Del Norte softball standout enjoys position switch

No matter what she’s doing, Val Pero never gets bogged down in making decisions.

Things are pretty simple for the 5-foot-4 junior at Del Norte. If it feels right, do it.

“I’m a pretty impulsive person,’’ Pero said. “My impulsiveness is how I got into softball. That worked out pretty well.’’

Pero was throwing a tennis ball with her dog, Bones, one day. The next thing she knew she was telling her mom she wanted to start playing softball.

Pero is still a year from going off to college to play softball at Oregon State, which is a long way from playing fetch with Bones back in Guadalajara, Mexico, where she was born.

In addition to playing for the Beavers, Pero hopes to spend a semester abroad studying and sightseeing around softball and majoring in biology or environmental science.

Spain is one place she’d like to take that semester in, especially since she already speaks Spanish. Pero said she hopes to follow the family tradition of becoming doctors or maybe embarking on a law degree. Her impulses haven’t kicked in on that decision yet.

In her first season at Del Norte in 2017, after moving from Mexico, Pero hit .384 with a school-record 10 home runs and 31 RBIs as a catcher.

These days with the Nighthawks, the first-team All-Avocado East performer spends no time behind the plate. Pero is now at shortstop.

“I caught most of the time so this was a big change to make,’’ Pero said. “It’s way different out on the infield. I enjoy it a lot. I really loved the challenge.’’

Pero did not hesitate when coaches at Oregon State suggested she maximize her options by playing another position besides catching.

The move has not harmed her bat. She’s hitting .537 with four home runs and 22 RBIs through the first 17 games this season.

“This year has been much more relaxing,’’ Pero said. “I feel like I can do well all the time. The way things are going right now the ball looks about the size of a basketball and about 10 mph slower.’’

On a team with just three seniors, Pero helps leads a large group of freshmen and sophomores this season, a year after she was in that same group. The team’s age showed early on as the team started 2-6. But a recent 6-2 run helped even the team’s record at 8-8 before losses to Mt. Carmel and Poway left Del Norte at 8-10.

“I wasn’t worried about the start because I know we have something to build on,’’ she said. “I definitely think we’ll be 50 times better next year.’’

Del Norte coach Steve Kuptz wasn’t as optimistic at the start. Now he is because he has a leader in the lineup.

“We asked her to take a bigger leadership role this year,’’ Kuptz said. “How Val goes is how we go. The other kids are fine with that. They understand Val is a legitimate Division I college player. She has not plateaued yet. She never gets cheated on a swing and that’s a good lesson for the others.’’

But when word of her 10 homers last year began making the rounds, pitchers, for the most part, stopped throwing her good pitches to hit.

Patience at the plate is a virtue now.

“Usually, I get one pitch to hit in an at-bat and normally it’s the very first pitch,’’ Pero said. “I have become a first-pitch girl because the rest of the time I get a lot of junk.’’

Against Carlsbad on April 13, Pero was 3-for-3 with two home runs and six RBIs in a 17-7 nonleague win.

“I didn’t think Carlsbad would pitch to me unless they had to,’’ said Pero, who singled in her first at-bat before slugging back-to-back homers. “The first homer was on a two-strike pitch and the second homer was a thigh-high fastball on the first pitch.”

“I’m really more comfortable hitting this year because I’m a little stronger and I started using my legs more on every swing,” she said. “Last year I was a long ball or nothing. Now I feel like I’m a better hitter.’’

That’s bad news for all pitchers.