‘FUTURE SUPERSTAR’ WITH CHAMORU BLOOD

By Patrick Lujan

She’s already been dubbed a ‘future superstar’ in the world of softball, and she’s happy to show her CHamoru pride along the journey.

Devaeh Alcantara Crawford has been on the path to softball stardom in Las Vegas. Just a freshman at Shadow Ridge High (23 miles north of the Vegas Strip), the outfielder has had NIL offers since her middle school years and even playing at an all-star level in the 18U category. She was recently ranked the #1 outfielder in the Class of 2029 in the nation and #2 player overall.

The youngster’s Guam roots stems from Santa Rita where her great grandparents Rosa Perez and Francisco Alcantara are from. Tun Francisco would start with the Guam Police Department before joining the Army. During the frequent travels, Devaeh’s grandfather Randy Alcantara settled in California where Devaeh’s mom Amanda Alcantara was born.

Randy Alcantara is a first cousin of Guam baseball legend Roque Alcantara.

Like most stateside CHamoru families, family and food are two major ingredients to the diaspra’s diet.

“Family and food are big parts of cultural belonging,” the 15-year-old star said. “I go about representing Guam by letting it be known of my heritage, that I have CHamoru blood in me so when asked, I’m Black/Guamanian. I have a lot of friends that I consider cousins that are also CHamoru, that I play with or go to school with.”

SOFTBALL LIFE

Softball started when Devaeh was just 3-years-old, when her dad Demetrius Crawford put a pink foam bat in her hands. The rest is a quick rise up the talent ladder with a combination of genetics (dad was a college and pro football player + the Alcantara baseball pedigre) and pure hard work.

She’s added track and boxing into her training repetiore – providing both speed and punch to her game.

Known for her speed, power, and advanced feel for the game, she impacts every phase of softball with elite defense, strong arm strength, and consistent offensive production.

– scouting report on Devaeh Crawford

About a dozen or more D1 teams have already shown interest in the speedster with power. Like fellow Chamorrita Bubba Nickles, it’s not uncommon for freshmen in high school to commit to a college this early. In Bubba’s case, she committed to UCLA during her freshman year at Merced High School. UCLA is just one of the schools that interest Crawford.

KEN GRIFFEY, JR.

How cool is it to not only learn from, but also have a bond with someone like Hall of Famer Ken Griffey, Jr. who’s known to have the sweetest swing in the history of baseball.

“I wore his signature batting gloves my dad got me when I was 7,” Crawford said about how the connection with Griffey started. “My dad tagged him on IG and then after that he followed me and reached out to my dad.

“I’ve received hitting tips and my approach to the game (from Griffey, Jr.); my hitting routine and about pitch recognition and where I wanna hit the ball. Other than that our families hung out and watched basketball.”

That’s what you call HOF iron sharpening young iron.

Like any top level 5-star athlete, hours of training on and off the field goes into the success at the batter’s box and in the outfield.

You can count on Devaeh to keep working hard and keep representing her Guam heritage along the way.