|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Imagine a high school athlete so accomplished they have Division I college offers in two different sports.
It would be amazing to watch them play if only such an athlete existed.
Here’s your chance.
San Ramon Valley’s Gia Ryan is such an athlete. And she’s only a junior.
Ryan is the quarterback for the San Ramon Valley flag football team and is the shortstop for the Wolves softball team. Last year both teams won North Coast Section titles and Ryan was one of the main reasons why.
This year both teams figure to be in the mix again. The flag team is 14-4 and has only lost once to a team from Northern California – and the 13-12 loss to Amador Valley came on the final play of the game.
But as good as Ryan is in flag football (she’s among the top-rated players in the state), she’s better in softball. And it’s there where her future will be, as she has already committed to the University of Oklahoma.
Oklahoma is the gold standard of collegiate softball, having won eight National Championships, including four straight at one point, winning it all in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024.
Coach Patty Gasso is in her 33rd season as the Sooners’ coach and is known not just for success on the diamond but the overall development of her players.
“I think with Oklahoma, I’ll be set for life,” Ryan said of choosing Oklahoma over Alabama.
The 16-year-old started playing softball at the age of 6, then progressed to travel ball first with the Sorcerers program and then on to the Warriors Academy that is based out of San Mateo, a travel program that has won six National Championships and sent a lot of players on to D-I college teams.
“I was in 12-and-under and I realized that if I wanted to make it to the college level, I needed to go to a better program,” Ryan explained.
While it was clear that softball was her main priority, she dabbled in other sports in middle school, spending some time playing basketball and some flag football.
Once she got to high school, she opted for flag and softball.
“I threw the football well,” Ryan said. “But it’s always been about softball for me.”
That’s an understatement that Ryan throws the football well.
Her freshman year at SRV, Ryan sent notice to the rest of the East Bay Athletic League. Taking advantage of rules that favored the passing game. Ryan threw for an insane 6,323 yards and 86 touchdowns.
That same year in softball she hit .436, drove in 21 runs and had a pair of home runs. Not bad for a freshman.
In her sophomore year with new rules regarding rushing the passer, Ryan threw for 3,007 yards and 30 touchdowns in leading the Wolves to the NCS title. She also rushed 335 yards and four touchdowns.
Over at softball she hit .419, drove in 39 runs, had nine doubles, six triples and seven runs as the Wolves took NCS before falling in the first round of the NorCal playoffs.
That brings us to this, her junior year.
After the Wolves’ Oct. 6 EBAL game, Ryan has thrown for 3,013 yards with 40 touchdowns and only six interceptions. She has also run for four touchdowns as the Wolves are down to their final two weeks before the postseason and the chance to defend their NCS title.
To rise to the level Ryan has reached does not come easy. She’s put in the work and the time to hone her skills. There’s twice a week practices for softball in San Mateo as well as tournaments she travels to, with the summers being a full-time job.
She wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I don’t go to parties or the football games,” Ryan said. “But I’ve always just known what I want to do.”
And it paid off with the ride to Oklahoma, something that perhaps has not totally sunken in yet.
“Yeah, it’s been a hard thing to wrap my head around – I’m going to Oklahoma,” Ryan said.
For the rest of the EBAL in both flag and softball, they will have to face Ryan her senior year, without the burden of wading through all the college offers.
“It’s a pretty unique situation,” Ryan said of what will be her senior year. “I’m just going to enjoy high school now that I have a huge weight off my shoulders.”
Game of the Week
De La Salle at Monte Vista football
Friday, Oct. 16, 7:15 p.m.
We’ve seen it before, where a local team runs off to a great start to the season and anticipation builds for a meeting with De La Salle.
It usually turns out to be a lopsided win for the Spartans. Here we go again?
Monte Vista has jumped out to a 7-0 mark, and the Mustangs have convincingly beaten some good football teams. They are averaging 35 points a game on offense. The defense has also been strong, allowing only 13.4 points per game.
De La Salle has been its usual self. The Spartans are 6-0 and have beaten Serra, Cardinal Newman, St. Francis, St. Mary’s of Stockton, Centennial of Southern California, and Cathedral Catholic. The Spartans are coming in off a bye, giving the team two weeks to prepare for Mustangs.
How this game turns out is to be determined, but thus far Monte Vista has done everything asked of them and the Mustangs deserve the pre-game hype.
Editor’s note: Dennis Miller is a contributing sports writer for the Pleasanton Weekly. This column originally appeared in Tri-Valley Preps Playbook, a weekly sports e-newsletter published by Embarcadero Media Foundation. To sign up for free, visit here.
