Since she was nine years, Shea Moreno, a 2018 catcher from Elk Grove, Calif., has had two goals in mind: play softball at UCLA and work as a sports broadcaster.

You can check one of those boxes.

In October, Shea—a power-hitting freshman for the Love The Game (LTG) Lions 16U team coached by Jim Carda—committed to the Bruins after being recruited by Oklahoma, Michigan State and Missouri.

According to her mother, Krystal, who is also one of the assistant coaches for the Lions, “Shea worked hard on and off the field to achieve the first step of her dream, verbally committing to UCLA, and now she continues the hard work needed to get there by training at least five to six days a week.”

The freshman, who has a 3.75 GPA in honors classes so far in her young high school career and wants to major in Communications and minor in Native American Studies, knows what she wants to do when she hangs up her cleats.

Says Shea, “I just want to play softball for as long as I can and when I’m done, I want to work for ESPN.”

Not only did UCLA get a talented catcher who can also play the left side of the infield in Shea, they also picked up a big-time cheerleader in Shea’s younger sister, Jordan, who has is now an “honorary Bruin.”

“We call her ‘Jerry McGuire, Jr.’ (based on the movie about the sports agent) because I am quite certain her lack of filter and innocent honesty – coupled with her ability to name off plays, players, and stats from all the UCLA games she records – was quite helpful during the recruiting process,” says the girls’ mother, Krystal, who is also one of the assistants for the LTG Lions.

“Coach Lisa (Fernandez of UCLA) and Coach Kelly (Inouye-Perez) have embraced us all as family and Jordan was a big piece of that. It’s truly been a blessing.”

It hasn’t been easy, Shea’s mother admits, as the softball standout is the oldest child in a single-parent family.

“She has been raised solely by me, her mother, and has also been the biggest helper and supporter of Jordan, who was born with some significant health challenges.”

“I believe it has been her experience with her sister that has influenced her natural inclination to help other special needs children at school and outside of school, as a volunteer for Project R.I.D.E., an organization that provides equestrian therapy for children and adults with special needs.”

Shea has also played volleyball and basketball for most of her young athletic career, but chose not to do either this year as she focused on softball and earning her verbal to UCLA. However, she expects to play both sports again next year.

In the meantime, she’s the first commit from the new LTG Lions organization out of Elk Grove, Calif. that was founded by Joe Henderson, the father of Jolene Henderson, the three-time All-American at Cal who was recently announced as the first signing by the new NPF team, the Dallas Charge.

Shea’s 16U team is coached by another father with Pac-12 ties: Jim Carda, whose daughter Ally Carda was announced this week as being on the USA Softball Watch List for Collegiate Player of the Year.

“Our team was formerly the Lady Magic 14U – Carda/Madison theam that had much success last season,” says Krystal Moreno. “We won both the ASA regional national qualifier tournament and also placed 2^nd in the PGF national qualifier as a first year 14U team.”

The then-Lady Magic squad also won the Champion’s Cup tournament in Irvine, Calif. last July beating top-tier teams including So Cal Athletics.

For now, Shea will focus on her first year of high school ball, playing for Sheldon High in Sacramento, perennially one of the top programs out in Northern California.

She’ll have four seasons to prepare for her future career at UCLA and then her dream job of working in sports, preferably for the Worldwide Leader in Sports.

Concludes her mother, “Shea is a true competitor who loves the game of softball and wants to build a career in sports. It hasn’t been easy so far, but she has handled her bit of adversity like a champ.”

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Front page photo by Sheps Photography