As reported by The Arizona Daily Star, AZDesertSwarm, and KOLD news, University of Arizona softball has added Speed School athlete Krista Martinez to their roster as a walk-on. A three-time state champion and All-State player during her high school days at Salpointe, Martinez immediately got in the action for the Wildcats, being put in the Stanford game to use her speed as a pinch runner.
As Daily Star writer PJ Brown described, the roster spot was quite unexpected for Martinez:
It’s mid-semester, and Krista Martinez was just finishing up a class when she received a phone call. It was Lauren Lappin, assistant coach for the eight-time National Champion Arizona Wildcats softball program; Lappin wanted to know if Martinez was interested in joining the Wildcats for the rest of the 2024 season. Martinez was just a regular student in her freshman year at the UA when she got the call.
“Honestly, no, I never would have thought if you would have told me four months ago, ‘You’re gonna be playing (for) Arizona softball,” Martinez said. “I would not have believed you…It’s kind of crazy. I’ve never heard of an opportunity like this happening to anyone else,” she said. “I’m just really blessed to be a part of this program and this tradition.”
Martinez joins fellow Speed School athletes Logan Cole and Carlie Scupin on the roster for the Wildcats. See full AZDesertSwarm story here.
