Now that her illustrious career at St. Joseph has ended, “It’s sort of sad that my time in high school is over,” said three-time Times All-Area Softball MVP Taylor Mediano.

Mediano three-peated as the Times All-Area Softball MVP by earning the honor for 2025. Mediano was the 2025 co-Mountain League MVP along with Arroyo Grande senior catcher-third baseman-outfielder Jaedyn Valdez. Mediano was the outright Mountain League MVP her sophomore and junior years.

This season, Mediano helped lead St. Joseph to its third straight Mountain League championship, the last two under second-year coach Anthony Razo. John Welch coached the St. Joseph team that won the 2023 league championship.

The Knights went out in the quarterfinals of the CIF Central Section Division 1 playoffs this year after winning the 2024 Central Section Division 2 championship. The sectional divisional title was the first in recent memory for the program.  

Mediano pitched St. Joseph to a 4-0 win over Porterville Monache at Fresno State’s Margie White Diamond for the 2024 Division 2 championship. Mediano pitched a four-hit gem in that one, striking out 10 batters and walking one in a complete game.

“Winning the Division 2 championship my junior year was the most satisfying part of my high school career,” said Mediano. Besides her pitching, Mediano hit .348 her junior year.

Mediano’s hitting stats were down this year, but she hit a solid .292 in what was likely her last year as a regular hitter.

Mediano signed with NCAA Division 1 member Utah as a pitcher her junior year at St. Joseph. “I took my first offer,” and signed with the Utes, said Mediano.

Before she heads for Utah in August, Mediano acknowledged, she will need to purchase a winter wardrobe. “I haven’t even been to the snow yet,” Mediano said.

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While she was at St. Joseph, Mediano’s listed ERA never rose above the 2.10 for her freshman season. She was 13-2 with a 1.50 ERA her sophomore season. Mediano’s ERA was 1.06 both her junior and senior seasons.

St. Joseph’s stats were complete for the past three seasons. They were incomplete for Mediano’s freshman year. 

“The curveball and rise are my main pitches,” said Mediano, and she rode those pitches to a a combined record of 47-7 her last three seasons at St. Joseph. Mediano went 20-1 her senior year.

Mediano and Charli Ray Escobedo formed a formidable pitching duo for St. Joseph during Mediano’s first three seasons there. Escobedo signed with NCAA Division 2 Azusa Pacific before graduating in 2024.

This year, freshman Khandi Rodriguez gave Mediano good backup as St. Joseph’s No. 2 pitcher. Mediano’s workload from her junior season increased only slightly, from 112 innings to 119.1.

Mediano’s Orcutt softball roots stretch back to the time she played in the Orcutt Youth Softball Association. After having played travel ball in the off season in Los Alamitos in the past, Mediano will play for the Bengals Briggs travel ball squad in Anaheim before leaving for Utah.

Once she gets to Utah, “I feel like I could get some playing time right away,” said Mediano.   Â