There’s no one perfect way to describe the essence of Texas Tech softball player Lagi Quiroga. To get to know the 5-foot-8 junior, it’s best to start at the basics.
Quiroga’s real first name is Isabel. Named after her grandmother, Lagi (pronounced Long-ee) is her middle name. Her mother has called her Lagi as long as she can remember, and the name has stuck.
Next is her multi-racial ethnicity, each of which Quiroga is proud to represent in a predominantly white sport. Quiroga is a mix of Hispanic and Polynesian. Since moving to Lubbock, Quiroga said the most Polynesian people she’s been around was when BYU came to town to play the Texas Tech football team.
Most assume that “Polynesian” generally means someone from the Hawaiian Islands. In fact, Quiroga is Samoan and, to some extent or another, shares a bloodline with the Anoa’i family wrestling dynasty. Rikishi, the big-rumped WWE star of yesteryear, Quiroga says, is her uncle (how closely related she’s unable to say). The Rock, also known as Dwayne Johnson in Hollywood circles, was present at the funeral of Quiroga’s grandmother.
While wrestling hasn’t been brought up as a future occupation to Quiroga just yet, it would be fitting for someone who grew up playing football and rugby, who likes to live on the edge and chase the thrill of competition.
“I’m a bit of an adrenaline junkie,” Quiroga admits.
Quiroga, though, isn’t the troublemaking kind of thrill seeker. Though she does “drive a little faster than I should,” the only speeding ticket she’s received was because she was late for a camp.
Physicality has always been something Quiroga has embraced, perhaps why she’s taken a liking to being a catcher. Texas Tech head coach Gerry Glasco noted Quiroga’s physical prowess with a series of plays made during the Red Raiders’ game against the Japan national team last month in the Mary Nutter Classic.
“Lagi made plays against Japan that not many catchers can make,” Glasco said, “and the potential to develop into a really elite level defensive catcher. It’s there. National team-level defense.”
Quiroga’s offensive prowess was more notable when Texas Tech added the Cal transfer to its loaded backstop arsenal. The Red Raiders already had returning starter Victoria Valdez — who Glasco called perhaps the best defensive catcher in the country — and also added Ohio State All-American slugger Jazzy Burns.
Where Quiroga fit into the equation was questionable before the season, though it didn’t matter to her either way.
“I was gonna take on any role that Coach Glasco is gonna give me,” Quiroga said, “because of the fact that I love this team. I’ll do anything, (even) if it was just me riding the bench for every single game. I was gonna have my fun.”
In a sense, Quiroga is the happy balance between Valdez and Burns, providing elite offensive skills (.367 batting average, 10 home runs, 29 RBIs) and getting better on the defensive side of things by the day.
“Since she was 12, 13, 14 years old, she’s been known in the West Coast as one of the top hitters in the country,” Glasco said. “She’s kind of doing what we expected on offense, and I think defensively, she’s shown us she’s just a better catcher than even what we realized before she got here.”
Quiroga, a first team all-ACC selection as a sophomore, has found a sweet spot for herself on and off the field, which she credits to the people surrounding her on a daily basis.
“The people are so sweet,” said the Los Angeles native. “… Anywhere you go you feel right at home. I love the skies, too. The skies, the sunsets, they’re very pretty.”
It wasn’t just her fellow catchers Quiroga was going to compete against, though. Every position has been up for grabs this season, which spoke to Quiroga’s mentality.
“Just like how you’re almost competing with eight other superstars to get a spot to play, period,” Quiroga said, “I feel like me, Vic and Jazzy have such a good relationship that, yeah, we’re competing against each other, but I feel like we know ultimately we’re gonna have the same opponent.”
During Texas Tech’s home-opening tournament in February, the Red Raiders were greeted to capacity crowds every game, starting with their Thursday afternoon tilt with Abilene Christian. There may not be very many people who look like Quiroga or share her ethnic background — few people in the world do — but she understands why people speak highly of being a Red Raider once they get to town.
“That’s what’s crazy to me,” Quiroga said. “I feel like Cal, where I came from, wasn’t really close knit, anything close to that. I think they say everything’s bigger in Texas and I am just seeing it by the day. Literally.”
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Adrenaline junkie Lagi Quiroga fitting in with Texas Tech softball
Reporting by Nathan Giese, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal / Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
