Terrific Teammates

Charlie Albores and Sloane Le Chang Shine for Santa Monica Fastpitch 12U Softball All-Stars

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

In the heat of competition, friendship can be strengthened or weakened and in the case of Palisadians Sloane Le Chang and Charlie Albores,  a bond formed with them and their teammates that will last a lifetime.     

As members of the Santa Monica Girls Fastpitch 12U Gold All-Star team this summer, the two helped their squad finish fifth out of 31 teams at the Western Nationals in Salem, Oregon—one of the highest finishes of any team in league history. Samo qualified for Nationals after taking second in the LA/South Bay District, then placing in the top four at the State SoCal Championships in Lancaster over Fourth of July weekend.    

“The reason we were so successful is teamwork,” said Le Chang, who lives in the Highlands and is starting eighth grade at Calvary Christian School and plans to attend Palisades High next year. “If you don’t have a team that plays together you won’t get that far.”   

“We’re one big family,” adds Albores, who lives near The Village and is now a seventh-grader at Paul Revere. “If our pitcher isn’t doing well we’re there for her. At my lowest points, they’ve always been there for me.”    

Head coach Mike Denbeau, whose daughter Maddie Denbeau (a pitcher and outfielder on the squad) used to go to Calvary Christian, guided the 12Us to a 30-17-1 record during the All-Star season, including a 5-5 mark at Nationals, where they scored 89 runs in 10 games, the most combined runs of any team in the tournament.

“I’ve coached this team, including Charlie and Sloane, since they played 10U two years ago,” Denbeau said. “That team was a disappointing 2-14 and never qualified for state. They were talented but hadn’t figured out how to play as a team. That’s what made this year’s group so special. They always had the individual talent but after two years of playing together they became a family and truly began playing for each other, which is the ingredient you need against the high-level of competition we faced during our run through states and nationals.  You’ll get down, get beat, you’ll be nervous and scared but you realize the team’s bigger than you and you draw strength, resiliency and inspiration from your teammates and refuse to let them down. Charlie and Sloane exemplified that spirit.”

Le Chang likes hitting most whereas fielding is Albores’ specialty. In the spring, Charlie played for the Bronco Tigers in the PPBA.

Denbeau, whose younger daughter Bella is 10 years old but was called up to the 12U All-Star team to be a courtesy runner, assessed both Palisadians’ skills.

“As our starting second baseman, Charlie  was a rock in the middle of the infield, getting key defensive outs all season while making spectacular “Sportscenter Top 10” type leaping and diving plays that saved us in games,” he said. “She takes pride in her craft as a defender, gives maximum effort on every play and is one of the best, if not the best, defensive second basemen in all of California. She’s no slouch at the plate either. As I recall at Nationals she came up with a huge bases-loaded hit that tied the game against North Shore of San Diego—a game we went on to win in extra innings.”

On the diamond, she made zero errors in 32 chances at Nationals and turned several doube plays with shorstop Mali Gutierrez.

“Sloane was our starting center fielder and hit in the middle of the lineup,” Denbeau added. “She was one of our four veterans and like all good hitters eventually experience she went through a hitting slump in the middle of the season. I benched her for one of our games and I know deep down she was disappointed but instead of pouting and being angry she showed great maturity, cheered on her team from the dugout, put her feelings aside and took pride in the team’s success. After that game she was focused and spent hours outside of practice working on her hitting. At States and Nationals she found her groove and got back to crushing the ball, including a triple that came within a few feet of going out of the parkagainst Rampage DC, a strong travel team from Vancouver, Washington.”

Both girls relish the grind of playing softball 10 months out of the year and in season practicing for two hours a day, three days a week. All the hard work has paid off.   

A lifelong Palisadian, Le Chang is also an accomplished volleyball and lacrosse player. Her older brother Noah is a freshman on the JV football team at Pali High. Her younger brother Luke plays tennis and pickleball and is going into sixth grade at Paul Revere.

Albores’ family moved from New York City to the Palisades when she was 3. She used to run cross country, skateboard and play lacrosse and she graduated from the Junior Lifeguard program at Will Rogers State Beach. Charlie’s big brother Oliver is a sophomore on the surf team at Pali High.

Short for her age, Albores does not think size is a factor on the diamond, saying: “It doesn’t matter if you’re tall or small.”

Since 8U, Albores has a tradition of letting her teammates sign her cap. Were it not for softball the Palisades girls might not have met—and for that they are thankful.    The two will be on different All-Star teams next summer, but neither will forget this year’s shared experience.    

“Sloane is moving up to 14U next season, but we’re returning eight of our 11 players from this team in 12U—including Charlie,” Denbeau said. “So watch out!”

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