Junior Aria Pogni doesn’t just play softball, she lives it. She has been playing since she was seven. Though she initially played other sports, she eventually focused on softball. “I like playing sports, but softball was the one that really stuck with me. It was the one that I was best at, and it was really fun to play,” she said. “Hitting a ball hard is immediate success, it’s a big accomplishment.”

Pogni plays catcher for Tam’s varsity softball team and the Concord Sorcerers, based in Concord, CA. The Sorcerers are ranked third nationally and first in Northern California. The team travels across the nation to compete in tournaments. “[Traveling] is just constant softball. Over the summer I am around Mill Valley maybe three days a week and then I am always traveling,” she said.

With the Sorcerers, Pogni caught the attention of a coach from Loyola Marymount University (LMU) during her freshman year. “I had been having a really good year with my travel ball team. We were constantly playing in showcases and were down in Los Angeles, [where] a lot of coaches come to watch you play,” Pogni said. The coach from LMU contacted Pogni and her parents to discuss the possibility of playing for the school. She verbally committed and was promised a scholarship. “It’s a good feeling. I only have to worry about the SAT once; I don’t have to worry about any other schools,” she said.

Earlier this year, Pogni traveled to Cuba with the Tam baseball and softball teams. “It was the best trip I’ve ever been on,” she said. Tam’s team played a Cuban team three times. At the end of the last game, Pogni gave them her bat, batting gloves, and the cleats off of her feet. “They were so appreciative. It really stuck with me, the things we take for granted.”

Pogni’s softball plans extend further than college. After finishing at LMU, Pogni hopes to join either the American or the Italian National Softball Team, as she is of Italian descent. “That’s a big thing that softball can do: [take] you traveling around the world. I’m really excited about doing that,” Pogni said.