DENVER — The George Washington Patriots softball team is off to a blistering start with just one loss and league play and four straight wins. Their secret recipe? Family.
“Baseball and softball are a big thing," head softball coach Mario Arellano said. "It's a big part of our lives and anything that revolves around a bat and a ball or stick and a rock, like I always say, we're committed to, it's what we're about. And it's what my girls grew up watching me do so now they're about it too.”
Patriots head coach Mario Arellano has led the Patriots to a 16-5 season thus far while coaching his two daughters, standout freshman catcher Gracie Arellano and senior pitcher and shortstop Tori Arellano.
“We have so much chemistry together and when it comes to like our pitching/catching," Gracie Arellano said. "No one can really compete with our pitching/catching in my opinion. I really try to pick her up a lot she gets in her head and I just think it's very important for her to keep a good energy for our whole team too and we do that for each other we really do.”
Not only is it a family affair but a successful one. The Patriots have only one loss in league play.
“Oh, it feels amazing," Tori Arellano expressed. "We're all happy, we're all playing the way we want to play and we're exceeding the level of expectation that we have and it's a really good feeling.”
There are many other words to describe this family dynamic that eats, sleeps, and breathes the game.
“All the work is always going on at home," Mario said. "It goes from the morning to the school to the field to the car ride home to practice on the weekends, extra work when we're not working with the team. it's a nonstop thing for us.”
For a program that’s never won a state title, imagine if these three did it together.
"That's the goal for us," Mario said. "We're trying to bring something that's never been done before to our school and to our community in every way possible. That would be the very best blessing we can achieve this year."
George Washington has just two more games against Northfield and Overland.
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