Tuua tough: Destiny Christian softball star leads Lions to CIF crown
.jpg "The Destiny Christian Lions celebrate the program’s second CIF Sac-Joaquin Section banner in three seasons with a 4-0 win over Pioneer of Woodland on Saturday at Sacramento State’s Shea Stadium.")
There is a considerable amount of power at the Tuua dinner table. Not in consumption, but in might, appearance and performance.
Julai Tuua still looks the part of a man who played college football at Cal Poly in the trenches, his action coming in a three-point stance. His wife, Shannon, leaves the impression that she can still hammer a fastball over any fence, which she did on occasion as at Cal Poly.
And there is daughter, Ayla Tuua. She is 5-foot-11, a national recruit and a rock-solid force of nature in the pitching circle where she whips fastballs, and at the plate, where she crushes pitches to all fields. A two-time Sacramento Bee Player of the Year and still just a junior, Ayla Tuua continues to tower in her craft in the greater Sacramento region, including on Saturday afternoon at Sacramento State.
The LSU-committed star pitched a complete-game four-hitter with seven strikeouts, and she smashed a run-scoring double to open the scoring as top-seeded Destiny Christian Academy of Sacramento beat the Pioneer Patriots of Woodland 4-0 in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV finals at Shea Stadium.
Players and coaches celebrated the program’s second blue banner conquest in three seasons. Among the coaches is Shannon Tuua, the head coach, who said she is pleased to tears about the success her daughter has experienced, certainly, but credited the entire team for a 23-2 season that will continue in the CIF Northern California Regional playoffs that start June 3.
“It’s a great group,” Coach Tuua said. “We knew Pioneer was a phenomenal hitting team, and it took all of us to win this because one person can’t win a championship.”
But having an anchor certainly helps.
Tuua is humble when not dominating
Ayla Tuua is two people, really. She is a 4.1 GPA student, a friend to everyone on a campus big on diversity and warmth, and she raves about teammates more than she ever would applaud herself.
In her spare time, Ayla Tuua will with a hook and yarn crochet beanies and donates them to babies at local hospital, a glimpse of her desire to someday work with infants as a career.
Then, in competition, she is the Lions’ power source, all hard expressions, focus and determination.
“The crochet is a reminder of being humble, to help,” Ayla Tuua said. “I learned a lot of that from my parents, great role models.”
Mom’s power once broke teammate’s arm
Well before her Cal Poly days, where she would meet her husband-to-be, the DCA coach went by Shannon Brooks.
She was a slugging start at Sheldon High School in the Elk Grove Unified School District, earning Bee Player of the Year honors in 2002 under Hall of Fame coach Mary Jo Truesdale and leading the Huskies to the Division I section championship.
As Shannon Brooks, she once knocked a Yuba City pitcher out of game with a screaming line drive up the middle - and off the pitcher’s shin. Another time, she fouled a pitch off with such force that the ball smashed into the arm of a teammate in the batting circle, breaking it.
Could Mom in her day take her daughter over the fence?
“Every once in a while, I’ll see Ayla throw a pitch, and I’ll go, ‘I took you 350 feet on that one!’” Shannon said with a laugh. “She knows I’d own her. Maybe!”
Said the slugger, “I know she was teasing but she’s probably right. I don’t know. Maybe not.”
As for being the nice girl off the diamond and the fiercely driven one on it, Ayla Tuua said, “It’s about respect. You respect the opponent and the game, but winning is the goal.”
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‘We’re begging the CIF...’
Against Pioneer, Savanna Newman gave DCA a 2-0 lead in the first inning when she smashed a triple, scoring teammate Tuua. In the sixth, Aubrey Joiner had an RBI double to make it 4-0.
The support crew around Tuua is as good as it gets with McKayla Fulmer (a .483 average this season), Maddilyn Woodcock, Newman (.442), Roxanne Sardo (.500), Mia Jimenez (.318), Joiner (.368), Takiyah Haygood (.389), Abbey Falvey (.304), Sophia Fontaine, one of just two seniors on the roster.
“I love my teammates,” Ayla said.
Two seasons after the school that formerly went by Capital Christian won its first league and section championship, it’s now become routine.
DCA now seeks the program’s third consecutive NorCal championship. The CIF uses a competitive-equity formula to seed NorCal entries, meaning DCA could move up as high as Division I. Rolling along with a 12-game winning streak, the Lions invite all challenges.
DCA’s last loss was a 3-1 effort to state-ranked No. 1 Del Oro of Placer County, the top seed in the section D-I bracket. Among the wins for DCA are a 1-0 triumph on April 28 over Rocklin, the No. 1 seed in the section D-II bracket.
“We’re begging the CIF to move us up to D-I,” Coach Tuua said with excitement. “We can compete. We want to compete. It’s good for us, and it’s fun. We like to push ourselves to the limit.”
Said the star daughter, “We want to compete against the best. We’re ready, and we’re so motivated.”
Pioneer will not advance to the CIF NorCals and finishes 23-6 under longtime coach Linda Merrida. The team will return a lot of players, including Stanford-bound shortstop Marisa Bryson, who batted .618 with 10 homers and 38 RBIs.
Among the graduating losses will be senior ace Jia Beebe, who earned each of her team’s 23 victories this spring and battled against DCA after giving up three runs in the first inning.
This story was originally published May 24, 2025 at 2:29 PM.