Uncommitted 2028 C Eliana Corona, today's standout spotlight athlete from So Cal. Photo courtesy of Eliana Corona.

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Here’s our TFP for Monday, Sept. 4, 2023:

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THE FINAL PITCH: ELIANA CORONA

Uncommitted 2028 C Eliana Corona recently talked to Dugout Chatter about BSC Bengals, Saint Bruno Catholic School, winning a PGF 12U Premier national championship, Wildcats-Holcomb/Knight, Faith, future college, engineering, math, Robert Morales, “The Wizard Series,” Drake, “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Croods” and Spanish singing.

THE FINAL PITCH Q&A

Eliana Corona of BSC Bengals. Photo courtesy of BSC Bengals.

Name: Eliana Corona

Hometown: Whittier, CA

Middle School: Saint Bruno Catholic School

Future High School: Unknown

Club Team: BSC Bengals-Briggs 12U

Grad Year: 2028

Height: 5-foot-5

Position: C

Nickname: Eli. My parents gave me this nickname, but mainly my mom started calling me this when I was a baby.

Instagram: @eliana_corona2

Honors: Gold Honor Roll with a 4.0 GPA

Travel Ball Fall Stats: .480 AVG, .555 OBP, 1.344 OPS and .789 SLG.

Travel Ball Summer Stats: .443 AVG, .527 OBP, 1.281 OPS, .754 SLG, 115 hits, 19 doubles, 15 triples, 9 HRs, 89 RBIs, 59 runs, 44 walks and 20 strikeouts.

Tell us about your travel team/organization and how you became involved with them? My travel ball team feels like home to me. I feel welcomed with my teammates around me, making me better and encouraging me to be the best I can be. Also, I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the help of my coaches. They taught me how to be humble for the game, how to be grateful for what I do and how to love the game with all my heart. As a team, we are very competitive so that helps us push one another to be the best and learn from each other. Since I don’t have siblings, these girls will always be my softball sisters for life.

BSC Bengals-CKM won the PGF 12U Premier national championship at the 2023 PGF Nationals. Photo by PGF.

For the Briggs organization, we have many wonderful things about the Bengals family. We know they focused a lot on their student-athletes and also went deeper into getting to know them as a person. It’s not just an organization, but more of a family atmosphere. One thing I love about this organization is that they are strong in their faith. Every game we make sure to pray so God can watch over us that game and start the day right. I started getting involved with the Bengals by going to organizational practices where I would see every Bengals girl there. I would also do catching lessons with Ken Briggs and would get to practice with older girls.

Tell us about your current middle school team and future high school? My middle school team has made it to the Cyo championship twice in two years, but sadly has fallen short and got second place both times. My team is a mixture of people who know how to play and people who are barely learning how to play the game. I would help all the new people who would not know how to play and would teach them how to field a ground ball, throw the ball and hit the ball. It took a few practices for them to get the hang of it, but they figured it out sooner or later.

Eliana Corona of BSC Bengals. Photo courtesy of Eliana Corona.

Can you talk about the BSC Bengals-CKM’s run to the PGF 12U Premier national championship? From the first two days of pool play, we won all our games. Since we got a bye in the first bracket play game, we played that Wednesday at 2:45 p.m. against Georgia Impact. It was a close game that day, but we took the win, 1-0. That game we gave it all we got to win that game, but I knew we weren’t done yet. The next day we played another game against Hustle National-Ramon. We knew from the first bracket play that there weren’t going to be any easy games. Again we won that game, 1-0, fighting hard the whole way through. On Friday, we played two games. The first game we played against the Birmingham Thunderbolts and took that game, 7-0. After that game, we were pumped. We knew only a couple more games until the championship so we kept on pushing. We had one more game that day against the Arizona Storm not knowing we would face them once again in the championship. We finished that day with a win, 3-0, to put us in the semifinals of the PGF Premier (12U) Tournament. That Saturday we played Athletics Marcado-Walker. We came into that game ready. We started strong with a 3-0 lead, but somewhere in that game they tied it back up to 3-3. Not going to lie, it was nerve-racking but I believed. I knew we would step up and fight back. We reminded ourselves to keep fighting that the game wasn’t over yet and we had to finish strong. So we kept going, keeping the score at 3-3 until it was our time to hit. It was our time to shine out there and bam! The bats just lit up. It was hit after hit, run after run and we fought. We fought to the end where we ended, 9-3. I couldn’t be more proud of my teammates, but we couldn’t stop there. One more game. One last game. That championship game was the best. The parents were hyped, the players were hyped and no matter what happened in that game I would be happy no matter what. I was so proud of my teammates that we made it this far. Again we started to get hit after hit, getting run after run and being able to hold them at 0 the whole game. That game felt like any other game. I didn’t feel nervous at all and since we were on TV I even forgot mid-game that we were even on TV. I remember being in the dugout and someone in there told us the runner on second was the winning run. We all got up and once that run came in we went running. That will always be my favorite memory. We ended that game with an 8-0 win and only allowed three runs the whole tournament.

Eliana Corona of BSC Bengals. Photo courtesy of Eliana Corona.

Which player/team has been your toughest opponent and why? A team that has been my toughest opponent all year would Wildcats-Holcomb/Knight. They would have to be my toughest opponent because they have great pitching and a solid defense. That team is also well-coached. Every game I played against them was always a close game in tournaments and even in championship games.

What have you faced/overcome in life that has made you the person you are today? One thing that has made me the person I am today is my faith in God. With Him everything is possible. He has placed very special people in my life that have mentored me from my parents and family to my coaches and teammates. I feel that I continue to be blessed with the love and support from them, as I continue to do what I love.

What are you looking for in a future college? I am looking for a place where I can grow and develop not only academically, but in all aspects of life — a place where I can also feel at home.

Eliana Corona of BSC Bengals. Photo courtesy of Eliana Corona.

What areas are you interested in future occupations and why? I’m interested in majoring in engineering one day. I would like to do this because I would get to be creative in what I do and also gives me opportunities to solve many problems. I can change the world in ways that only people can imagine.

What’s your favorite subject in school and why? My favorite subject in school would have to be math because it also allows me to solve many problems and keep my mind thinking about the next problem.

Who is your sports hero and why? Even though there are many sports players out there who are wonderful at what they do, the first one that comes to mind is my coach Robert Morales. I have known him since my La Habra All-Star team in 6U. He has stood by my side since Day 1, making me a better player and person. Even though he taught me how to love the game, he also taught me how to be a leader. He pushes me to my best, from my hitting to my catching. He controls the game from the pitch calls as I control the game from behind the plate. I will always be grateful for what he has done for me. I have learned from him that, ‘If you love the game, the game will love you back.’ I will forever stick to that.

What’s your favorite book to read and why? My favorite book that I have read would have to be “The Wizard Series: Training Camp by Kobe Bryant.” This would be one of my favorites because it teaches how to confront your inner fears and how to trust your teammates.

What’s the best hype song and why? The best hype song in my opinion would have to be “Started From the Bottom” by Drake. I picked this song because I feel the lyrics tell the truth about me and my team. We all had to start somewhere in this softball life. From me to my team, we did start from the bottom and worked our way to being the number 1 team in the country.

What’s your favorite TV show to binge and why? My favorite TV show to binge-watch would have to be “Grey’s Anatomy” because I love the drama that happens in there and it’s interesting to keep up with it.

What’s your favorite movie and why? My favorite movie to watch would be “Croods.” I have liked this movie ever since I was little because it was about family and sticking together.

Do you have a secret talent/skill? One talent I have is that I can sing in Spanish, pronouncing every word the right way even though I don’t know what they are saying or what I’m talking about.

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NEWS & NOTES

***Texas Sudden Impact 16U-Oglesby released its fall roster. …

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SIGNING/COMMITMENT ALERTS

Hayden Kyne, 2025, C/3B, Lady Magic-Walling/Vacaville High, CA, Notre Dame

Mika Anthony-Connor, 2024, 3B/SS, Texas Bombers Gold-Mooneyham/Dayton High, TX, McNeese State

Addyson Borg, 2024, IF, Arizona Storm-Westover/Basha High, AZ, Loyola

Kadence Armstrong, 2024, RHP/C/UT, Arkansas Prime/Bryant High, AR, ASU Newport

Sammie Borrayo, 2024, RHP/2B/OF, EC Bullets-Cornett.Osbourn Park High, MA, Robert Morris

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HSOTD

Today’s Hype Song of the Day is …

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BTITW

Today’s Best Thing In The World is …

— Carlos Arias, Dugout Chatter (Follow Carlos on Twitter @Los_Stuff and Threads @los_stuff)

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Carlos Arias
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