Etiwanda High's Vanessa Taukeiaho batted .640 with 20 home runs and 56 RBI this past season, and th Cal-Hi Sports Ms. Softball State Player of the Year nominee wasn't even at 100 percent until midway through the season.

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"In the beginning of the year, I wasn't at 100 percent because of my shoulder injury," Taukeiaho said, "but it did allow me to work more on my batting skills."

Well, that will probably be bad news for pitchers on the club circuit now that Taukeiaho is at 100 percent and ready to help Mike Stith's OC Batbusters make a run at a third consecutive PGF national championship this summer.

Merced's Madilyn Nickles, the Gatorade National Player of the Year, is among the nominees for Ms. Softball in California, but none of the finalists will have their name in as many categories in the state record book as Taukeiaho, whose career totals include 37 homers, 169 hits, 35 doubles and a .486 batting average.

Vanessa's older sister, Missy, who was named the 2016 Big West Conference Player of the Year at Cal State Fullerton this past season, is looking forward to seeing what her little sister does in the future.

"I am extremely proud of what my sister has done not only this year, but throughout her whole career so far," Missy said. "She is definitely naturally talented because Vanessa started later in softball than I did and was better than I was at the age she started playing and has continued to one up me every year. But my sister has also worked very hard, especally, with her hitting to have the kind of year she had this year and I believe that this is just the beginning of an amazing future she's going to have at Oklahoma and beyond that if she chooses."

Vanessa comes from a family of athletes. Missy was an All-American at Etiwanda before becoming a standout softball player in college. Her other sister, Jessica, thought "softball was boring" and became a star soccer player at Etiwanda and currently plays soccer at Vanguard University. Her mom, Angela Vargas, played varsity softball at Etiwanda and her dad, William Taukeiaho was a star running back/defensive tackle for Etiwanda's football team, which won a CIF-SS Division V championship in 1990.

"People still come up and ask me if I'm his kid," Vanessa said. "His junior year, I think, they won CIF and that was the last year Etiwanda won CIF. He's the reason we wear No. 33. We wear that number because that was his football number. ... I am the last person in my family to go through Etiwanda."

Vanessa, who is the youngest of the sisters, said Jessica is the "brainiac" and Missy is "amazing at softball" and she is "in the middle." Vanessa said she and her sisters became very close during Missy's senior year at Etiwanda before she was about to go off to college.

"There's kind of a big age difference, so when I was in high school, she was still in elementary school, so the maturity levels were very different," Missy said. "I think my senior year of high school she and I realized that we wouldn't be seeing each other every day and it was going to be different, so we started to bond more. There would be days I would stay in on weekends and make food with her and watch movies and just really started to enjoy each other's company, which was good. Then with me going off to college and her entering high school, we both grew up together and began helping and being there for each other, which is why we are so close. I look to both of my sisters now as my two best friends."

Vanessa and her sisters share that bond and Vanessa and Missy share that same home run swing.

"She's always been a role model for me in a positive way," Vanessa said. "A lot of it has to do with me being really competitive. If Missy hits a home run, then I want to hit at least two more just to rub it in her face. It's all really competitive. She's my role model. I do look up to her. The knowledge she has for the game, she shares with me. We both definitely wish for the best for each other."

The summer club circuit kicks into full gear with the Boulder IDT from June 29-July 3 in Colorado. Vanessa, who played with Bret Denio's Explosion last summer, and the OC Batbusters, ranked No. 1 in the nation by FloSoftball, will have big targets on their backs throughout the summer.

"It's amazing being with them," the Oklahoma-bound outfielder/infielder said. "I played with all the girls on that team since I was 10 yeas old. I just love it. The atmosphere on that team is unbelievable. We push in practices every day and that's what I need going into college."




Related:

What it takes to be in the Hot 100 with Coach Mike Stith