STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford bolstered its most recent recruiting class with the addition of Bella Baldridge, who signed her National Letter of Intent to join the Cardinal for the 2017-18 academic year.
Baldridge (Laguna Beach High School/Laguna Beach, Calif.) is the fourth member of the Cardinal's celebrated class and joins Aria Fischer (Laguna Beach High School/Laguna Beach, Calif.), Sarah Klass (San Ramon Valley High School/Danville, Calif.) and Katrina Sturm (Davis Senior High School/Davis, Calif.), who committed during November's signing period.
"Bella is a skillful and agile playmaker who makes everyone around her better," Dunlevie Family Director of Women's Water Polo John Tanner said. "She does whatever is needed for her team to win. One game she's setting people up and the next she could be scoring the ball herself. Bella has consistently risen to meet whatever challenge she's confronted and will be a wonderful addition to an exciting recruiting class."
Baldridge was key in guiding Laguna Beach (31-0) to the CIF-SS Division 1 title in late February, finishing second on the team in goals (82) and first in assists (92) to earn a spot on the CIF-SS Division I first team. During her four prep seasons, Baldridge scored 268 career goals, tallied a team-record 321 assists and 181 steals and the Breakers racked up a 119-4 (.967) overall record.
"[Bella's] just a really smart player," her high school coach Ethan Damato told the Daily Pilot in January. "I think she's a naturally intelligent player, and this year she's definitely stepped up in those aspects for us. She's taken a little bit more on her plate, both as a captain and in the water as well, as far as matchups, scoring and whatever we need to get done."
Next season, the Cardinal roster will feature three Breakers from Laguna Beach in Baldridge and sisters Makenzie and Aria Fischer.