SAN DIEGO -- San Diego State softball head coach Kathy Van Wyk has announced the signing of five student-athletes to National Letters of Intent. The five California products join a program that has won a Mountain West-best seven regular-season championships in the 19-year history of the league.
Jillian Celis comes to The Mesa after starring at Corona High School (Corona, Calif.) as a shortstop. Celis racked up numerous accolades at CHS, including being named to the BIG VIII All-Academic Team, winning the team's scholar-athlete award and board of education award. Celis most recently played her club ball with So Cal Athletics-Turner. Prior to joining So Cal A's-Turner, Celis was with Firecracker Manny where she helped her 2015 squad to a runner-up finish at the USSSA Western Regional Championship. Celis picked the Aztecs over consideration from James Madison, Minnesota, North Carolina and Boston College.
Karina Faasisila is coming off three successful seasons so far at Tracy High School (Tracy, Calif.). According to MaxPreps, Faasisila is 37-7 in the circle with a 1.46 ERA over 287 1/3 innings, striking out 334 against 93 walks. In 2018, Faasisila was 21-2 with a 0.92 ERA in the circle, striking out 193 batters in 144 innings, while hitting .417 (30-for-72) with nine doubles at the plate. For her efforts, she has been named all-league each of the past two seasons, to the all-league freshman team in 2016, as well as the TCAL Pitcher of the Year and an all-Nor Cal first-team selection. Faasisila has led the Bulldogs to three straight TCAL titles and a 2018 CIF Sac Joaquin section championship when they went 24-4. She currently plays her club ball for California Breeze.
A Murrieta, Calif., native, Makayla Jordan has earned four letters so far at Vista Murrieta High School. An outfielder, Jordan helped the Broncos to a 2017 Southwest League title. Jordan has also starred for her club team Athletics Mercado, which made back-to-back Premier Girls Fastpitch (PGF) championship games in 2017 and 2018, as well as a PGF championship in 2014. Jordan is also a scholar-athlete at VMHS.
A catcher out of Roseville High School in Roseville, Calif., Sadie Langlet helped the Tigers to the 2016 Capital Conference title and back-to-back runner-up finishes over the last two years. A three-time all-league selection, Langlet batted .563 in 2018 with a 1.542 OPS percentage, .354 in 2017 and .342 in 2016. Langlet, a three-time scholar-athlete, was also recruited by Utah, Cal State Fullerton, Boise State, UNLV, Utah State, CSUN and Portland State. A team captain for the upcoming season and team MVP last year, Langlet plays her club ball with fellow signee Karina Faasisila and the California Breeze.
The last signee in the class, Alyssa Vilke is the lone San Diego recruit out of Scripps Ranch High School. An outfielder, Vilke has hit .438 with 16 home runs, 98 RBIs, 77 runs, 19 doubles and 12 triples over her career so far (according to MaxPreps), while posting a .483 on-base percentage and .779 slugging percentage, and stealing 28 bases on 30 attempts. A first-team all-county selection each of her three years, Vilke's best season so far came in 2017 as a sophomore when she hit .534 with 10 homers, 38 RBIs, 32 runs and nine doubles in just 27 games, while owning a .580 on-base percentage and a 1.000 slugging percentage. Vilke helped the Falcons to a 2016 league title and a third-place finish in the San Diego Country open division in 2018. A scholar-athlete, Vilke plays her club ball with So Cal Breakers-Labs.
SDSU is coming off a 20-31 overall record in 2018, including an 11-13 mark in MW play for sixth place. The Aztecs won six of their final eight games of the season, including two of the final three series.
San Diego State begins its 2019 season on the road, playing at Grand Canyon Univ.'s Kickoff Tournament in Phoenix from Friday, Feb. 8-Sunday, Feb. 10.