Mission Viejo Softball Alumna Plays In USA Vs Italy Olympic Game

MISSION VIEJO, CA —Want to see Orange County locals competing in the Olympics? A Mission Viejo native, and Capistrano Valley High School player features in the Tuesday game, but she won't be wearing red, white and blue. Giulia Koutsoyanopulos, a University of Arizona softball player, has joined the Italian team and faces fellow Orange County players in Tuesday's game.

The Tokyo Olympics begin Tuesday California time with three softball games, including a matchup between the U.S. and Italy where both teams having players from Orange County.

The top-ranked U.S. team has players from Anaheim, Brea and Placentia: catcher Dejah Mulipola from Anaheim, catcher Aubree Munro from Brea and outfielder Janie Reed from Placentia— and one from Los Angeles County, pitcher Rachel Garcia from Palmdale.

Garcia is among four UCLA alumni on the team along with pitcher Ally Carda, utility player Bubba Nickles and infielder Delaney Spaulding.

There are also Orange County players on the Italian team. One from Anaheim and another from Mission Viejo.

Italy, which is the lowest-ranked team in the six-team Olympic softball tournament, has two players from Orange County — infielders Amanda Fama from Anaheim Koutsoyanopulos from Mission Viejo.

Koutsoyanopulos was a top-50 recruit for the University of Arizona Wildcats softball team after starring for the OC Batbusters and at Capistrano Valley High School, where she hit .542 as a senior with a 1.633 OPS and four home runs, according to Ryan Kelipere of www.azdesertswarm.com.

Mike Candrea, a former University of Arizona coach and winner of Team USA to gold and silver medals from previous Olympics spoke on Koutsoyanoulos and her joining Team Italy during the 2021 season, as Kelipere reports.

“G’s a really good defensive player and and we’ve got to have her on the field when the game’s on the line,” Candrea said. “She makes me feel very comfortable and that’s her strength but she’s worked really hard with her offensive side of the ball and is getting better.”

The game from Fukushima Azuma Baseball Stadium in Fukushima, about 150 miles north from Tokyo, will be televised live by cable's NBC Sports Network beginning at 8 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time.

Each of the six teams will play each other during the opening round. The top two teams will play for the gold medal in one week.

Softball was among six sports added in 20Softball is being played at the Olympics for the first time since 2008. In 2005, the International Olympic Committee voted to drop softball from the 2012 Olympic program, falling one vote short of the simple majority from the 105 eligible voters from being retained.16 to the 2020 Olympics along with baseball, karate, sport climbing, surfing and skateboarding.

Softball was first played in the Olympics in 1996, with the U.S. winning gold medals in 1996, 2000 and 2004. Japan defeated the U.S. in the 2008 gold medal game.

Because of the large number of events, the Olympics customarily holds events before the opening ceremonies, which will begin at 3:55 a.m. Friday PDT and shown live on NBC.

City News Service contributed to this report.