30 Jan Antioch Teen Accepts Division I Scholarship

After completing her senior year at Antioch High, Apollonia “Apple” Maldonado will play Division 1 softball on scholarship at Weber State University in Utah. (Photo by Trine Gallegos)

By Juan Cebreiros

An Antioch High softball star will be taking her talents to Weber State University in the fall. In December, Apollonia “Apple” Maldonado accepted a full-ride scholarship offer, committing to  the Division I school in Ogden, Utah.

“It means just about everything to me and my family,” the 17-year-old Maldonado said. “They’ve put so much time and thousands upon thousands of dollars into me. To know they don’t have to pay anything, necessarily, and for me to play the sport I love, it really hit hard.”. 

Maldonado said her love for the sport came at 4 years old when her parents tried putting her in sports to keep her busy. Ultimately, her love for the game of softball stems from her parents. Maldonado said her father used to coach softball and her mother used to play. 

“What I love about softball is the diversity of the sport and how everyone can be included no matter what your skill set is. It’s truly a game of teamwork as well, and I love that I’m able to play the game with people I care about, which makes the teamwork easy.”

Her immediate family have been among Maldonado’s biggest beacons of support, along with her coaches. She said they have “given me confidence” throughout her career. 

That career has flourished, growing from a game she just enjoyed playing to something that will pay her way through college. Her hard work behind the scenes is what got her to this point.

“My work ethic has really put me here,” Maldonado said. “Evenings are always taken with homework and practice. When it comes to high school and summer travel-ball seasons, I don’t have time, especially with maintaining straight A’s.” 

As a result, she said, she had to learn time management from a young age. “However even then, there were still a lot of sacrifices I had to make like late nights and early mornings doing homework, or getting some of my work done in car rides on my way to practice.”

Over the past two seasons, her effort has begun to show results on the field. Maldonado has led her team in batting average and on-base percentage in each of the past two seasons and won Most Valuable Player of the Bay Valley Athletic League for the 2023 season. 

“It really means a lot,” Maldonado said. “It goes to show my efforts have not been put to waste. I’ve always wanted to be at the top.” 

The Antioch High senior calls her high school career thus far “pretty successful” as Antioch has qualified for the playoffs and finished with a .500 record or better in each of the past two seasons. She added that it’s really taught her how to be humble and the team to work for their recognition because “we don’t see many people going Division 1 in their sport too often.”

Not only a good hitter at the plate, Maldonado has shown versatility on defense. She has played first base, third and catcher as a freshman, and shortstop as a sophomore and junior, making  First Team All League each year.

Now, Maldonado wants to be a leader in her final season with the Panthers before she goes off to college next year.

The Panthers have lost many of their recent team leaders with nine players from the 2023 roster having graduated. So Maldonado said, “this season is going to be harder,” but she is ready to step up and help take their place this upcoming season. 

“My goal right now is to help the people around,” Maldonado said. “I want to support them and benefit the team as a whole. This roster isn’t a wow factor, but I really want to contribute to our team and our program because we’re still competing.” 

Also leading the way will, of course, be the team’s coaches.

“I’ve only seen a glimpse of the struggles they go through in order to give us the opportunity to stand out and play the game we love,” Maldonado said.

She credits them with more than just making her a better player.

“I know for a fact I wouldn’t be here without them and they are not only important people in my life, but family to me and my own family as well,” Maldonado said. “They have helped me grow as a player by teaching me life skills and helping me grow first as a strong individual in today’s society. They’ve taught me that the most important part of the game comes from the lessons you learn in life.”