Biography
HIGHLIGHTS AT LMU
2021 • FRESHMAN
First season at LMU
BEFORE LMU
George Mason University
2020: Named to the Atlantic 10 Conference All-Decade team. Finished her career as the George Mason all-time leader with 551 strikeouts. Finished her career at George Mason with 42 wins. Started nine of the 10 games in which she appeared with 42.2 innings pitched and 50 strikeouts during a shortened season. Graduated from George Mason University with a Master’s degree in Sport Management. She was granted an extra year of eligibility due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. Accepted into the Loyola Law School.
2019: Currently sits atop the list of all-time strikeout leaders in George Mason history with 501 K's... Recorded her 500th career strikeout on May 4, 2019 in a win over UMASS... Selected to the Atlantic 10 Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll (2018-19)... Named A-10 Second Team All-Conference…Tabbed back-to-back Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Week honors…Fourth in the A-10 in strikeouts (103) and fifth in ERA (2.83)…Led Mason’s pitching staff with an overall record of 10-5…Provided 106.1 innings of work in 28 appearances…Tossed a one-hitter, complete-game shutout in Mason’s 1-0 walk-off win vs. La Salle (April 18)…Notched a season-high 10 strikeouts twice (vs. La Salle, vs. SBU)…Earned back-to-back complete-game wins over St. Bonaventure (April 27-28)…In game started, she finished the season on a four-game winning streak, including a 6-5 victory over UMass on May 4…Became Mason’s all-time save leader with her lone save of the season at GW (April 17)…Picked up her first win of the season over Central Arkansas (Feb. 15).
2018: An unexpected illness limited her to six starts over nine appearances... Became Mason's all-time leader in strikeouts on March 11, 2018 vs. Sienna... Tallied her first win against Hartford in five innings of work, allowing only one hit (Feb. 23)...Recorded a complete game winner allowing only one earned run on five hits and five strikeouts against Siena College (March 10)...Earned her first save in three innings of work against Siena College (March 11)...Made the Atlantic 10 Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll as well as the George Mason Dean’s List.
2017: Pitched 34 games for Mason as a sophomore, starting 32 of them…accumulated 195.0 innings in the circle and pitched 20 complete games over the course of the season. Finished the 2017 season with a 14-13 record and conference-best 1.87 ERA to earn the Atlantic 10 Co-Pitcher of the Year honor…only one among A-10’s top 10 pitchers to finish the campaign with ERA under 2.00. Vitalich was also named to the First Team All-Conference. The San Pedro, Calif. native completed the season with a total of 197 strikeouts, second most in the A-10…had three games with double-digit strikeouts over the course of the season, including season-best 12 strikeouts versus Buffalo (Feb. 24)... She pitched at least 6.0 innings in 11 consecutive games between April 15 and May 12…earned the A-10 Pitcher of the Week honor after taking credit for two victories in the road series sweep of Rhode Island. Vitalich threw a two-hit shutout in Mason’s 4-0 win against Saint Louis (May 12) in the Atlantic 10 Championship to extend the Patriots’ season and send them into the final four of the conference tournament. She pitched a complete game in the 3-1 win over Saint Joseph’s on May 6, which booked Mason’s return ticket to the A-10 tournament... VaSID First Team Selection... National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) – All Mid-Atlantic Region 3rd Team 2017...
2016: Appeared in 31 games, with 18 starts for the Patriots ... finished with a 14-10 record ... 3 saves ... a 1.75 ERA ... 174 strikeouts ... on 148 innings pitched ... finished with 17 assists ... Made her first collegiate appearance, threw her first career strikeout vs Villanova (February 19) ... Pitched a season high 8 innings, did not allow any earned runs vs Saint Louis (April 30) ... season high 13 strikeouts at La Salle (April 23) ... Did not allow a hit in 7 innings pitched in two games [vs Army (March 6), and vs Dayton (April 9)] ... Did not allow a walk in 7.2 innings pitched at La Salle (April 23) ... Did not allow a hit in 7 appearances [vs Marist (March 5), vs Army (March 6), vs Rhode Island (March 27), at Towson (March 30), vs Dayton (April 9,10), and at Saint Joseph's (April 17)] ... Threw combined Perfect Game at Towson (Mar. 30)... Did not allow an earned run in 17 appearances ... Did not allow a walk in 14 appearances ... Did not allow a hit in two consecutive appearances, three times (March 5-6; March 27-30; April 9-10) ... Did not allow an earned run in four consecutive appearances (March 23-30) ... Allowed 3 or fewer earned runs in sixteen consecutive appearances (March 4-April 10) ... Did not allow a walk in three consecutive appearances, three times (February 19-21; March 19-26; April 17-23) ... Allowed 2 walks or fewer in twenty-one consecutive appearances (March 11-April 30) ... Had 10 or more strikeouts in five appearances [vs Army (March 6), vs George Washington (April 13), at Saint Joseph's (April 16), at La Salle (April 23), and vs Saint Louis (April 30)] ... Began the season by not allowing a walk in three consecutive appearances (February 19-21) ... Ended the season with 4 or more strikeouts in seven consecutive appearances (April 20-May 8) ... Received 2nd Team All-Conference honors ... All-Rookie honors ... Received two straight Rookie of the Week honors (April 11-24)... VaSIDSecond Team Selection... ECAC First-Team Selection...
National Team: Current member of the Croatian National Softball Team (2015-Present)… Played in four Women's European Championships in Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Czech Republic and Poland.
Prep: Prior to George Mason, Vitalich put together four years of record-breaking performances with her high school team at Mary Star of the Sea, where she is the all-time leader in wins, strikeouts, and earned run average...Three-time member of the Cal-Hi Sports All-State Softball Team...2015 Max Preps All-American...Top 10 of the CIF-Southern Section for All-Time Strikeouts with 1,154... Three perfect games and 12 no-hitters playing for the Stars over the years earned her three Most Valuable Player accolades at the conference (Camino Real League) level and three at the regional (CIF Southern Section) level... Voted by teammates as Mary Star softball MVP in all four seasons and captained the team for the last two years... Impressive high school and travel softball (eight years with the Firecrackers) resume earned her a spot on the Croatian national team, which traveled to Europe for a tournament in the summer of 2015... Demonstrated her athletic prominence on the Stars' basketball team as well and featured on the 2014 Camino Real All-League Team while also serving as the team captain in her junior and senior year.
Personal: Hometown is San Pedro, CA. Daughter of Mike and Zulma Vitalich. Sister Amanda is also an LMU student. Granddaughter of Andy Vitalich, who played baseball at the University of Southern California. Vitalich chose George Mason despite interest from multiple other Div. 1 schools and majored in Sport Management. Graduated from George Mason with a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree and enrolled at the Loyola Law School in 2020. When she manages to snatch some, Vitalich spends her free time reading or watching movies.
