Expanded Family Helps Motivate LSU Commit Ayla Tuua

Ayla Tuua Ayla Tuua RHP Destiny Christian Academy | 2026 #15 Nation CA knows the meaning of teamwork and the value of sacrifice for the good of others. Her family nearly doubled in size eight years ago, when the 2026 LSU commit became a big sister to four more siblings.

“We’re a Christian family, and we preach compassion and loving up on people. We felt like our home was incomplete,” said Tuua’s father, Iulai. “The plan was to just try to foster and adopt one boy. Well, the one boy ended up having siblings, and we didn’t want to break them up, so we decided to keep them all together.”

The Tuua household welcomed Zamaya, 13, Tamia, 11, Josiah, 9, and TJ, 8, to the family, which already included Ayla, her older sister, Alannah, who plays softball at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and her younger brother, Elijah, who plays football at Folsom High.

“It’s been really great. Of course, there was adjusting, because we were a family of five going to a family of nine,” Ayla said. “But it really just feels like the four littles have been here my whole life. I love having a big family. It’s such a great support system for me as well, especially with everything that I have going on. Just knowing that they’re always going to be there for me when I come home is really nice.”

Tuua was born and raised in Northern California. The right-handed pitcher plays for BSC Bengals 18U and is a junior at Destiny Christian Academy in Sacramento. Her mom, Shannon, played softball at Cal Poly SLO and Tuua started the sport when she was five.

“I’ve always been competitive, so the love for the sport really came from my competitiveness,” Tuua said. “I feel like I really just love also being on a team and just being able to compete with the people that I can trust and the people that I spend a lot of time with.”

Tuua started as a catcher before she picked up pitching around age 12. 

“Honestly, it was because I was bored playing any other position,” she said. “I wanted to be in every play, and be able to control a little bit more of the game.”

Tuua throws in the upper 60s to low 70s and has worked on becoming more sound mechanically over the last few years. She is a two-way pitcher and has no plans to change once she reaches college.

“I would probably stop pitching before I would give up my bat. I love to hit,” she said. “There’s just something about it. I can’t tell you what it is exactly. I just love hitting. That’s my favorite part of the game.”

Tuua’s decision to commit to LSU went beyond the program’s financial resources or national stature.

“The coaches are just so amazing. They’re so kind-hearted, and you can really see that they do truly love the people that they are coaching, and they see them as more than a softball player,” she said. “Listening to what so many people have to say about LSU, it’s all good things, and overall, the atmosphere is so, so, so nice. Everyone is so incredibly, incredibly kind and just very supportive.”

Outside of softball, Tuua loves to bake and crochet. She began crocheting nearly two years ago with her mother. They make beanies that are donated by her church to the local hospital for newborn babies.

“It’s a very relaxing activity,” she said. “If you just need a second to just take a break, it’s a very, very good tool to have.”

Tuua is interested in entering the medical field once her softball career ends. She wants to become a neonatologist and work with premature babies. Although some teenagers may have more charity work listed on their college applications, Tuua’s father knows how much his daughter has given back.

“I really believe that my Ayla and all my older kids provide community service by helping their parents take care of their little ones and helping raise their little siblings,” he said. “They are basically giving them a chance in life by bringing them in and loving them up.”

Tuua wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. Family means everything to the rising star, and she loves being a role model and sharing her achievements in softball with her parents and siblings.  

“It takes a village, and we had a lot of help throughout this whole process,” her father said. “We’re just happy to see that Ayla is being rewarded for all the hard work she’s put in on and off the field.”