Family Shapes Emoni Lam Sam’s Softball Experience

Emoni Lam Sam was still learning the basic skills during her second season of recreation league softball in Long Beach, California. She had “no idea” what she was doing at the plate other than knowing to swing the bat when the ball was pitched. 

During one at-bat, Sam finally made solid contact and the ball sailed over the second baseman's head.

“I was so starstruck with myself that I stood at the plate for a good 10 seconds, until everybody started telling me to run,” Sam said. “From there, I was so happy. I started jumping up and down at first base, and I was telling my dad, ‘I can hit the ball. I can hit the ball. I can hit the ball.'”

Sam's fascination with seeing the ball fly off the bat hasn't waned as she's grown older. The 5-foot-5 infielder from the class of 2026 still loves showcasing prowess at the plate whenever she gets the chance. 

“My strength is obviously my power, but knowing how to utilize my power on certain pitches has improved,” Sam said. “My dad and hitting coach have taught me how to identify a certain pitch and how to utilize certain strengths of my power to drive that ball to where it's already pitched.”

Sam has signed to play at Cal. She first committed to the Bears under former head coach Chelsea Spencer, but reopened her recruiting once Spencer resigned last June. Sam committed to San Diego State for a brief period before new Cal head coach Steve Singleton called and invited her for a visit to Berkeley once he was hired.

“I wanted to be open minded because Cal was my No. 1 school when I first committed and it felt like family. I loved the culture there. I wanted to see if I had the same feeling,” Sam said. “It was a different visit, obviously, because the coaches were new. But at the same time, it felt like this is where I really want to be. The coaches know how to run a program with a championship mindset and they want to establish that at Cal.”

Sam informed San Diego State head coach Stacey Nuveman-Deniz and assistant coach Caitlin “Curly” Grimes of her decision.

“They were beyond understanding. They understood that Cal was my first home that I wanted to go to,” she said. “I'm just grateful that they were both able to understand that my heart is still at Cal and they didn't want to force me to stay somewhere where my heart really wasn't. The coaches being able to accept that was truly a blessing.”

Volleyball was Sam's main sport until she went to the park to watch her cousins play softball. She told her dad she wanted to try, and he signed her up the following season.

“It was fun to me because I was able to play with my cousins and my sisters. I was happy to be there and realized I didn't want to play volleyball anymore,” Sam said. “From there, it's just been softball, softball, softball, and it's honestly amazing to me how I was able to find my passion while being around my family.”

Through playing softball, Sam has been able to meet even more relatives and create other relationships that have become familial.

“Being able to know that I have more family out there in the world who are also playing the same sport as me makes me feel comfortable and want to play more,” said Sam, who plays travel ball for Firecrackers Premier RTY. "Even the Polynesian girls around the world, just knowing that we can represent our culture on the field as a whole family, even with girls who are not even blood related to me—I consider them as family. It's like creating a sisterhood.”

Sam's full name is Emoni SaitauaMaritaSulu Lam Sam. Her first name is a combination of her grandfather and her mom's older sister, while her middle name is a combination of all three of her grandmothers.

“I usually love telling people my whole name when they ask. It's why I carry my name so high, because it's the people who raised me,” Sam said. “My grandmas raised me. My grandpa served in the Navy. Being able to have that in my name really makes me feel loved.”

Sam admires fellow softball players Stefini Ma'ake of Oregon and Tiare Ho-Ching of Arizona State. She hopes to make the same impact on younger players as they've made on her over the last few years.

“I just love their energy and how they carry themselves, not only as a player, but as a person off the field. Their body language is amazing,” Sam said. “Just the little details of how they carry their image makes me want to check myself and make sure I always keep a good attitude and put a smile on my face.”