What an amazing year 2014 was for Paige Halstead, the outstanding catcher/utility player who plays for Bret Denio’s Explosion team.

Paige was a Full Count Softball All-American in the spring, in the summer helped the Explosion to a top 10 finish at PGF Nationals and in the fall was listed as a top 10 recruit in the 2015 Hot 100 and then signed with UCLA in November.

It looks like 2015 will be equally great for the future Bruin as she went to the open tryout for the Jr. National Team on Jan. 2 and made that cut as one of 10 invited to the weekend’s workouts in Irvine, Calif.

With her power-hitting lefty bat and outstanding defensive skills, Paige made the team as one of 17 chosen and in this video taken Saturday at the Surf City Winter Showcase (before the rains ending up shutting down the event!) talks about the Jr. National experience, how she approached the tryout and what she’ll remember about it years down the road!