WEST LOS ANGELES — West Los Angeles College's Luisa Gauci may not look like every other baseball player on her team, but she shares the same passion, the same love for the game.
“I just love being able to get better every single day and I love training every day," she said, bat in hand. "I can’t really imagine myself doing anything else to be completely honest.”
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It's been a long journey to get here. To be exact, Gauci traveled over 8,200 miles from her hometown in Australia, all for the chance to play baseball in the United States. She started playing at age 12, thanks to a mix-up from her mom, who didn't recognize the difference between baseball and softball.
“It was more convenient for my mom to drop me off at the baseball field than it was to drop me off at the softball field, and so that's what she did," Gauci explained.
She was the only girl on her team in Australia, much like she is now. While Gauci wears the same uniform and is on the same roster, she's still in some ways an outlier in baseball where there are still few opportunities for women on the team side.
It hasn't always been easy to be the odd one out. In fact, it's led Gauci to question her path and her upcoming journey. But baseball, she says, is the sport meant for her.
"I had this feeling I’m meant to do something big with this," she said. "I just knew this was it and I kept following my gut.”
Her ultimate hope is to continue her development while in junior college, continue playing at the next level, and one day fulfill her desire to play professionally.
It's never been done before and she knows it won't be easy, but that's not stopping Gauci.
She continues to step up to the plate and follow her dreams.