Rankings Spotlight: Meet Arrianna Romero, the #1 Player in the 2027 Extra Elite 100… & Why She Could Be the Next Rachel Garcia!
By
@BruntjensElla
February 7, 2022
Not a fun thing to look at… Arrianna Romero coming right at you with her mid-60’s speed and six pitches she can throw for strikes for her Athletics- Mercado/Bustante 12U team.
Last Friday, Arrianna Romero, the standout pitcher and hitter for Daniel Bustamante’s Athletics – Mercado/Bustamante 12U 2027 team, was named the No. 1 player in the 2027 Extra Elite 100.
Arrianna Romero has had a lot to smile about over the last year and is pictured here last October with the As – Mercado Bustamante team.
How did she find out she was tabbed as the top-ranked prospect in the initial rankings for her class?
“Me, my Dad and my Mom were scrolling through the Extra Inning Softball home page waiting for the Top 10 to be released and I was very nervous,” she admitted about the last day’s release.
Was it tough, she was asked, to have to wait until the final 10 were revealed and then keep scrolling down the page before she found her name?
“My stomach dropped to my feet when I saw the article and then that I was No. 1,” she explains. “It was relieving but nerve-wracking at the same time—I didn’t think I’d make it because there are so many great and talented young ladies across the country.”
If you’ve followed the 12U age group for the last year closely, you’d know that Arrianna—who also goes by the shortened nickname of “Arri—has launched herself to where she’s already being mentioned in the same sentences of other Southern California standouts who could pitch and hit at an elite level… two-way players like Rachel Garcia and Megan Faraimo.
Last Summer, the Chula Vista, California, native helped lead her strong A’s first-year 12U team to the Alliance National Championships (Tier 1) level after winning Regionals and Super Regionals.
Facing elite second-year 08 teams, the Athletics finished 5th in the tournament, but did have the honor of being the only ’09 team to make it that far.
“We even got the nickname ‘The 08 Killers,’” laughs Coach Bustamante.
Arri in action at the Alliance Nationals 2021.
Arrianna was impressive, going 6-2 with 33 strikeouts in 49.2 innings and a WHIP of 1.43 but it’s what she’s done since last summer that’s really been amazing.
Going all the way back to last summer’s Nationals, the Athletics are 22-0 against fellow 12U teams and 20 of those wins have been via the mercy rule.
The ace pitcher has also been on another planet when it comes to her performances.
At the plate she’s hit .439 with an OBP of .504 while on the mound she’s 22-0. Arri has allowed just seven earned runs giving her a 0.42 ERA and a WHIP of 0.61.
In 117 innings Arrianna has struck out 171 opposing batters and walked just 22, but perhaps most impressively, her strikeout out percentage was 70 percent.
Over the weekend, the team was in action at the NCS So Cal Sweetheart Classic and Arri led the team to another championship—just another weekend of domination for the pitcher/hitter and her juggernaut second-year 12U team.
From the beginning, however, it wasn’t as obvious that the dual threat on the field would someday be ranked so highly… in fact, it wasn’t so clear that she’d be a softball player at all.
On February 19th of this month, Arri will turn 13 years old, and has all the potential in the world on the fastpitch diamond, but she started off playing soccer and basketball as well as softball. She’s currently 5-foot-6 while her mother, Sarah, is 5-foot-2 and her father, Ricardo, is 5-foot-11.
One early sign, though, that the West Coast standout could end up being something special with a ball and glove came from where her parents would meet.
As a youngster, Arri was more into Toy Story and Disney than sports!
Sarah, who had played softball for San Diego Hoover High, was working at a Dippin’ Dots stand in Petco Park, the home of the San Diego Padres, in 2005 when she met a handsome young man working a nacho stand in “Section 124” she recalls very specifically.
“It was fate!” the athlete’s mom says. “Ricardo was sweeping up chips by the nachos stand where we first caught each other’s eyes and from there it was history. We made it official and got married, first having Arri and then her brother, Anthony, who’s 7 now.”
Early on, Arri was more into movies and TV than sports, explains her mother.
“Arrianna was the cutest little chubby baby ever,” Sarah recalls. “She was always so funny and smart and loved to watch Toy Story over and over again when she was about 3.”
When she finally did take to sports and competition, soccer was her passion as the young athlete ruled the nets as a goalie for A Team Rebels but, by year two in softball, she had made the 8U All-Star softball team in Bonita Valley and was faced with the decision of which sport would she focus on?
In 2019, Arrianna decided she wanted to play softball more and put her energy into the sport, but it didn’t come easily.
“Arri did struggle in the beginning when she decided she wanted to become a pitcher,” remembers her mother, “but with hard work and many missed birthday parties she was able to become the young lady she is today.”
Born and raised in San Diego County, Arri is a big Padres fan.
The athlete thinks back to those initial days of uncertainty and credits a coach who, early on, helped her realize her potential.
“Coach Jandi Diego-Superales was my All-Star coach at Bonita Valley and then with the Firecrackers,” she says, “and she helped me understand how to be a better player, how to believe in my skills and to be tougher when on the mound. It helped because it was coming from a female coach who had been there before.”
Arri says what ultimately swayed her to softball was doing some damage with a stick.
“I liked hitting,” she says simply. “It came naturally.”
Her game continued to improve and the highlights continued to roll in. During a tournament with the Firecrackers in 2020, the young player hit a three run over-the-fence home run in the championship to tie the game and help the Firecrackers ultimately win.
It was around that time that she started to draw the attention of other coaches and programs, Daniel Bustamante being one of them.
“She was playing on another travel team down in the San Diego area where she is from,” the coach explains after being asked how he first realized he wanted to have her join his team.
“A few months before that, Arri beat us in a tournament in Lake Havasu and ever since that game she was on my radar! I could tell that she was special and it was my goal to get her on our roster.”
Arri is being compared to former UCLA four-time All-American Rachel Garcia in that both are from Southern California and the 7th grader, like her hero, can pitch and hit equally well. Photo: UCLA Softball.
After joining the talent-heavy Athletics in May of 2021, Bustamante knew he had all the components to be a championship team.
“Once it was official,” the coach continues, “I knew she would take this team to a totally different level. Our coaching staff was excited as was the rest of the team. Once Arri joined, she gelled with the girls right away and it also helped when one of her best friends was already on our team (Maya Matthies, ranked #6 in the 2027 Extra Elite 100).
What was it, we asked the coach, that made her a “must-have” addition to the club team?
“Arri is a true bulldog in the circle,” he adds. “Nothing fazes her. She doesn’t get down on herself if something doesn’t go as planned but rather gets more intense. When that happens, I feel for the next battter because there will be some extra MPHs on the next sequence.”
“This past weekend, for example, we had another coach in our organization clock her during a game. She was hitting 63-64 mph consistently with all of her pitches. What’s scary, is that she’s now learning the screwball. The heat with a devastating change up and now adding the screw? Yikes!”
So… what all does she throw, we asked Coach Bustamante?
His answer:
“Fastball, change-up, curve, rise ball, drop ball—developed about three to four months ago—and the screwball, her new pitch. All are top-notch pitches, too. It’s not just a list but a true set of pitches she had total control of. I have total confidence that I can call any of those pitches, and she’ll hit her spot without letting up on the gas.”
Arri has recently added a screwball to her repetoire of pitches.
Arri works out with noted pitching trainer and instructor Jason Iuli-Kinsey of PowerHouseMechanics and he raves about the progress his young student has made over the past year, especially.
“Arri is very passionate when it comes to training,” he begins. “Every workout she is going 100 percent. She has a very unique ability to translate words into motion, which is very mature for her age.”
“When Arri first started in PowerhouseMechanics, she was assigned to coach Joe Sosa (the father of UCLA’s Lexi Sosa) as her foundational coach. She learned the PowerhouseMechanics foundation and then transferred into my schedule.”
“The first person I thought of when I watched her throw was one of my first students, Hanah Bowen (Univ. of Arizona). Both are so athletic—being good was going to happen regardless—but for Arri to be great and maximize her full potential, we worked very hard on her learning and feeling her motions, what she was creating with her body, and how to direct that energy.”
“In the beginning,” Iuli-Kinsey continues, “it was difficult for her;in fact the first few workouts with me ended in tears, because she had to move slow, think, feel and be aware of what she was doing—something she was not used to doing—because she learned more about herself, than actually pitching. He growth ever since has been rapid.”
“Arrianna came to me one day and said her club coach wanted her to have another pitch. We worked on it, the screwball, for 30 minutes and now it’s one of her better pitches. She is a kid that just gets it!”
The two-way threat has been an impressive hitter going back to her Bonita Valley All-Star days.
Her hitting is also on par to take her far into elite club status and beyond.
“When Arri first came to me,” explains her hitting instructor, Lindsey Gorman with DropBombs Hitting, “her swing was a little wild but she’s so athletic, she still crushed the ball almost every time.”
“I had no doubt she was going to play at the highest level, but it would take a few adjustments to crush high-level pitching. Arri’s ability to understand the concepts and implement them to make her natural athleticism emerge more efficiently is amazing. That is topped only by her humility and positive energy, making her so much fun to coach. She undoubtedly deserves all the success she’s had so far.”
For 2022, Arri has one main goal: win Alliance Nationals with her team. Beyond that, though, she isn’t sure of where she’d like to attend college but she does know what she’d like to do for a living: be a college coach or a pitching coach in softball.
When her minds drifts off to what she’d do if her family ever won the Lotto or got millions handed to her just for kicks, Arri has big dreams that see her building her own softball facility.
“Arrianna wants to build a sports plex which would be located in Chula Vista and would be called the Chula Vista Magic Sportsplex,” her mother says. “It would house four fields, two playgrounds and the best snack bar you could find.”
Arrianna Romero with brother Anthony in 2019 All-Stars.
“Most importantly, it would give girls in our area the chance to have tournaments in their hometown. The ‘Magic’ part of the name comes from her rec ball years when her dad coached her at Bonita Vista and their team name was ‘Magic.’”
Already, Arri has had some teaching experience: last Fall she helped her mom coach an 8U team called “Magic” (there’s that name again!) and one of her students, if you will, was her little cousin, Sophia, who wants to become a pitcher when she is older… just like Arri.
Not all is total bliss in the Romero home, however; well, at least when it comes to family agreement on some things, there’s a bit of a discord.
Young Anthony is quite the baseball player at age 7 and, while he thinks it’s cool that his Big Sis is getting all of this attention, he shows his good-natured competitiveness when, as mom puts it: “he always tells Arri he’s going to be better!”
Arri waves the white flag on this potential sibling rivalry when she admits: “I think Anthony is going to surpass me, but I will still be proud of him.”
The Romero family at a San Diego Padre game (l-r) Sarah, Arri, Anthony and Ricardo in 2021.
There’s also a bit of a discrepancy when it comes to where the athlete end up post high school.
“I want to move as far away from home as possible!” Arri blurts, adding: “I’ve been in Chula Vista and San Diego all my life and want to see what else there is!” to which Mom quickly adds in: “Then, I’m going with you!”
Sounding serious, Arri responds: “No, I’m going on my own and, though it hurts your (mom’s) heart because I’m your baby talking, you know you have given me the skills to go out and be successful on my own.”
Having visited Arizona State’s campus and being a big fan of the Oklahoma State softball coaching staff, Arrianna says she could see herself crossing state lines for college, but is quick to admit that she and her family are tight and love doing things together, such as going to sporting events.
These outings include UCLA and San Diego State athletic events, especially in softball and football, as well as frequent excursions to watch Padre baseball where the family likes to dress up and cheer on home team.
In the short term, Arrianna knows that being ranked No. 1 in her grad class of 2027 at this point will bring a lot of attention her way… and she believes she’s ready for it.
“I was very happy,” she admits of finding out her No.1 ranking, “and my family and I felt that all the years in softball has finally paid off.”
“I’m relieved but it’s nerve-racking at the same time,” Arri concludes. “I know there’s a big target on my back and we’ll see what happens. I’m just excited to let the game take me where it will.”
— Brentt Eads, Extra Inning Softball
*****
Arrianna on a visit to Arizona State.
Outtakes: More From Our Extra Inning Q&A with Arrianna…
Did your parents play sports? Mom played for San Diego Hoover high school softball and volleyball. Dad did play for a school but was always at the park or around the neighborhood playing any sport he could. He did play basketball.
Does you have anyone you’re a big fan of in softball? “I like to watch Rachel Garcia and Sierra Romero.”
Favorite food? Steak, tacos and seafood.
Favorite song? Not Afraid by Eminem
Favorite college teams: Arizona State, Oklahoma State, UCLA, San Diego State
Favorite place/vacation visited? “ George Utah during a tournament in 2020… we got to go to Snow Canyon State Park and do a little sightseeing and hiking.
Favorite motto? “She believed she could, so she did.”
*****
The Adoboda taco from Tacos El Gordo contains spiced pork in a corn tortilla.
9 More Fun Facts About “#9”
My favorite colors are red and blue.
I love tacos from Tacos el Gordo. “Adobada” is the BEST!
My Favorite MLB team is the Padres.
I love going to tailgate at the (San Diego State) Aztec football games with my family.
I like the outdoors whether that be hiking, camping or paddle boarding.
I am 5-plus inches taller than my mom.
I share the same birthday as my second cousin Stephanie.
I like going to San Diego State softball games with my friends.
I do not like marshmallows.
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