OKLAHOMA CITY — USA Softball of Southern California (SoCal) has announced the athletes who will represent the U.S. at the 2025 USA Softball SoCal x Tokyo Exchange event, scheduled for October 3–4 in Irvine, Calif. at Bill Barber Park. Selected from the 2025 High Performance Program (HPP) Region 10 Identifiers in Irvine, Calif., the 14-player roster will face Team Tokyo in the second half of an exchange series designed to strengthen the connection between the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the upcoming LA28 Games. Last year, the SoCal U-18 All-Star Team traveled to Tokyo to participate in a series of matches against Team Tokyo.
“USA Softball of SoCal is honored to host Japan in this historic event,” said USA Softball of SoCal Commissioner, Chris Drumm. “Our elite SoCal athletes are excited to compete at an international level, while making new friends and lifelong memories. We are grateful to our talented and experienced coaching staff that will be leading our athletes,” she added.
This year’s exchange will once again feature high-level competition between the USA Softball of SoCal U-18 Women’s All-Star Team and Metro Tokyo Softball. After the opening round of games in Tokyo last year, the series will continue this October in Irvine, Calif.
Click here for more information on the USA Softball x Tokyo Exchange event »
The 14-player roster — a product of the USA Softball HPP — is composed of athletes from Southern California, including four standouts from the 2024 National Selection Event: Shay Kletke, Soleil Luna, Malaya Majam-Finch and Sacha Zalamea. Evaluated through a local HPP identifier, this roster marks the second group to advance to international play at the grassroots level following last year’s team. Established in 2020, the HPP was designed to identify and develop a pool of athletes to train, compete and represent USA Softball in both domestic and international competitions.
Click here to view the 2025 SoCal U-18 Women’s All-Star Team roster »
Leading the SoCal U-18 Women’s All-Star Team at the Exchange event will once again be AJ Robinson, head coach of the Cal State San Marcos softball program. Joining him in Irvine are 2020 Olympic silver medalists Ali Aguilar and Rachel Garcia.
“The team’s chemistry is great. I can’t wait to watch our players compete and enjoy this opportunity,” said Robinson. “I hope that we get a great crowd to come out and watch the games and enjoy some high-level international softball,” he added. “I’m excited to have Rachel and Ali mentor our players and give them little nuggets of information that will help these players reach new levels of success on and off the field.”
Continuing the excitement from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, these matchups join the No. 1 and No. 2 world-ranked programs in an effort to grow the sport of softball and celebrate its return to the Olympic Games.
To learn more about the HPP or to get involved, visit USASoftball.com.
Roster
| Name | Position | Hometown |
|---|---|---|
| Jordan Castrellon | C | El Monte , CA |
| Rylee Cull | IF | La Habra, CA |
| Abby Ford | P | Yorba Linda, CA |
| Bella Gonzales | P | Cerritos, CA |
| Alyssa Hernandez | OF | Fullerton, CA |
| Riley Hilliard | C | La Mirada, CA |
| Reese Hilliard | IF | La Mirada, CA |
| Shay Kletke | P | Huntington Beach, CA |
| Soleil Luna | IF | Brea, CA |
| Malaya Majam-Finch | P/UTL | Fullerton, CA |
| Ali Plimpton | OF | Hacienda Heights, CA |
| Koa Puppe | IF | Rancho Cucamonga, CA |
| Kale’a Tindal | OF | Santa Clarita, CA |
| Sacha Zalamea | IF | Long Beach, CA |