A’s Player of the Month: Green Valley High’s Liliana Esparza

Green Valley High School softball player Liliana Esparza is pictured April 9, 2025. Photo by:

Sponsored by The A’s and Las Vegas Aviators

When Liliana Esparza took the field for her senior season at Green Valley High, she already had a résumé that most players could only dream of.

As a freshman phenomenon, she earned a coveted starting spot on the Gators’ 2022 state championship team — a remarkable achievement for a ninth-grader. She had a pivotal RBI triple to help Green Valley win a pair of eliminated games against Minden’s Douglas High for the title.

She continued to develop and has earned a full-ride scholarship to the University of San Diego.

Despite these accomplishments, Esparza found herself at a crossroads.

Her junior year became a season of growth and challenges, particularly at the plate. She battled through a persistent hitting slump that tested her patience and mental fortitude.

Some games, she made solid contact only to watch the ball find defenders’ gloves. Other times, the mounting pressure led to strikeouts as she pressed too hard for results.

This adversity prompted her to recalibrate her approach to the game she loves — a testament to her maturity and commitment to excellence.

“Last year was a rough one mentally,” Esparza says. “My perspective on the sport had to change. I was putting too much pressure on myself to overperform.”

It’s much different this season — she’s relaxed, free of pressure and most importantly, on a tear at the plate. She’s batting .508 with seven home runs, 36 RBIs and 32 runs scored entering the final four weeks of the season.

“She’s a true captain on the field,” coach A.J. Coleman said. “She sees the game in the moment.” He later added, “I can’t believe she only has seven more games left (in the program).”

Coleman proudly says Esparza has two of the furthest home runs he’s seen in coaching. One blast, last season at Basic, was hit so far it cleared the fence on the adjoining baseball field and landed in the outfield.

It goes to show that no matter how bad her slump was, the talent remained.

Coleman said he never lost confidence in his prized pupil, keeping her in the coveted No. 4 spot in the batting order and letting her play out of the slump. Esparza wound up batting just .242 with two home runs and 10 RBIs.

“I’m a goal-driven person,” she said. “I knew if I keep working at it, things would come together.”

She caught the eye of the coaching staff at the University of San Diego during a club tournament. An infielder by trade, she was assigned to an outfield spot on this day and made a diving catch.

In college, they’ll use her as a utility player.

Esparza traveled into Southern California earlier this year for the college program’s home opener. The university was debuting its Reggie Smith Softball Complex, a $14.5 million state-of-the-art complex that is the team’s new headquarters.

She reminisced with her mother during the car ride about the many trips to California over the years for softball games and practices. Like many elite players, she plays club in California.

Seeing the new facility and knowing she’ll keep playing at the next level gave her a sense of pride. She had weathered the storm of a rough high school season — and became stronger for it.

She credits her faith for giving her strength, so much that a Bible verse from the Book of Matthew adorns her visor.

“I never doubted she would hit her way out of it,” Coleman said of the slump.