Intro
Kathia:
Hey Gators, welcome back to the Chomp Pod. My name is Kathia Noriega, and I’m a staff reporter for Golden Gate Xpress. Today, I’ll be joined by the DeLeon sisters to discuss their tie for seventh place all-time in softball program history with 44 stolen bases each and more about their individual softball experience at SF State. Let’s get started.
Interview
Kathia:
Well, first, I just want to say thank you so much for joining me. I feel like it’s gonna be an interesting one, so let’s get started. So first one, I just want to, I guess reiterate, the reason why I wanted to invite you guys was because you guys both reached, like, the seventh all time, stolen bases in the program. And I think that’s incredible, like, congrats to you two.
Thank you. So you guys, tell me more about that. And like how, like, what’s your mentality when you’re on base, and you’re like, I got to, you know, advance and stuff like, tell me more about that.
Kai:
Um, I think, so freshman year, obviously, I got to play with her. And, you know, batting in an area where, you know, all I do is get on and like, be moved by her because all she can, all the top of the lineup can hit. So there’s really no point of me stealing because I knew I was going to score no matter what. But I think after she left, and, you know, I took the role of like, being the lead off getting on and trying to create havoc, it was more of like, I gotta get there. Like, I have to, you know, beat them out, or I have to get to the next bag, because it’s the best thing for the team. And I knew that whoever was behind me, they were going to, you know, get me all the way home, even if I just moved to one bag. So I think that was my mentality the entire time. Sometimes I get a little nervous. Sometimes when my coach tells me like, Oh, you’re stealing. And like, Are you sure? Like, are you sure you’re giving you the right sign at this moment? But yeah.
Lehua:
Yeah, I had the same mentality when I played here. But literally, I had amazing teammates that I knew that they were going to hit me in anyways. But honestly, my senior year, I was kind of tired. Not gonna lie. I did not like running the bases. I’ve always wanted to like, Nope, I told coach, I’m not going to go anymore. But yeah, I think we have the same mentality, like, our coaches believe in us that we can do, we can steal bases, we can get the job done. So yeah.
Kathia:
And I know you guys are like, three or so years apart?
Lehua:
Yeah, we’re three years apart.
Kathia:
So was there like, I don’t know I guess a conversation between you two where you’re like, ‘Oh, we’re going to be quick’, or like, ‘This year, we’re going to be, you know, we’re gonna run more laps, and just get quicker.’ So we can steal a base, you know.
Kai:
I think that we both knew, like, we both have different things to offer to the team. And kind of looking at each other, like with our strengths. It wasn’t more of like, we have to do this, like, that’s our job. It was more of like, we’re gonna do what we know how to do. And we have our own skills, like, she is a great hitter. And, you know, we both agree, like, defensively like, that’s where I kind of like, you know, let loose and that’s where I kind of am more confident. So just going off of what we already know how to do. It wasn’t more of like a ‘We have to do this.’ We already know what to do.
Kathia:
Yeah. So tell me more about you guys being on the same team at SF State for like a year. I know that overlapping can be like kind of exciting. So tell me more about your experience. And like any memories that you guys can recall.
Lehua:
Oh, well, this wasn’t our first time that we got to play with each other. We’ve been playing with each other since about eight, nine years old. So it was honestly like, having my sister with me on the on the field. It was like a special moment for me. But through high school, I played with her my senior year. And she was a freshman. So it was kind of like doing it all over again. But we knew each other very well. We knew what we were going to do before we even started. But I think my favorite memory was with her was our last game. And we both got the last play of the game, which ended my career. But yeah, playing with her it’s just a special moment being with not only your sister, but having like your best friend on the field.
Kai:
Um, that was definitely my favorite moment as well. I think right before that last inning. I told her I was like, ‘We have to hug,’ like there’s we’re not going on the field without hugging and it was just like that moment because we’re not we’re not the type of like, you know, you don’t hug a lot. But that moment I was like, ‘This is it like that’s the last time I’m gonna have with my sister. That’s the last time I’m gonna call her my teammate.’ But you know, with her guidance, and her being by my side throughout, you know, my high school experience and my college experience, I got to watch her and develop into such a leader that I looked up to. And, you know, she obviously guided me, you know, sometimes she was a little hard to, you know, be with every day. But I think she really kept it balanced, where I was, like, I, I’m here doing what I love, and especially with, you know, my best friend, my sister, so it was like, you get to continue on playing with like, you know, a little bit more passionate part.
Kathia:
Yeah. I know, you kind of mentioned in touch on the topic that she’s kind of, like, I guess, helped you in a way like, you know, here and there. What’s one way that you think she’s like, influenced you to either get better at your game or like any just little tips that she’s been influenced on.
Kai:
I think my sister isn’t really afraid to try new things. I think she’s very much like, she’s the type of person to, like, learn and do. And that’s something that I attached to, as well, I, you know, I can learn really fast, and I can, you know, lead by example. But that’s all that comes from her watching her every day. So I think she really has guided me to, like, be where I am right now. She like, everything she’s done on and off the field, like, you know, it’s just like, that’s the type of person you want to be like, that’s the type of person you want to see. So that’s where I got my mentality for the next couple of years that I have underneath my belt.
Kathia:
From your perspective, how was it like seeing her grow? And what were some things where you’re like, hey, like, let’s, you know, get something else going, or I don’t know what.
Lehua:
I’m really super proud of her. But when she told me that we had the same record for stolen bases, I was like, I’m not gonna lie, I was kinda like jealous. I’m really super proud that she got to that point, she made a, basically a legacy and beating records here and there. Batting being a great, a great leader on the field. Since being on the sidelines, and watching from a different perspective, I’m super proud of what she’s accomplished, whether it’s academically or athletically on the field, so getting the chance to watch her every step I can take. She’s been, I’ve been super proud of her.
Kathia:
I know you also touch on this too. You guys are segwaying to every question I got. But you said there was a little bit of jealousy? I know you’re proud of her. But was there any kind of like sister rivalry? Or was there anything like that?
Lehua:
I mean, we’re very competitive. Growing up, we like to one up each other. But at this point, like, she made, she made something of her own. She didn’t have to have my help to do that. So I’m really super proud. No matter what. Whether I’m jealous or not, but yeah, she is doing what she did. She is doing what she knows how to do. And I’m really, like, just proud, honestly, having like me as a big sister looking, looking down on my sister.
Kai:
I think also, I don’t think she gives her enough credit. But she did have two years, like two more years underneath her belt, but she decided, you know, to graduate. So it could have been like, us still competing right now at this point in time. But you know, what, she wanted to, you know, finish college, she wanted to, you know, continue with her life. And, you know, we could still be competing. But even though coach brings that up all the time, like my sister still could have been here.
Kathia:
Where did you graduate earlier?
Lehua:
So COVID year, I still had two years under my belt to play with her. But since it was my senior year, technically for school. I was kind of done. I think my body was just like, ‘No, I don’t think you can do this anymore.’ But I wanted to and my career, no matter what with my sister. I wanted to feel like I accomplished something. So I think that’s when I told my teammates and my coach, like, I think like my time here is good. I’m setting like a good example. And I’m leaving them with great players such as my sister. And having them like compete throughout the season was really well.
Kathia:
So you guys have been playing since you know you were little kids. Did you guys always imagine you guys playing ever since then until college? Like was that always something guys had in mind or how did you guys feel once it was like, finally over?
Kai:
Um, personally, we did a lot of sports growing up like we played but like maybe five sports at a time. So once we reached I think very young age once you read like 12 or her 12 year like, at time like our dad told us It’s like ‘You only had to pick one sport.’ And you know, softball wasn’t my passion at the time. I wanted to dance, I wanted to be a dancer. But, you know, honestly, going out every day with my dad and my sister practicing every day, you know, you just kind of, you know, it kind of grows on you kind of builds you up a little bit more, and getting to compete with her is really fun. Like, I can’t compete dancing with her. That wouldn’t be very fun.
Kathia:
Is she the better dancer? Or who?
Kai:
That would be all me right here. We have our different skills. But definitely the times that we shared when we were younger growing up, it was just, it was fun. And that’s what made it kind of stick with us a little more is because we had fun. We’ve played each game together, even though I was three years younger than her, playing on the same team. I know she probably hated it. Because I would always be there in the uniform, probably wouldn’t play that weekend. But I was still there with her. So it just kind of we kind of just went with it. I guess.
Kathia:
I remember from our interview for your story. Like you mentioned right now that your coach said that you would be on the sidelines still cheering her on or whatever, even if you weren’t in the lineup or whatever. Why was that something that you were kind of used to, like you just wanted to be her support, or you just wanted to just get engaged somehow.
Kai:
I think everybody wants to see their siblings succeed. And, you know, I wanted to see it more, because she put everything into softball. We sacrificed our weekends. Like, you know, we didn’t have very, very many friend groups that stuck around, because we’re so busy. So getting her to sacrifice her weekends, or her time being for her high school like year, it was just amazing to be like, I want to cheer her on, I want her to do more. I want her, you know, to get every award that possible. And I always went to her games. So there was not a time where my mom left without me without me jumping in the car and be like, ‘Let’s go watch my sister that weekend.’ So it was really fun to like, see her always record her, you know, be their first her successes. So that’s where I wanted to be.
Kathia:
From your perspective of how did that feel like having your sister always there, and you’re just trying to focus on maybe stealing another bag I don’t know.
Lehua:
Yeah, having my support system being there for me through my senior year, I was honestly frustrated from time to time making plays, trying to make something happen. But I can always count on her trying to pick me up and trying to calm me down instead of getting so frustrated on the field. So but having that support system, not a lot of siblings get to play with their sister or their brother. So it was just, it was just like, easy going to have someone be there no matter what. So, yeah.
Kathia:
So how does it feel now that she’s graduated? And now you’re here on the team by yourself? Is there any moments that you miss? Or maybe now she’s on the sideline cheering for you?
Kai:
Oh definitely. I think my support system here every day, like she made a big impact freshman year, obviously being here getting to go to her apartment every night, kind of just to annoy her and just being like always with her. But right now, I think my sister is such a big supporter. Like she takes pictures for our team. And she’s always there like no matter what, she’s always there, she’s still in the dugout. That’s what made me laugh the first time she came out with her camera was last year. It’s like she was still there, no matter where I went, she was still there. She always wanted to talk about the game, you know, when you know, when I don’t do my best. We have a point in time where you know, we don’t talk about it. Like we just move on, the next game will come the next day will come. But then there’s sometimes where I asked for opinions. I asked for opinions a lot about hitting about defense like what could I ‘What could I have done to do better in that situation?’ And stuff like that. And she always, you know, tells me with the truth and being brutally honest, like, you should have done this. Or maybe you should have thought about the situation a little bit more before you know, stepping right in. So she always has me on my toes. And it’s great to, you know, come to a side who’s a person not on the team who’s not your coach, but just to give you brutal advice because you know, nothing’s better than having it come from your sister.
Kathia:
Yeah, so I don’t know if you mentioned before, but was it your dad or someone from your family encouraging you guys to continue playing softball, or how did that start from a younger age? Like who introduced you guys?
Lehua:
I think it was both of our parents. They didn’t play baseball or softball, but our dad wanted to have us be like, physically active. So we were like soccer. Indoor and Outdoor. We were in basketball. Um, We’re in so many, but we just, we just fell in love with softball of how it came to be. Because there’s not a lot of people that talk about it, and think that it’s super easy. But over time, I think our dad and our parents was just our number one supporters in this game, because our dad, still coaches to this day. But has taught us a lot about the game of softball, and being there for us, trying to keep us working, and improving our skills, whether it was hitting or defensively.
Kai:
Yeah, I think that he stayed up most nights, you know, thinking of different scenarios. And also learning from our coach, Coach Alicia Reid her, her dad, learning from him because he was a coach as well. And grasping everything that he wanted to know, or wanted to know more about the game, and kind of putting it towards us. So he spent a lot of restless nights thinking of different things for us to do. I think it’s so funny, because we were talking about it a couple of weeks ago, where we would always come home after school after a long day. And he would open the door and be like, go grab some socks. And we’re like, ‘Why?’ And we would come out in the garage. And it’s like, the botnet was set up and the pitching mat was out.
Lehua:
We would hit for like, two hours.
Kai:
Yeah. And yeah, you know, it was just not like the time of like, it was like a routine, it was just more of like, if you want to do it, like we’re gonna go do it outside, you wanted us to practice every day, like there was no day of rest for us. So if we weren’t pitching or hitting in the garage, in the morning, after church, we would go to the field. It was just on and on. And my mom was there for every step of the way. Even though she thought it was like too much. You know, she was still supportive. She was still, you know, being there. She’s definitely our number one supporter, I’d say, if you don’t hear on the live stream screaming she’s at home, screaming as well.
Lehua:
Yes, definitely.
Kathia:
That’s interesting. So he was like, pushing you guys since the moment you woke up or even late at night to make you guys get better at your swing or whatever it is the pitching anything.
Lehua:
Yeah, he would take anything. So if you see us laying on the couch, oh, no we gotta go practice. I was like ‘Oh kay, a 10 year old doesn’t really like to practice every day. But I think with that push from our parents, it really is like, we wouldn’t be here without them. So it was really, really motivating Julian to keep going and trying to work hard, not only for ourselves, but for them as well.
Kathia:
So how has that like, impacted your guys’s skills, then? Did they work? Or do you feel like you’re appreciative now or whatever? Like, what was? What’s your opinion about it now?
Kai:
I’m very appreciative for my parents. Like if it obviously as she said, like, if it wasn’t for him pushing every day for us to get better. Like, I don’t think we would be still playing softball, and I think we would all been playing a different sport at this point. If they weren’t so passionate, I think their passion that they showed about the game and about us, kind of relayed to like what we want to do now like we’re passionate, I want to make them proud. Like, I think every series, I always say this to like my friend, but every series I want to go, like, I want to make sure I see my parents before the game starts like I have to know like they’re here. So that my game will be really good. Because if I’m not, if they’re not in the stands, you know, it’s just like, are they watching? Like, are they watching me? Or because, you know, they just whenever I see them, it just makes the game like a little bit fun or better? Because I’m more relaxed when I see my parents.
Kathia:
Did you — have you been going to all her games like consistently?
Lehua:
Yeah, so I try to make it every trying to make it every series but I can’t really travel when they go to San Diego. So but I same thing as my mom does. We try to watch on the GoLive to make sure that she’s doing well. And also — we after her games, we also text her like, well, “Good luck make us proud” or for me, I would like to give her advice. But I always try to make sure that I always let her know I’m watching no matter what, no matter where I am.
Kathia:
Is there anything that you would want to tell her for last season or so? Like? How would you describe something that you would want to pitch to her right now like oh, you know, you want to give her advice.
Lehua:
Coming down to her last season. I was just say make every game count or just relax. You get out you get out because I started to realize that my career was going to end soon. And I started to be like, Oh my gosh, like, I’m going to be an adult pretty soon to start paying bills. I’m not going to be a kid anymore. But I would just say, like, make every game like it’s your last. Have fun and stop stressing over the small things, because there’s a lot of stress about, and you’re just playing a game, which — just having fun and being with your teammates, it’s what’s the memories makes it counts. So I think like, my last season, I had two of my best friends. And we would always make memories, whether it was on long trips, or long plane rides. We would always get like Starbucks before every game. So it was just the small memories just to try to make it count and not think about what’s in the future. So that’s probably my advice to her is to just have fun. No matter what the outcome is of how your at bats go or how you how the game goes. Just make it fun. Have fun in the dugout.
Kathia:
Is there any particular memory that you guys have? While being on the road? Like is there any, you know, moment where you guys would—
Kai:
I think one of mine would be — I’m not the best traveler. I get motion sickness a lot. I like I’m probably like, the worst person you can have will travel and like, I complain about everything. Like if something doesn’t go right. I’m like, ‘Oh, gosh.’ But I think it was like, I don’t know where we landed. I think it was San Bernardino or San Marcos, like we were going to. And I completely got so sick. I was, you know, laying out in the airport on the ground. Like, I mean, those that was the moment I was like, maybe this is not for me. Like I don’t know how I can handle three more more years of this. But you know, her telling me yelling at me like what did you eat kind of thing. It was like, I didn’t eat anything like I’m just the plane was like, like, turbulence was bad. And she’s just like, like yelling at me is my fault, like, I can’t do much.
Lehua:
I think my favorite memory was, every time we got to travel, we would always go to Target with our group friend groups. We would always yes, we would always buy like the what’s it called? Like the Disney? The mystery boxes? Yeah, we always buy those or we would always buy a new Squishmallow everywhere we’d go. And it was just funny, because our coach caught us in the elevator. And she was like, ‘You really spent your money on that?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, you weren’t supposed to know about it.’ But I think it was just going to Target having fun, like buying little stuff. It was fun.
Kathia:
Did you guys have that as a souvenir? Do you guys still have those things?
Lehua:
I actually do
Kai:
We came back I got a new pair of sunglasses, a big giant dog Squishmallow, I still have that.
Lehua:
We would always buy the same thing. So we always have like different colors. I think our friend group all got the same glasses, but different colors.
Kai:
I still have them.
Kathia:
That’s cool, that’s cool. I think we’re going to head on to the last question. But what is something that you have in your skillset that you might see from her? Like, it’s just something that you see in yourself that is kind of repeated from her skills or something? And is there anything that other players might catch you guys doing something similar? Like, Oh, you guys have the same swing or something like that?
Kai:
I feel like our swing is very different. She starts Yeah, her position is very different from mine. But I’m still I feel like my swing has changed over the years, obviously with her help. But I think defensively I think the since I started at shortstop and I moved to second last year and this year, I think the plays that I’ve made it just like you could see the videos of like us making the same play. It’s like you can’t even tell like the difference. So I think for our you know, defensively I think we do look the same in making plays. But hitting I think we’re very different. She has a little bit more power than I do. I think a little bit more home runs underneath her belt.
Lehua:
I gotta hit it far since I don’t want to run that much. So but but yeah, I we always get a lot that we’re twins, especially from different teams as well, because we would they won’t always get us mixed up. Or say like, oh, the twin sisters are up to bat or like, we’re not that we’re not twins. We’re three years apart. But I think a lot of our teammates in the beginning would mess up our names, either on purpose or accident, which you don’t really like but I was like, I don’t see us being twins and I mean like same height she gets a little taller. But um yeah, I think it’s just funny to hear how different teams in our league say like, ‘Oh my gosh, you guys are sisters. How does it feel?’ Or like ‘Oh, you guys are twins. Do you guys get mixed up a lot?’ No, I’m three years older. I think that was that was a memory too. And then seeing around campus they always see us and think we’re twins so we get everywhere.
Kathia:
I could see it but I can see the difference.
Kai:
Yeah, a little different.
Kathia:
I think that’s it. So thank you guys so much for joining.
Kai and Lehua:
Thank you for having us.
Kathia:
I hope you had fun.
Kai:
We did. We did.
Outro
Kathia:
This has been Kathia Noriega for Golden Gate Xpress. Thank you for listening.
