CARSON -- Nearly 30 Cal State Dominguez Hills softball alums came home to their alma mater last Saturday to visit this year's Toros team during their morning practice and participate in a fundraising dinner later that afternoon to kick off the 2023 season that begins next week.

For images from the day, click here.

Welcomed at the check-in table by members of this year's team where t-shirts were sold, alums ranging from the 1990s to the 2020s enjoyed the opportunity to reconnect with former teammates and meet fellow alums, while also meeting this year's team and catching up with head coach Jim Maier, who led last year's squad to the program's first ever NCAA West Region Championship and within two wins from the NCAA National Title.

The group heard from Associate Vice President / Director of Athletics Eric McCurdy, current Toro Kaylee Hull, Alumni Relations Director Felicia Hernandez and emcee Mel Miranda, whose slide show took the alums to a trip down memory lane since the program's inception in the 1980s.

Val Long and Dani Proctor concluded the event by stressing the importance of each alum taking ownership of her role in the program, beginning with an alumni initiative that will have an impact on the program through workshops, mentoring and donations towards an annual scholarship of $17,000 that will provide for a full year of tuition and housing.

Alums who attended spanned California, including two from Texas in Long and Julie Berthiaume, and from Arizona in Kayla Lock and Lexi Madrid.  Other alums who visited Carson that day were Adriana Sanchez, Alyssa Cruz Fernandez, Amber Angel, Annie Ibarra, Araceli Martinez, Cat Brown, Chenoa Au, Christina Chavez, Daisy Beltran, Daisy Flores, Danielle Stronks, Karen Pederson, Katie Garcia, Liz Jimenez, Mari Alaniz, Melissa Acosta Jensen, Natalie Greco, Nicole Stelter, Regina Farfan, Ro Lutz, Sasha Shell, Stephanie Hua, and Stephanie Jimenez.

To date, pledges and donations so far have totaled nearly $12,000.