By Carlos Arias

Name: Giulia Metaxia Vitti Koutsoyanopulos
Hometown: Mission Viejo, Calif.
Travel team: OC Batbusters-Campbell 14U
Junior High/future High School: Carl Hankey Middle School/Capistrano Valley High
High School Graduation Year: 2020
Height, weight: 5-6, 127
Position: 1B/OF
Nickname(s): G or G-Money

***

Giulia Koutsoyanopulos listens to Frank Sinatra music, trains Muay Thai and she happens to be one of the top softball prospects in the nation.

She also admits to being shy, superstitious, a book worm and she's a lefty at everything but hitting and kicking.

The Southern California eighth grader knows what she wants and she goes after it. Her coaches say she is a gifted athlete that is extremely driven and one of the hardest workers they have ever been around.

After visiting a University of Arizona prospect camp in October, Koutsoyanopulos, who helped Toni Mascarenas' OC Batbusters win the 12U PGF national championship last summer, knew where she wanted to go.

"Two weeks later, on October 17th, I verbally committed," Koutsoyanopulos said of her decision to go with Arizona.

No other schools ever really had a shot at her. She's always been a fan of Arizona legend Jennie Finch. She has gone to Finch's camps in Orange County every year since she was 8 years old. Her coach, Mascarenas, was an All-American at Arizona. And she is eager to learn from Wildcats head coach Mike Candrea, associate head coach Stacy Iveson and assistant coach Caitlin Lowe.

"I had other prospect camp invites, but I didn't go," Koutsoyanopulos said. "Arizona was the first and only prospect camp that I was invited to and went to. It was perfect, all I needed, and all I wanted."

All the big-time softball programs are recruiting top prospects younger and younger each year to stay competitive. 

"In regards to the question of what made me decide to commit so young, I must say that I might be young, but I know what I want, and given the opportunity, I took it," she said.

Koutsoyanopulos might only be an eighth grader at Carl Hankey Middle School and hasn't even stepped foot on Capistrano Valley High's campus in Mission Viejo, Calif., but she said she has no doubt about her decision.

"When I commit to something and give my word, that's it," she said.

She also has definite goals about her future.

"I want to major in English and study law and political science," Koutsoyanopulos said. "I aspire to possibly become an English professor and a lawyer. I will keep working hard and hopefully be part of the USA Women's National Softball Team and the Olympic team after that. Being a professional softball player and giving back to the community is also what I see myself doing in the future after my studies."

Koutsoyanopulos said she has always looked up to her brother, Aldo, a former standout baseball player at Capistrano Valley High, and wanted to follow in his footsteps and play baseball.

"I play softball, but I really wanted to play baseball like my big brother Aldo," she said. "My parents said that I was too much of a tomboy and would be best being with girls, so there ... I played softball. Now I play softball because it is competitive and I love to compete."

Koutsoyanopulos' decision to go with softball was good news for the OC Batbusters organization.

"Giulia is a coach's dream," Mascarenas said. "She's never satisfied and works hard. Sometimes that can work against her, but if something isn't going right in a particular part of her game, she will spend countless numbers of hours working on it. Her athletic ability is a gift, but her hard work, drive, and passion for the game comes from her heart. And you can't teach that."

After winning a 12U national title with Mascarenas, Koutsoyanopulos has moved up to Mark Campbell's 14U OC Batbusters team.

"She's a really hard-working first baseman," Campbell said. "She's athletic, so I could put her at other positions. Good hitter, who can hit to all fields and for power."

College is years away, so Koutsoyanopulos plans to focus on her studies and improving herself on the softball field.

"I want to be successful and in order to be successful I need to work hard," she said.

Good work ethic, being humble and having positive attitude are the key points to inner satisfaction. Having inner satisfaction, to me, is my drive.

Follow Carlos Arias on Twitter @OCSidelines

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