Athlete of the Week: Arianna Alaniz

PALMVIEW, Texas (ValleyCentral) – Arianna Alaniz’s dominance inside the circle has her ranked second in the nation for strikeouts in high school softball.

That’s according to MaxPreps. Alaniz is a senior in the Palmview softball program, and dominance has been the one word to describe her performance this season.

“When they put the ball in play on her, a pitch stayed in the zone, one of the girls will make a comment and say, ‘She is human!’” Jessica Cardenas-Russell, Palmview Head Softball Coach, said.

Arianna and the Lobos are 11-1 District 30-5A play. What’s more impressive is Alaniz has posted a 0.88 earned run average (ERA) with a 19-4 record. 

While Palmview fans head to the ballpark to see the results of Alaniz’s hard work and dedication to the sport, Arianna studies the game.

Alaniz warms up in between innings vs. Juarez-Lincoln

Alaniz said, “I think working on my pitches has definitely helped me, especially changing speeds on batters that I know have caught up to my pitches. I think mixing up my pitches and changing the speed when I know the batters are catching up have helped me dominate more in the circle.”

The Lobos don’t say much come game time. Instead, the pack is led by silent leaders. Alaniz is one of them.

Cardenas-Russell detailed how Alaniz has never been a vocal player. However, as Arianna has grown within the Palmview program, she knows the time and place to step up and lead her teammates to victory.

“When some of her players need to get redirected, when they’re down, they make a mistake, she’s been the one to say, ‘Hey, shake it off. Let’s go,’” Cardenas-Russell said.

Like every sport, each player has a specific role, and over the years, Alaniz’s role has changed. In her senior year, Arianna has her role down to a tee.

“I have one job. My job is to be in control of the game,” she said.

Palmview wraps up its regular season at home against Cigarroa on Friday, April 19 at 6 p.m.