, in addition to the San Tan Valley Daily PRSS and CopperArea websites. Additionally, he has written human interest stories and business profiles. In May 2012, he earned an AAS in Sports Management at Central Arizona College before graduating with a BS in Communication from Arizona State University in 2014. He and his wife, Kelli, have three sons – AJ, Kyle, and Kade.
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