TRIPLE CROWN SPORTS INTERNATIONAL CHALLENGE – Trio of area players to represent their countries in Colorado tournament

June 24, 2025

By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X

A recent graduate of the La Mirada High softball team, her teammate who just wrapped up her sophomore season and a Valley Christian High pitcher will be representing their countries in the 5^th annual Triple Crown Sports International Challenge. Games will be played this weekend at the Christopher Fields in Westminster (CO) City Park, about 12 miles northwest of downtown Denver.

Rachel Zhang, who was the Olympic League’s Pitcher of the Year and was on the HMG-Community News Spring All-Area’s First Team, will be playing for Team Chinese Taipei for the second straight year.

Rachel Zhang, who has two more seasons with Valley Christian High in the circle, is sporting her Team Chinese Taipei from last summer.

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“I had a great time [last year]; it was super fun,” said Zhang. “It felt different. It felt like I was playing for my culture instead of a game of softball or a tournament. I got to see so many incredible people that I’m still friends with because we have the same backgrounds, so we really connected.”

Zhang said she was inspired by watching the Summer Olympics and that’s why she decided to send in her video clips to the coaching staff of Team Chinese Taipei last year. Growing up, she liked how each country had its own softball team for the Summer Olympics, and she thought it would be cool to do that on her own with the International Challenge.

“When I saw the opportunity, I really wanted to just take it,” she added.

Last year, she found out about Team Chinese Taipei online and made contact via phone calls before sending multiple videos of her pitching and hitting. The coach then called her back, was impressed with what he saw, and invited her to be a part of the team.

Zhang’s mother and father are from China, so trying out for Team Chinese Taipei was obvious for the pitcher who concluded her sophomore season at V.C. last month. Her parents immigrated from China when they were in college, and they still visit China from time to time.

Last summer, Zhang and her Team Chinese Taipei team played the national team out of Taiwan and lost a close contest. She said it was great playing against that team and she has so much respect for them, especially their warm-up routines.

“When we saw them warming up and they were running, their legs were completely in sync and when they were stretching, they were completely in sync,” said Zhang. “I know in the United States travel ball teams emphasize being in order. But they were just on a different level.”

Most of the players on Team Chinese Taipei are coming back for another go-around at the International Challenge. She will leave for the Rocky Mountain state on Wednesday and will have scrimmage games ahead of the opening ceremonies. Pool play action begins on Friday against Team Canada and Team Germany and it will play Team Spain on Saturday before bracket play begins later that day.

Zhang, whose travel team is the (Redondo Beach) USA Athletics-Phillips/Lehr, pitched 107 innings and struck out 88 batters this past spring for V.C. while batting .385 in 13 at-bats. Her travel team will stay in Colorado to participate in the Louisville Slugger IDT Tournament in Boulder, which runs from July 2-6.

Representing Team Spain is the HMG-Community News Spring All-Area Pitcher of the Year and the ace of La Mirada’s staff, Alison Ortega. A member of the (Hacienda Heights) Firecrackers Select RTY 16-Under travel team, Ortega’s path to the TCS International Challenge is quite different. One day she received a message from Luna Cruz, a recent La Mirada teammate who just graduated, asking her if she wanted to play for Team Spain because her father is one of the assistant coaches and the team needed a pitcher. About three months ago, Ortega got the confirmation that she had been selected to play for Team Spain.

Former La Mirada High third baseman Angelyna Conde may be wearing Texas Tech University gear, but she will be representing Team Mexico in this weekend’s Triple Crown Sports International Challenge in Westminster, CO

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“It goes by really fast,” said Ortega. “I thought my sophomore year would be really slow, but it was really fast, and now I’m in travel ball. “I actually didn’t know about [the International Challenge] before. So, once she asked me, I’m like, ‘okay, I didn’t know there were games, but that sounds like fun’.”

Ortega’s ties to Spain lies with her grandparents; she said she has a little percentage of the country which is all one needs to represent a country in the International Challenge.

However, Ortega won’t be able to play in any of the three pool play games for Team Spain. In fact, the earliest she would be able to play for her country would be on Sunday in bracket play because of other obligations with her travel team.

The Firecrackers Select RTY will be participating in the Triple Crown Sports P5 Patriot Games in Fort Collins, CO June 26-28 and will play a pair of pool play games in the first two days ahead of bracket play. The Firecrackers Select RTY is one of 36 teams in the 16-Under age group.

“When it comes to that, I’m going to be prioritizing my travel ball team because those are good games,” said Ortega. “And honestly, on the roster for Team Spain, they have a ton of pitchers. So it’s not like they really need me. I think they’ll be fine, but as of now, I’m going to prioritize the Patriot Games.”

When the International Challenge is over, Ortega’s busy summer will continue as her travel team will play in the Triple Crown Sports Colorado 4^th of July National Power Pool Division. Those games will begin on Tuesday with a pair of pool play games.

Ortega had a breakout sophomore season with the Matadores, sporting an earned run average of 1.61 in 109 innings while striking out 125 batters, giving up 84 hits and walking just 18.

“I take it a day at a time,” said Ortega. “I only focus about tomorrow and what I have to do to take care of that day. But it’s such an opportunity to do it because I get to take as many chances I get to pitch, especially in front of college coaches because this year is my recruitment year.

“I think it’s okay [if I miss the International Challenge] as long as I’m not skipping [any] games,” she later said. “As long as I am playing softball…I get exposure either way, playing in the Patriot Games or the International Challenge.”

Ortega said she would love to represent Team Spain again next summer if the opportunity presented itself.

Another of Ortega’s La Mirada teammate, Angelyna Conde, will be representing Team Mexico. Conde, who was on the HMG-Community News Spring All-Area Third Team as a third baseman, batted .326 in her senior season with 31 hits, eight of them home runs and seven more being doubles. She also led the Matadores with 35 runs batted in.

This is the first time Conde will be representing her country and as was the case with Ortega, her ties to the country lie with her grandparents.

“I’ve always wanted to [play in the International Challenge] ever since we played in the Colorado Sparkler [Tournament] when I was 12,” said Conde. “Finally, the schedules matched up this year and we contacted the coach, and it worked out. I’m truly honored; I think it’s amazing getting to wear that [uniform] of the country where my grandparents are from [with the name] across my chest.”

Rachel Zhang, and her Team Chinese Taipei, faced the Taiwan National Team last summer in the Triple Crown Sports International Challenge. Zhang is in the second row from the bottom, fourth from the left.

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Conde is already getting a head start with her summer travels as she was in Lubbock, TX for her orientation at Texas Tech University. Her pool play games with Team Mexico are Friday against Team Africa and Team Philippines and Saturday against Team South America. She began to send her video to the coach of Team Mexico shortly after she signed her letter of intent to play for Texas Tech, which was at the end of last season.

“The process was pretty fast just because [Team Mexico head] coach [Tony] Delgado is somebody we’ve played often in the travel ball world,” said Conde. “And he also coaches at Bishop Amat, which is close to La Mirada; we played him in Bullhead City [in the Dave Kops Tournament of Champions] and we played him throughout the season. So, I was familiar with his name just like he was familiar with mine.”

Last season, former La Mirada and current University of Notre Dame catcher Rebecca Eckart played for Team Mexico. Conde said Eckart had a little bit of a convincing factor on choosing to play for Team Mexico, not only this year, but also last year.

“Me and Rebecca are very close; we’re close best friends and still keep in contact today,” said Conde. “But she is definitely a factor in how I feel about the International Challenge.”

Conde said she is looking forward to the opening ceremony and the games and everyone bringing their country flags and noisemakers, and how the fans get into everything.

Her travel team is the (Garden Grove) West Coast Lady Dukes-Blanco and when she is done with the International Challenge, she will be participating in the Triple Crown Sports Colorado 4^th of July Sparkler/Fireworks Tournament. Between the Sparkler and Fireworks Tournament, over 1,000 travel softball teams make their way each summer to the Denver metropolitan area to participate in what is being called the world’s largest youth fastpitch tournament. Within the tournament, there are other softball-related events.

Conde’s, Ortega’s and Zhang’s travel teams have qualified for the Premier Girls Fastpitch National Championships at the end of next month. Those games have been held in Orange County for over 10 years.

“I would say for the most part, all our summers are packed like this,” said Conde. “But the fact that this is my last Colorado, my last PGF, it is a little bittersweet. But at the end of the day, there’s so much that’s happening for the better and I’m really excited to be a part of that. So that’s something to look forward as well.”