GONZALES — Gonzales resident Celeste Camarena has just begun attending school and training for softball at Azusa Pacific University near the city of Glendora in Southern California.
Camarena, 20, is the daughter of Maria and Carlos Camarena of Gonzales and a recent graduate at Monterey Peninsula College (MPC).
“I made my decision to commit to Azusa Pacific University (APU) last summer,” she said. “I was taking classes at MPC during the fall to receive my associate’s degree.”
Camarena batted .377 at MPC last spring with two home runs, 25 runs batted in, scored 22 runs and had three stolen bases. She played catcher and middle infielder.
The MPC Lobos team finished with a 17-18 record, ending its season with a 6-1 loss to College of the Sequoias in the Northern California Regional Playoffs. MPC placed fifth in the 2025 Coast Conference Softball standings.
As a prep at Gonzales High, Camarena was a three-sport athlete every season except for the Covid year.
In the 2022-23 basketball season, Camarena was a Santa Lucia All-League player, and she was also a Cypress All-League player in volleyball.
Camarena was a Cypress All-League softball player her junior year in 2021-22, and was a Mission All-League softball player in the 2022-23 season.
“Celeste caught for us her first two years of softball, and played shortstop her final year,” said Gonzales head softball coach Jimmy Carrillo. “She was very coachable and had a great work ethic. She always hit the ball and batted either number one or number two in our lineup. I can probably count all the times she struck out on one hand. She caught a great game and at shortstop provided solid defense.”
In her senior softball season, Camarena had 17 multi-hit games, led the Spartans with 52 hits, hit 11 doubles and led the team with six triples. She was selected as Female Athlete of the Year for Gonzales High School in her last year of school.
“I will be playing shortstop and catcher at Azusa and my field of study is kinesiology,” Camarena said. “My advise to athletes is dedicate your time and effort into yourself and your sport because hard work doesn’t have to be witnessed, time exposes everything. Keep your grades up because they matter, and always dream big.”
Azusa Pacific University is transitioning to the National Collegiate Association’s Division III this season. The first game of the season is on Jan. 30, when APU will host Concordia University Irvine.
