Two of this week’s four honorees are Kaytlin Stephens from Ramona of Riverside and Trent Roach of Hollister. Photos: Ramona HS Athletics / MaxPreps.com & balernews / Instagram.com.
The two goals of this weekly feature are to track potential entries in the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record Book and to uncover and identify some hidden talent and diamonds in the rough for statewide recognition that might only get local kudos. While we didn’t have any performances that made the record book, we had two award winners that came close, and we certainly uncovered some talent that might have only gotten local recognition. This week we visit Hollister and Orangevale in Northern California, and in Southern California our stops are in Simi Valley and Riverside.
We hope you enjoy this free post on Cal-Hi Sports.com. For our state rankings packages in baseball and softball (starting next week) plus State Stat Stars of the Week, state record updates and special features, please check out our Gold Club membership today. If you’re not a member, CLICK HERE.
CHECK OUT CALGAMESWANTED.COM
Created for Coaches by Coaches for California Varsity High School Head Coaches and Athletic Directors, Start building your schedule with CalGamesWanted.com.
User friendly to take the stress out of scheduling.
Notes: For these honors, we also consider CIF Central Section players for Northern California. To nominate anyone, email markjtennis@gmail.com.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Baseball Player of the Week
Trent Roach (Hollister) Sr.
To find the Northern California State Baseball Player of the Week we head around 35 miles south of San Jose on Highway 101 and just past Gilroy where we veer southeast on Highway 25 around 15 miles until we reach Hollister, and it’s at the home of the Haybalers at Hollister High where we find this week’s award winner.
The most recent performance of Roach could have earned him this week’s honors, but coupled with his outing two week’s ago it solidifies this statewide award.
Last week, in 4-0 win over Soledad, Roach, a Cal-bound righthander who plays first base when he’s not pitching, went six innings and gave up no hits, no walks and was perfect against the 18 batters he faced with 16 strikeouts. At the plate, he was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored
We searched far and wide to see why Roach did not finish the game or whether he came on in the second inning, so technically the performance, while absolutely outstanding does not qualify as a perfect game or even a no-hitter, but that’s okay because two weeks ago in his previous outing Trent turned the trick.
In a mercy shortened five inning 10-0 win over Monterey, Roach wasn’t perfect because he gave up two walks, but he tossed a no-hitter with seven strikeouts. He was 2-for-3 at the plate with a home run, two RBI and a run scored. Had Trent completed both games, two consecutive no-hitters would make it into the record book. Who knows, there may an answer to that question that we couldn’t get answered in time for this week’s writeups.
Earlier last week in the game at Soledad in the home and away series, Roach played first base and also was 3-for-3 with three RBI and a run scored, and finally on Saturday, and in a 5-3 win against visiting Bellarmine of San Jose, Trent had a hit, walked three times and scored twice.
So far for the 13-7 Haybalers, who are now riding a four-game winning streak when they take the field on Tuesday against Palma of Salinas, Roach is 3-1 with a 0.58 ERA, and he’s only given up four hits and four walks while striking out 41 of the 73 batters he’s faced in 21 innings pitched.
Not surprisingly, Trent also is the best hitter for Hollister and is batting .583 with a home run, three doubles, 11 RBI, eight runs scored and eight walks, all in just 24 offical at-bats.
Zaria Gee from Casa Roble of Orangevale is an outstanding defensive catcher in addition to being a prolific hitter. Photo: X.com.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Softball Player of the Week
Zaria Gee (Casa Roble, Orangevale) Sr.
The search for the Northern California Softball Player of the Week started on social media, and that sent us around 20 miles east of the state capitol and pretty much halfway between I-80 and Highway 50 where we landed in Orangevale and found this week’s honoree at Casa Roble High.
While the performance last week by Gee accomplished a rare feat, and her stats in what turned out to be a 5-inning 26-6 victory over Sacramento El Camino were off the charts for a mercy-shortened affair, she falls a little short of making the record book for RBI in a game.
What Gee did do was go 5-for-5 and hit for the cycle with eight RBI, four runs scored and a stolen base.
Later in the week, Zaria had a double and scored a run in an 8-2 victory over Dixon.
So far this season for the 12-5-1 Rams and heading into a Tuesday match-up with host Woodland, the University of Nevada-bound senior leads Casa Roble with a .567 batting average, five home runs, five triples, 11 doubles, 28 RBI and 34 runs scored, plus nine stolen bases.
The 34 runs scored is a top 10 reported mark in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
State Baseball Player of the Week
Kaytlin Stephens (Ramona, Riverside) Sr.
The Inland Empire is our destination in the search for the Southern California Softball Player of the Week and it’s in Riverside at Ramona High where we find a senior pitcher who gets a statewide honor to go with local recognition.
Last week, and in two River Valley League wins over neighboring Jurupa Valley, Stephens had her way with the Jaguars. In the first game, a 5-inning 16-0 shutout, Kaytlin tossed a 1-hitter with nine strikeouts and four walks. At the plate, she had an RBI and two runs scored.
In the second game two days later on the road at Jurupa Valley, a 5-0 shutout, Stephens came within a base on balls of a perfect game, and struck out 12 of the 22 batters she faced in the no-hitter.
So far for the 15-5 Rams and heading into a game on Tuesday at Rubidoux of Riverside, Kaytlin is 15-4 in the circle with a 1.06 ERA and 175 strikeouts with only 22 walks in 106 innings pitched.
With bat in hand, Stephens is hitting for a .444 batting average with a triple, five doubles, 15 RBI and 20 runs scored.
The 175 batters fanned also is the No. 17 reported mark in the state and No. 5 in the CIF Southern Section.
Royal High school standout Brady Hewitt has committed to Oregon. Photo: Ramona HS Athletics / MaxPreps.com.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
State Softball Player of the Week
Brady Hewitt (Royal, Simi Valley) Sr.
We head to Ventura County and Simi Valley in search of the Southern California State Baseball Player of the Week and we find our award winner at Royal High.
We decided to go with the Oregon-committed Hewitt as this week’s winner after looking at his entire body of work last week, but we very well could have gone with his junior teammate Dustin Dunnwoody.
Last week, in a 9-0 victory over visiting and nearby Oak Park, Hewitt was 2-for-4 with a double, three RBI and two runs scored. The Highlanders’ 6-foot-1, 201-pound senior shortstop also had a stolen base.
In the away game of the two-game series with Oak Park two days later, and in an 18-1 victory, Brady was 5-for-6 with a home run, two doubles, four RBI and three runs scored, plus a stolen base.
Heading into a Tuesday matchup with Kennedy of Granada Hills, Hewitt is hitting for team leading .429 batting average with four home runs, a triple, eight doubles, 29 RBI, 23 runs scored and eight stolen bases.
When we said we could have gone with Dunnwoody it was because in the 9-0 victory over Oak Park he tossed a no-hitter with seven strikeouts and three bases on balls.
While we’re giving shoutouts to Royals’ players we can’t once again salute head coach Daniel Maye. On May 11 and in a Coastal Canyon League 9-5 victory over Moorpark, the Highlanders’ veteran skipper joined an elite group of California high school baseball coaches when he recorded his 600th career coaching win.
Harold Abend is the associate editor of CalHiSports.com and the vice president of the California Prep Sportswriters Association. He can be reached at marketingharoldabend@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow him on Twitter: @HaroldAbend
