Please pray for the Matthews Family...
This young lady played for a couple years for East Anaheim Bobby Sox.
A star softball pitcher at Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana has died, but details of her death have not been released, authorities said.
Nadia Brianne Matthews, 16, of Anaheim , died Thursday, said Daniel Aikin, supervising deputy coroner for the Orange County coroner's office. An autopsy is being conducted Friday morning to determine the cause of death, he said.
Shortly before 8 p.m., Anaheim fire and police were sent to an apartment in the 2100 block of E. Almont Ave , regarding a girl not breathing, said Anaheim police Sgt. Rick Martinez. Paramedics administered CPR to the girl – later identified as Matthews.
She was taken to UCI Medical Center in Orange , where she was pronounced dead at 8:22 p.m., according to a coroner's press release.
"In order to respect the rights of privacy to the family, we are not releasing any additional details at this time," Martinez said.
Police are conducting a death investigation, but foul play is not suspected, Martinez said.
Relatives are gathered at the family's Anaheim apartment where Matthews was found. They declined to comment.
Matthews was a pitcher for the Monarchs, and had verbally committed to play softball for the University of Arizona . She was considered one of the state's top softball prospects for the class of 2011.
Matthews was one of the most highly sought after recruits in the nation. Some considered her the best pitching prospect in Southern California .
As a freshman at Mater Dei High, she went 14-4 with a 0.98 ERA and 138 strikeouts in 107 innings. Matthews had committed to Arizona , ranked No. 2 in the nation, a couple of months ago.
Pamela Coe, Mater Dei's spokeswoman, said school officials were declining comment at this point out of respect for the family.
Annica Wolfe played on the Orange County Batbusters with Matthews and remembers her being "really goofy and outgoing."
"She was really confident and funny. Every time you hung around her, you just had a smile on your face," Wolfe, 18, said.
Wolfe, a senior at Rio Mesa High School in Oxnard , said she found out about Matthews death when a friend texted her.
"All of our friends are completely in awe. It's crazy" she said. "I would never think that would happen to Bri...because she just has so much going for her."
Contact the writer: 714-704-3709 or
desalazar@ocregister.com
