Traveling softball team ends big season, preps for the fall

For a new venture, the results from a traveling softball team from this region proved highly successful this summer.

Jamie Martin, whose husband, Mike Martin coaches the team and who also has two daughters who are players, said in previous years, they had been playing on a team in Clovis.

However, she said they realized there was enough talent in this area, which includes Mariposa and Eastern Madera counties, to have their own team.

So that’s just what they did and the record speaks for itself.

They capped off the summer with a strong third place finish in the 2026 Pacific Southwest Nationals in Clovis.

The local team is called USA Athletics Martin and is associated with USA Athletics, a nationwide organization focused in promoting softball — and helping the girls land scholarships en route to a college softball career.

Athletes are from around the mountain communities, including Mariposa, Ahwahnee, Oakhurst and Clovis.

The tournament in Clovis featured 28 teams in the A bracket, with squads from all over the southwest, including Nevada, Arizona, Washington and California.

“What a way to wrap up a season,” said Mike Martin, noting that tournament consisted of five days of competition. “We couldn’t be more proud of the heart, hustle and teamwork they showed all tournament long.”

Jamie said the team had another highlights recently, as well. They went 5-0 in the Turlock Father’s Day Classic, capturing first place in the tournament.

In all, she said the team played 30 games over the summer against some pretty stiff competition. That included five tournaments.

“That is multiple games over multiple days,” she said.

Jamie said one of the reasons they wanted to form a regional team was to help the girls become a part of the overall California softball system. That system, said Jamie, is one of the strongest in the nation and leads to many of the girls landing scholarships at schools across the country.

Though those scholarships lead to a college softball career, she stressed they also are a major financial aid to the parents sending their daughters off to school.

She said college scouts pay close attention and USA Athletics pays a pivotal role in getting the word out about the individual players. For instance, she said on the USA Athletics website, there is an extensive list in the 18U category, which is for the oldest girls competing.

Girls have their individual photos, stats and more information. When she called up the site, it showed many of them had already signed to play for college teams.

Another major factor, she said, of a traveling team is for the girls to play against top competition, which hones their skills and makes them better all around players.

Though it is a lot of work, Jamie said the current plan is to form two more teams for the fall. Those will be 14U and 16U teams. Those numbers designated the ages of the athletes. For instance, 14U means 14 and under.

Those will also be traveling teams so the girls can basically be involved all year around in playing softball. Most also play on their high school teams, including Mariposa County High School.

She said tryouts will be coming this fall and encouraged anyone interested to contact them at usaathleticsmartin@gmail.com.

Of course, doing a traveling softball team also requires a lot of funding, said Jamie, and they are currently working to better organize and begin a fundraising campaign, likely to work in harmony with the fall teams.

“I think this is something special,” said Jamie.

Here is the roster of the team which traveled
this summer:
#1 Lilly Escovedo – Oakhurst
#2 Kenzie Donnelly – Clovis
#5 Kaiya Wellcome – Mariposa
#7 Aubree Robertson – Mariposa
#8 Zoey Winter – Madera
#9 Dakota Costa – Mariposa
#10 Mikaylee Martin – Mariposa
#11 Tatum Allison – Mariposa
#16 Nevaeh Flores – Kerman
#22 Casson Gillaspy – Ahwahnee
#31 Aly Lopez – Kerman
#56 Kenzie Martin – Mariposa
#62 Allie Appling – Mariposa
98 Averi Rold – Ahwahnee