For the first San Pedro Prep Sports college signing of 2017-2018, San Pedro High softball senior outfielder Anessa Quiroz made her early choice, signing her national letter of intent on Wednesday to play collegiate softball at Monroe College in New Rochelle, New York. 

So far in her first three years, Quiroz has made tremendous impacts at both San Pedro and Port Of Los Angeles High, but since she transferred after her freshman year to play for the Pirates, that's when she has thrived the most, helping the Pirates capture the Marine League and CIF-Los Angeles City Section Division I championships in her first full year at San Pedro during her junior season.

Quiroz loved the New York atmosphere and didn't hesitate to sign the first chance she got.

"What got me hooked (on Monroe College) after talking to and meeting with the coach (Katie Jansson who was hired in August), she's everything I look for in a coach," Quiroz said. "And after I went to go visit the school, it was beautiful and I fell in love with it, also they have my major in social services."

At San Pedro, Quiroz batted .355 with a home run, 17 RBIs, 27 hits, 9 doubles and three triples en route to garnering an All-Marine League first team selection as part of a deep all-league outfield tandem starting alongside the likes of returning senior Taiya Reyna, and recently graduated Andrea Trejo. In the CIF-LACS Division I quarterfinals against league nemesis Carson, Quiroz blasted a game-winning walk-off RBI-single for a 1-0 Pirates victory.

On May 20, Quiroz helped the Pirates capture the CIF-LACS Division I title to end the program's eight-year drought.

"After reaching that goal (winning CIF), it made me push harder to reach my goal with my travel ball team, the Artesia Punishers to commit to the college that best fit me," Quiroz said.

In her freshman season at POLA, Quiroz gained extra experience at another position, catcher, as she got most of the starts behind the plate catching future Division I pitching standouts Nicolle Miranda (junior at Eastern Michigan) and Analise De La Roca (freshman at New Mexico State) during a 31-5 season for the Polar Bears which ended in the CIF-LACS Division I semifinals.

Quiroz hit .333 with a home run, 19 RBIs, 32 hits and seven doubles for POLA, also coming up on three memorable moments, a walk-off single to defeat Edison of Huntington Beach in the Polar Bears' inaugural home game at Leland Park, and a spectacular diving catch in a El Segundo Tournament victory over Redondo Union that went viral on MaxPreps.com. Also in the first round of CIF-LACS Division I against Polytechnic of Sun Valley, Anessa started an eventual come-from-behind, 6-5, nine-inning win with her two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning.

To this day, Anessa is the only one to ever deliver a game-winning walk-off hit at two different San Pedro-based high schools.

"It feels good to be able to hit those walk-offs," says Quiroz, who along with Reyna, senior pitcher Quincy Greenwood and rising sophomores Brianna Talamantes & Briana Velasquez will look to be key returners for San Pedro. "No matter where I'm at, I will always work my hardest to get the job done."