TRAVEL SOFTBALL REPORT: Former La Mirada standout helps Team Mexico win the TCS International Challenge

Recent La Mirada High graduate Angelyna Conde poses with the Triple Crown Sports International Challenge Silver Bracket Championship trophy after Team Mexico defeated Team Israel 8-5 this past Sunday in Westminster, CO.

July 3, 2025

By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X

The final summer before her collegiate chapter has begun in a grand way for recent La Mirada High graduate Angelyna Conde. The third baseman was part of Team Mexico which captured the Triple Crown Sports International Challenge’s Silver Bracket championship after getting past Team Israel 8-5 this past Sunday at the Christopher Fields in Westminster, CO.

Conde went two for two and scored once in a scrimmage against Team Japan last Thursday before going four for six with a walk and drove in a pair of runs in three pool play games in which her team went 1-2.

Against Team South Korea in the first playoff game last Saturday, Conde went one for three and scored once in a 15-0 win. This past Sunday afternoon in a 15-2 win over Team Polynesia, the future Texas Tech University athlete was hitless in two at-bats before going one for two with a double and a run batted in against Team Israel.

Conde and her travel softball team, the (Garden Grove) West Coast Lady Dukes-Blanco, are in the Denver metropolitan area as one of 42 teams participating in the Triple Crown Sports Colorado 4th of July Fireworks Power Pool tournament where it faced the (Redlands) Athletics Mercado-N. Price and the (Roseburg, OR) NW Bullets-McGee this past Wednesday. Conde went one for two and had an RBI in a 6-3 victory against the Athletics Mercado-N. Price, then picked up another hit and RBI while scoring a run as the Lady Dukes tied the NW Bullets 7-7. The Lady Dukes played the Colorado Bombers Gold-Goldmann out of Castle Pines, and the (Houston) AM Academy-Herrera/Reyes on July 3 to wrap up pool play action with elimination play beginning on Friday and ending on Sunday.

Alison Ortega, who is midway through her stellar high school career at La Mirada, was representing Team Spain. However, her travel team, the (Hacienda Heights) Firecrackers Select RTY, played in five games of the Triple Crown Sports P5 Patriot Games, which began last Thursday in Fort Collins, CO. Ortega appeared in four of the five games, pitching 10 and a third innings, allowing 15 hits, eight earned runs while striking out eight batters and walking half a dozen. She made it back to Westminster to appear in this past Sunday’s game against Team Ireland where she pitched the top of the fourth and fifth innings. yielding seven hits, five runs, striking out one and walking one in a 10-8 loss.

Her travel team is in the TCS Colorado 4^th of July 16-U National Power Pool Box Brackets where it slammed the (St. Louis Park, MN) Midwest Speed-Wagner 13-1 and the (Gretna) Nebraska Gold 8-1 this past Tuesday. She went all six innings against the Nebraska Gold, scattering seven hits, allowing just an unearned run and striking out three. This past Wednesday, the Firecrackers Select RTY knocked off the Tampa Mustangs-Rene/Pynes 4-1 as Ortega pitched a complete seven-inning game, allowing five hits, another unearned run and struck out five. Later in the day, her team fell to the (Montgomery, TX) Hotspots National-Galloway 9-1.

The third area player to play in the International Challenge was Valley Christian High pitcher and outfielder, Rachel Zhang, who was representing Team Chinese Taipei/Taiwan which split a pair of pool play games and defeated Team Spain 7-2 last Saturday in a crossover game. In the three games, plus two scrimmage contests, Zhang pitches three and a third innings, giving up six hits, four earned runs, striking out four and walking four.

Valley Christian High pitcher and outfielder Rachel Zhang was pumping up the crowd as she waves the flag for Team Chinese Taipei/Taiwan at the Triple Crown Sports International Challenge. Her team fell to Team Canada 15-1 in the third place game this past Sunday.

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This past Sunday against Team Cuba, Zhang got four outs, yielding four hits, five earned runs while striking out two and walking two. Team Chinese Taipei/Taiwan won 11-9 before falling to Team Japan 10-5 in one semifinal and then to Team Canada 15-1 in the third place game. She did not pitch in either of those games, but in the nine games played in the International Challenge, she had a pair of hits in seven at-bats, scored once and drove in a run.

Zhang’s travel team, the (Redondo Beach) USA Athletics-Phillips/Lehr, is in Boulder, CO for the 29^th annual Louisville Slugger IDT where it defeated the (Plainville, MA) Rhode Island Thunder CL and the (Bentonville, AR) Ark Vision by identical 7-1 scored this past Tuesday. Zhang batted in the leadoff spot against the Rhode Island Thunder CL and went one for two with a run scored and walked once while getting another hit in the second game. The USA Athletics-Phillips/Lehr would square off against the (Morgantown) PA Strikers National-King and the Wildcats Elite-Bauer out of Cook County, IL this past Wednesday and the (Pearland) TX Impact Gold-Jackson and the (LaGrange) Ohio Outlaws-Wolff/Acord  on July 3 before playing the (Honolulu) HI Kamikaze and the (West Richland) WA  Angels-Benson on Friday.

Here’s a quick recap of other area softball players in their respective Colorado tournaments over the 4^th of July holiday week and weekend.

18-Under National Power Pool, 60 teams

Malaia Huskey, (Gahr High/California State University, San Marcos), plays for the (Huntington Beach) Explosion Premier. Against the (Kingwood) Texas Riptide in the second pool play game of this past Wednesday, Huskey went hitless in two at-bats as her team dropped a 6-5 decision.

Peyton Kingery, (Valley Christian/University of North Texas commit), plays for the (Anaheim) BSC Bengals Briggs. In the second game this past Tuesday, Kingery played in left field and was hitless in three at-bats against the (Kansas City) Top Gun National 25/26. The Bengals went 1-3 in the pool play games.

Montserrat Reyes-Cardenas, (La Mirada/San Diego State University), plays for the Corona Angels-Tyson. In the first pool play game this past Tuesday, Reyes-Cardenas pitched a perfect bottom of the fifth inning, striking out one against the (Scottsville, KY) Louisville Sluggers-Wathan as part of an 11-2 victory. Later in the day, she pitched five and a third innings, scattering six hits while giving up a pair of runs, striking out two and walking three in an 8-4 win over the (Pearland, TX) Impact Gold-Jackson.

18-Under Fireworks Power Pool, 42 teams

Zoee Barrett, (Valley Christian/Clark Atlanta University), plays for the (Downey) Nemesis Elite. In a 19-4 win over the (Olathe, KS) KC Peppers-Lazor, this past Wednesday, Barrett went three for three, scored three times and reached on a walk. Later in the day in a 9-8 loss to the (Duncanville, TX) Firecrackers DFW-Martinez, she went two for three, had a bases-clearing double in the bottom of the first inning and a solo home run on the first pitch of the fifth inning.

Alianna Calderon, (Cerritos High/Long Beach City College), plays for the (Yorba Linda) BSC Bengals-Nichols. In the first two pool play games this past Tuesday, Calderon went a combined two for five with a double and a run scored. Both hits and the run came against the (Aurora) Colorado Angels-Quimby Gold in a 5-4 victory.

16-Under Supplemental Power Pool, 70 teams

Zoe Corrales, (Cerritos), plays for the (Westminster) USA Athletics-Mathis. In an 8-0 loss to the (Pinecrest, FL) Rock Gold-Manetta this past Tuesday, Corales came in as a pinch hitter in the top of the fourth inning but did not have an at-bat.