The first time Kelly Ford saw Megan Delgadillo in person on a softball field, Delgadillo gave her future coach a home run. This would look like a combination of Halley’s Comet and a unicorn sighting. You won’t see many of them and you will appreciate them for what they are.
“It certainly made an impression,” Ford said.
It does – but not for the reasons you might think. Ford wasn’t recruiting Delgadillo from Riverside Poly High School for his thunder. Looking at Delgadillo’s career in terms of home runs is like looking at the Venus de Milo and wondering where the arms are. You missed the plot about Delgadillo’s softball character.
This character is a unicorn in more ways than one.
It starts with the raw power that Delgadillo actually possesses. This power comes from a brain that never stopped processing what was happening – or about to happen – on a softball field.
Cal State Fullerton’s softball coach and his chief lieutenant, associate head coach Jorge Araujo, saw a player who possessed elite skills at every other level of the game. Speed, arm, instinct, ability to get on base and, more importantly for Ford, that intangible that simply imposes its will on a play.
“Having ‘Cheese’ on our team, I liken it to having another coach on our team,” Ford said, referring to Delgadillo’s nickname. “She is the player-coach. Players definitely come to her to hone their skills and listen to her feedback. But where she really shines is in her scouting. Hell, she can just watch a game and see things that a lot of players don’t notice. She just has a real spirit for the game and looks at the game through the coaches eyes.
Delgadillo may be nicknamed “Cheese,” and Ford talked about how Delgadillo “exudes joy in every moment on the field.” But there’s nothing cheesy about his game. The senior outfielder has established herself as one of the greatest difference makers in CSUF softball history, one who has already raced, slashed and ignited her way into the program’s record book.
Two years ago, Delgadillo had a forgettable season, one in which she brought an eraser to both the program and the Big West record books that looked remarkably like her legs. She stole 50 bases, breaking Brooke Clemetson’s 2018 program record (35) and UC Riverside’s Dionne Anderson’s 2014 record (47). His 50 interceptions gave him 97 for his career, breaking Ari Williams’ program career record (93).
All the while, she led the Big West in hits (80) and runs (57), while slashing .404/.462/.444. Naming her Big West Player of the Year was as much of a no-brainer as it was for Ford and Araujo to recruit her.
“We all know I’m not the biggest girl who hits a ton of home runs. What do I have, one in my career? Delgadillo joked, his open, sardonic sense of humor coming through. “But I am able to use what I was born with. My legs are quite long; it helps me have that advantage when it comes to stealing bases.
To anyone familiar with Delgadillo’s mentality, this was not only understandable but expected. This is a player who considered it an insult to begin her college career in right field because she played center field in travel ball and in high school. Center field is where leaders played and even as a freshman, Delgadillo considered herself a leader.
Except Kelsie Whitmore was already there. Delgadillo had to go up against one of the greatest pure athletes in program history, playing what she considered her position.
“It was a tough pill to swallow. I wanted to play center, be the leader in the outfield,” Delgadillo said. “Three weeks into the season, we’re playing Notre Dame in the Mary Nutter tournament, and coach Jorge (Araujo) came to me and said, ‘We’re going to put you at center and move Kelsie to the right.’ ‘…That’s when I knew I had arrived. This was where I belonged. It was a big deal. Even at 18, I was capable of being there. leader on and off the field.
This shows you another level of Delgadillo’s character, a hidden source of energy. That shows you why she was able to put together this kind of season as a sophomore. What kind of havoc would Delgadillo wreak as a junior? How many records would she break as a junior? How much more will would she break opposing pitchers, tied in mental knots every time Delgadillo reached base?
Because Delgadillo doesn’t hesitate to say, “They know now that I’m going to steal either on the first throw or the second.” …”
Well, it was here that Delgadillo’s character faced his greatest test, when the lightning temporarily disappeared from his legs. Twenty games into the 2023 season, she was hitting .338/.375/.353 with 10 stolen bases in 13 attempts, heading into a game against Baylor at Anderson Family Field. With a runner on first, a Baylor batter sent a ball into short center field. Delgadillo ran with the ball to keep the runner on first when she took an awkward step.
The sound of her right ACL popping out could be heard by her teammates in the dugout.
“I was done from there. My whole leg felt numb. I screamed, ‘My knee, my knee,’ and I couldn’t feel my leg,” she said.
An MRI the following Monday revealed a torn ACL, and 19 days after tearing it, Delgadillo underwent surgery. His psyche, however, remained torn.
“I didn’t do well. That’s the best way to start,” she said. “Honestly, I was devastated. All I thought about was… how much I’m letting the team down. … The main thing that helped me was that Ford let me travel with the team. Softball is a big part of my life, and if I couldn’t do that, I would have been… irritated by everything. It made me feel like I meant something to the team.
Ford made it clear that she was.
“When she came down in March, that changed everything,” Ford said. “We had to recreate ourselves offensively. She fell and four days later, Antonette Dean fell. Between them, they had the highest batting average and the most stolen bases. It was devastating.
“But she was there for every practice and every game she could get to. I have never seen a player be so dedicated when going through the trenches of ACL surgery and rehab. She was there at every practice, cheering on her teammates, and she traveled with us to regionals. She still made a difference. I’ve never seen a player react the way she did when she was injured. He is truly a special human being.
Delgadillo didn’t pick up a bat until October, the first month she was able to jog. But her fanaticism to return to center field brought her to the weight room five days a week, where CSUF coaches Tessa McEvoy and Mandolyn Peterson let her work out and put back 30 pounds of muscle until then. withered.
This shows. This season, Delgadillo is hitting .436 with a .464 on-base percentage and a .529 slugging percentage. She leads the conference in hits (68), runs (41), stolen bases (36 in 37 attempts) and is tied for triples (four).
Records continue to fall. Earlier this year, Delgadillo broke Gina Oaks Garcia’s 21-year-old program mark for career runs. She won two Big West Player of the Week awards this season. That gives him six for his career.
“I was so excited to be back, and even though I was very nervous about being the same player I was, I knew it was good to be different,” said she declared. “My body will be a lot different than it was, and I was ready to transition into that.” I take much better care of my body now. I don’t take it for granted. I was able to recover and know my limits, but I feel like I came away much more grateful for the match.
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