For leadoff hitters, there was perhaps no player in the state as exciting to watch during the 2013 season as junior Denz’l Chapman from Serra of Gardena. Photo: Mark Tennis.
Note: The first Cal-Hi Sports e-book, “California: The Baseball Capital of the World” is now available on Amazon, iTunes and other on-line e-book stores such as Kobo and Barnes & Noble. You can download a 27-page free sample of the book into your phone on iTunes now. This covers all the reasons why our state is so great in the sport, from MLB to the Cal League, from colleges, high school (of course) and Little League. We also have lists of all-time top high school players from San Diego, Orange County, the Inland Empire, L.A. City, CIF Central Section, Sacramento, SF/Peninsula and Oakland/East Bay. It’s just $3.99 to order. CLICK HERE for the link to the book on Amazon.
For game reports, please go to our twitter page @CalHiSports and for other updates please visit our Facebook page. To subscribe to our weekly e-newsletter, click here. To browse through our various photo galleries, click here. To check out our YouTube channel, click here.
Games next spring in the Tri-Rivers Athletic Conference of the CIF Central Section should be even more talent-laden than usual.
While defending section champ Clovis North of Fresno should be strong again, the Broncos may have a tough task when they play TRAC rivals Buchanan and Clovis.
Both Buchanan and Clovis have landed three players each on either first team or second team for this year’s all-state underclass teams. The only other schools in the state to have three players on either of those teams are Fountain Valley and Temecula Valley of Temecula.
Schools that had two players chosen were Loyola of Los Angeles, De La Salle of Concord, Valley Christian of San Jose, Rancho Bernardo of San Diego, Fountain Valley, Serra of Gardena and College Park of Pleasant Hill.
Here are the 2013 Cal-Hi Sports All-State Baseball Underclass Teams:
First Team Catchers
Alex Jackson (Rancho Bernardo, San Diego) Jr.
Bryce Macy (Paloma Valley, Menifee) Jr.
First Team Pitchers
Quinn Brodey (Loyola, Los Angeles) Jr.
Joe DeMers (College Park, Pleasant Hill) Soph.
Alonzo Garcia (San Fernando) Jr.
John Gavin (St. Francis, Mountain View) Jr.
Matt Ladrech (Campolindo, Moraga) Jr.
Chris Mathewson (Kaiser, Fontana) Jr.
Jack Wheeless (Buchanan, Clovis) Jr.
Ezra Steinberg, just a sophomore, was arguably the third-best player for the season at Harvard-Westlake, which ended as the No. 1 ranked team in the state. Photo: Mark Tennis.
First Team Infield
Eddie Alvarez (Otay Ranch, Chula Vista) Sr.
Jacob Gatewood (Clovis) Jr.
Shane Mardirosian (M.L. King, Riverside) Jr.
Kyle Plantier (Temecula Valley, Temecula) Jr.
Jagger Rusconi (West Ranch, Valencia) Soph.
Harrison Smith (Frontier, Bakersfield) Jr.
Ezra Steinberg (Harvard-Westlake, North Hollywood) Soph.
Albie Weiss (Agoura, Agoura Hills) Jr.
First Team Outfield
Denz’l Chapman (Serra, Gardena) Jr.
Brad Degnan (Woodside) Jr.
Derek Hill (Elk Grove) Jr.
Trenton Kemp (Buchanan, Clovis) Jr.
Brock Lundquist (Fountain Valley) Jr.
Kyle Molnar (Aliso Niguel, Aliso Viejo) Soph.
First Team Multi-Purpose (Hitting/Pitching)
Joe Cochran (Knight, Palmdale) Jr.
Jack Flaherty (Harvard-Westlake, North Hollywood) Jr.
Theron Kay (Valley Christian, San Jose) Jr.
Jack Labosky (Clovis North, Fresno) Jr.
Lars Nootbaar (El Segundo) Soph.
McCarthy Tatum (Clovis) Jr.
Matt Trask (Davis) Jr.
Second Team Catchers
Alan Crowley (Clovis) Jr.
Andrew Piraino (Sonora, La Habra) Jr.
Hunter Stratton (Grossmont, La Mesa) Jr.
Second Team Pitchers
Brady Aiken (Cathedral Catholic, San Diego) Jr.
Solomon Bates (Serra, Gardena) Soph.
Bryce Dyrda (Oakdale) Jr.
Nathan Hadley (Loyola, Los Angeles) Jr.
Trevor Hall (Cypress) Jr.
Brandon Koch (Temecula Valley, Temecula) Jr.
Burke Mitchell (Temecula Valley, Temecula) Jr.
Second Team Infield
Korby Batesole (Buchanan, Clovis) Jr.
Justin Brand (Fountain Valley) Jr.
Bryson Brigman (Valley Christian, San Jose) Jr.
Gage Canning (Ramona) Soph.
Kyle Hatton (Norco) Soph.
Zach Kirtley (Redlands East Valley, Redlands) Jr.
Trevor Larnach (College Park, Pleasant Hill) Soph.
Hank LoForte (Franklin, Elk Grove) Soph.
Daniel Patzlaff (Fountain Valley) Jr.
Jed Sprague (St. Mary’s, Stockton) Jr.
Chris Williams (De La Salle, Concord) Jr.
Ryan Williams (Branham, San Jose) Jr.
Second Team Outfield
Chad Bible (Valencia) Jr.
Tyler Herburger (St. Augustine, San Diego) Jr.
Ben Polshuk (De La Salle, Concord) Jr.
Alfonso Rivas (La Jolla Country Day, La Jolla) Soph.
Second Team Multi-Purpose (Hitting/Pitching)
Jordan Garcia (Tulare Western, Tulare) Jr.
Casey Henderson (Rancho Bernardo, San Diego) Jr.
Michael Majeski (Vista del Lago, Folsom) Jr.
Sean Watkins (Serra, San Mateo) Jr.
Mr. Baseball State Player of the Year & State Junior of the Year:
Jack Flaherty (Harvard-Westlake)
State Sophomore of the Year:
Joe DeMers (College Park, Pleasant Hill)
State Freshman of the Year:
Conrado Diaz (San Ysidro)
Contributing: Paul Muyskens
Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow him on Twitter: @CalHiSports
