
State Junior Player of the Year Tyler Spangler of Concord De La Salle was all smiles after team won third CIF NorCal D1 title in the last four years. At right, State Medium Schools Player of the Year Hunter Manning from West Ranch of Valencia throws pitch during CIF Southern Section D2 title game. Photos: Mark Tennis / Cal-Hi Sports & Mitzi Mandel / KHTS Hometownstation.com.
Norco lands the State Freshman of the Year honor for the second straight year, but the winner from last year was edged out as the State Sophomore of the Year. We also had to make a difficult call for State Junior of the Year among three strong candidates. In addition, we have State Medium Schools Player of the Year honors going to the Santa Clarita Valley while for small schools all the strikeouts rung up by one pitcher became too much for any other candidates.
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Congratulations to the following five players also who also have been selected this week as Cal-Hi Sports State Players of the Year.
Cal-Hi Sports intern Isai Gutierrez contributed to this post.
JUNIORS:
Tyler Spangler (De La Salle, Concord)
As the leading player for a team that has won three CIF NorCal D1 titles in four years, Spangler became a serious contender for a number of postseason honors. He’s already been chosen as the San Francisco Chronicle All-Metro Player of the Year and now he’s added a big one as State Junior Player of the Year.
Spangler is the first state junior of the year from the East Bay region of the CIF North Coast Section since Joe DeMers from College Park of Pleasant Hill in 2014. There wasn’t one in the 2000s or 1990s, but there were two in the 1980s with Brian Johnson of Oakland Skyline (1985) and James “Pops” Mitchell of El Cerrito (1983). Two others going way back would be Curt Flood of Oakland Tech (1954) and Frank Robinson of Oakland McClymonds (1952). Tyler is not just the first-ever state junior of the year from De La Salle but he is the school’s first state player of the year in any category that it has ever had.
In the CIF NorCal D1 championship game vs Serra of San Mateo, Spangler had his second double of the game in the bottom of the seventh inning as part of a three-run rally that turned a 4-2 deficit into a 5-4 win. He went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and two triples in the CIF North Coast Section D1 championship (11-2 win vs College Park) and he went 3-for-4 with two runs scored in a CIF NorCal playoff win vs Del Oro of Loomis.
For the season, Tyler led De La Salle in homers with 10 and was tied for first in hits with 43. He also led in runs scored (42) and was second in RBI (40).
As a freshman in the 2023 season, Spangler played up on the varsity and batted .261. That team won the NorCal D1 title with a dramatic win on the road at Valley Christian (San Jose). Tyler really started to shine last season as a sophomore with a .375 average, five homers and 22 RBI for a team that lost to Granada of Livermore in the NCS D1 championship and again in the NorCal D1 playoffs.
Perhaps the tipping point for Spangler to be on top of the group was recent player rankings by Prep Baseball Report and Perfect Game that showed him as the top MLB prospect not just in the Bay Area but for all of California. If he just had the ranking without the huge season to go with it, then the honor easily could have gone to 2023 State Freshman of the Year and 2024 State Sophomore of the Year Anthony Murphy of Corona.
Despite all of the seniors getting ready for the MLB Draft at Corona, Murphy had another standout season. He wasn’t the junior, however, who was the top player candidate from St. John Bosco of Bellflower, which defeated Corona in the CIFSS D1 semifinals. Bosco’s James Clark was the Long Beach Press-Telegram Player of the Year and because of all he did he also was considered for state junior of the year.
Spangler has committed to Stanford, which could be similar to 2022 Mr. Baseball State Player of the Year Malcolm Moore of Sacramento McClatchy. He was a Stanford commit and was selected in the first round of the 2024 MLB Draft.
Recent State Juniors of the Year: 2024 – Seth Hernandez (Corona); 2023 – Bryce Rainer (Studio City Harvard-Westlake); 2022 – Gavin Grahovac (Villa Park); 2021 – Malcolm Moore (Sacramento McClatchy); 2020 – No selection (pandemic); 2019 – Jared Jones (La Mirada); 2018 – Dawson Netz (Pasadena Maranatha); 2017 – Grant Holman (Chula Vista Eastlake); 2016 – Royce Lewis (SJ Capistrano JSerra); 2015 – Jeremy Ydens (Mountain View St. Francis); 2014 – Joe DeMers (Pleasant Hill College Park); 2013 – Jack Flaherty (North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake); 2012 – Brett Seeburger (Vista); 2011 – Rio Ruiz (La Puente Bishop Amat); 2010 – J.D. Davis (Elk Grove); 2009 – Jake Rodriguez (Elk Grove).

State Sophomore of the Year Jared Grindlinger added plenty of hitting to his resume to go along with dominant pitching. Photo: prepbaseballca / Instagram.com.
SOPHOMORES:
Jared Grindlinger (Huntington Beach)
As a freshman recruit last season, Grindlinger saw his name on a lot of national/state lists. He just actually didn’t pitch that many high school innings to be a serious contender for State Freshman of the Year. That all changed for the 2025 season as Jared pitched a lot more innings plus he added significant hitting totals that he didn’t have last year.
It all added up for Grindlinger to gain the top sophomore honor for California baseball. He is the latest honoree in the category from Orange County, which had Villa Park’s Gavin Grahovac in 2021, Kyle Ashworth from Foothill of Tustin in 2017 plus Huntington Beach’s own Hank Conger in 2004.
Grindlinger had the path cleared for him at Huntington Beach by his older brother, Trent, a catcher and also an all-state candidate who is headed to the University of Tennessee. Jared already had made a name for himself even before high school by playing for the USA 12-under national team.
Known mostly for his pitching, Jared pitched 32 innings as a sophomore compared 14 2/3 as a freshman. He finished 5-0 with a 0.87 ERA and had 34 strikeouts. That’s not what made the difference, though, for the state sophomore selection. It was that he also became one of the Oilers’ leading hitters. Jared matched his older brother with 24 hits and had a slightly higher batting average (.343 to .333). He also had two homers and 17 RBI.
As a college prospect, Grindlinger is currently listed as undecided. He’s the top-ranked Class of 2027 player in the state by Prep Baseball California and is No. 4 by Perfect Game. The No. 1 player according to Perfect Game is Norco’s Dylan Seward, who was the 2024 State Freshman of the Year. Seward did hit more homers this year than last year, but his batting average dropped from .381 to .319. Plus, Grindlinger is one of those who hits and pitches and that can make it a harder combo to beat for player of the year.
In honors earned so far prior to this one, Jared also has been named first team All-Orange County.
Recent State Sophomores of the Year: 2024 – Anthony Murphy (Corona); 2023 – Diego Velazquez (Crespi, Encino); 2022 – Bryce Rainer (Studio City Harvard-Westlake); 2021 – Gavin Grahovac (Villa Park); 2020 – No selection (pandemic); 2019 – Jonathan Cymrot (San Jose Valley Christian); 2018 – Jared Jones (La Mirada); 2017 – Kyle Ashworth (Tustin Foothill); 2016 – Brandon Dieter (West Covina South Hills); 2015 – Hunter Greene (Sherman Oaks Notre Dame); 2014 – Mickey Moniak (Carlsbad La Costa Canyon); 2013 – Joe DeMers (Pleasant Hill College Park); 2012 – Alex Jackson (San Diego Rancho Bernardo); 2011 – Ryan “Rowdy” Tellez (Elk Grove); 2010 – Rio Ruiz (La Puente Bishop Amat); 2009 – Christian Lopes (Valencia).

Jordan Ayala shows off pitch during one of several impressive outings as a freshman at Norco. Photo: Instagram.com.
FRESHMEN:
Jordan Ayala (Norco)
For the fourth straight year, the state’s top freshman baseball honor has gone to a player from the Inland Empire. It’s also two in a row for Norco, so watch out for the Cougars next season in the same league as powerhouse Corona.
Speaking of Corona, which was No. 1 in the state at the time, Ayala’s performance against that team made him a major contender for this selection. It was in the second round of the CIF Southern Section D1 playoffs and even though Norco lost, 2-0, the freshman pitcher went all seven innings and kept his team close with a two-hitter. He also had six strikeouts.
Throwing a two-hitter vs Corona also wasn’t the only impressive outing for Jordan. In his first ever high school start, he faced state top 10 Orange Lutheran and in 5 2/3 innings of a 2-1 win, he struck out 11 and gave up just two hits. Ayala also had a two-hitter with 13 strikeouts in a 12-0 league win vs Roosevelt of Eastvale.
For the season, Jordan went 8-4 on the mound with a 1.10 ERA and he had 83 strikeouts in 63 2/3 innings. He also played third base when not pitching and had one error in 37 chances. As a batter, in a highly competitive league, he had 25 hits, 19 RBI and a .278 average.
There was one scouting report seen that described Ayala like this: “Fastball sitting 92-94 mph and topping out at 95 mph this season. Also showing one of the best sliders in high school, sitting in the mid 80s.”
When Jordan isn’t pitching and is playing the infield at Norco, he’s often right next to last year’s state freshman of the year, Dylan Seward. We’ll see how they keep developing, but there are still two more years to see if both of them can be a state player of the year at the same time.
Santiago of Corona had a highly ranked freshman pitcher in 6-foot-6 Striker Pence, nephew of former MLB star Hunter Pence. And one other freshman who was considered was Chula Vista Eastlake’s Joel Vargas.
Recent State Freshmen of the Year: 2024 – Dylan Seward (Norco); 2023 – Anthony Murphy (Corona); 2022 – Brady Ebel (Etiwanda); 2021 – Bryce Rainer (Studio City Harvard-Westlake); 2020 – No selection (pandemic); 2019 – Luke Davis (Cypress); 2018 – Jonathan Cymrot (Valley Christian, San Jose); 2017 – Lucas Gordon (Sherman Oaks Notre Dame); 2016 – Jasiah Dixon (Orange Lutheran); 2015 – Joey Magrisi (San Diego Rancho Bernardo); 2014 – Tommy Palomera (Chatsworth); 2013 – Conrado Diaz (San Ysidro); 2012 – Jagger Rusconi (Valencia West Ranch); 2011 – Alex Jackson (San Diego Rancho Bernardo); 2010 – J.R. Crawford (Lakewood); 2009 – Ty France (Covina South Hills); 2008 – Christian Lopes (Valencia).
MEDIUM SCHOOLS:
Hunter Manning (West Ranch, Valencia)
For the CIF Southern Section Division 2 Player of the Year, the combination of pitching, two-way ability, and clutch postseason performances made him a clear choice for medium school’s state honors.
Manning is the first-ever state player of the year in any category from the Santa Clarita Valley. There have been plenty from the San Fernando/Ventura area of the CIF Southern Section, including Boston Bateman of Camarillo from just last year.
The 6-foot-4, 215-pound senior compiled a 10-2 record on the mound with a 0.74 ERA, striking out 112 batters while allowing only 42 hits all season in 75.2 innings. He also broke the school record for strikeouts in a season and held batters to just a .153 average. Manning led the way on the mound for West Ranch all season, helping the Wildcats win the Foothill League title and claim the program’s first ever CIF Southern Section Division 2 championship.
At the plate, Hunter hit .441 with four doubles, two home runs, 19 RBIs, and 13 runs scored, showing he could do damage on both sides of the ball.
One of his biggest performances came in the CIF Southern Section D2 semifinals, when he threw a no-hitter against Sultana of Hesperia, striking out eight on 81 pitches. He followed that with a complete game four-hitter with six strikeouts in a 2-1 championship win over Mater Dei, helping send his coach off with a title in his final season. Manning was later named SoCal Baseball Player of the Week.
Looking ahead, Hunter will continue his baseball and academic career at UC Irvine.
Recent Medium Schools State Players of the Year: 2024 – Boston Bateman (Camarillo); 2023 – Toby Twist (Bakersfield Christian); 2022 – Eric Bitonti (San Bernardino Aquinas); 2021 – Tucker Bougie (Mill Valley Tamalpais); 2020 – No selection (pandemic); 2019 – Colin Barber (Chico Pleasant Valley); 2018 – Tyson Heaton (Yucaipa); 2017 – Matt Sauer (Santa Maria Righetti); 2016 – Sean Reynolds (Redondo Beach Redondo Union); 2015 – Peter Lambert (San Dimas); 2014 – Chris Mathewson (Fontana Kaiser); 2013 – Dominic Smith (Gardena Serra); 2012 – Troy Conyers (Lakeside El Capitan); 2011 – Rio Ruiz (La Puente Bishop Amat); 2010 – Angelo Gumbs (Torrance); 2009 – Ryan Wilkins (San Diego Cathedral Catholic); 2008 – Kyle Skipworth (Riverside Rubidoux); 2007 – Mike Stanton (Sherman Oaks Notre Dame).

Blake Moore shows off slender slinger form that helped him strikeout 600 high school batters. Photo: California City HS / MaxPreps.com.
SMALL SCHOOLS:
Blake Moore (California City)
This selection became hard to deny once the final stat lines were in, especially with a strikeout total that places him among the best in state history. The 6-foot-6, 195-pound senior dominated the mound all season long.
Moore struck out 173 batters in 83 innings this spring, finished with a 0.59 ERA, and ended the season ranked No. 1 in California and No. 2 nationally in strikeouts, according to MaxPreps. He also reached a major career milestone with 600 career strikeouts, placing him No. 2 all-time in state history behind only Craig VanHulzen of Apple Valley Christian, who had 646 from 1987 to 1990.
In one standout week, he threw a 14-strikeout two-hitter in a 4-1 loss to Tehachapi, then followed it with 10 strikeouts in five innings during a 5-1 win over Boron. He also contributed at the plate and played both first base and outfield when not pitching.
While Moore was one of those players who wasn’t on a section or state title team, he also had a career ERA of 1.82. As a batter, he also played on the Ravens’ varsity for four years and had a career batting average of .385. This season, he batted .407 with 41 runs scored, six doubles, seven triples and 31 RBI.
Blake is the second straight honoree for small schools from the CIF Central Section after McGuire Smith of Liberty (Madera Ranchos) just last season. There have been many others, but one from closer to California City in Kern County was Gilbert Villanueva of Tehachapi in 1982.
In addition to his baseball success, Moore passed for 1,530 yards and nine touchdowns as the football team’s quarterback and punter, competed in soccer during high school, and maintained a 4.3 GPA while also playing travel baseball with Eveland Athletics.
Looking ahead, he will continue his academic and athletic career at William & Mary. His place among the state’s all-time strikeout leaders caps off a standout senior season that earned him well-deserved recognition among California’s top small school baseball players.
Recent Small Schools State Players of the Year: 2024 – McGuire Smith (Liberty, Madera Ranchos); 2023 – Cody New (Hesperia Christian); 2022 – Nick Dugan (Eureka St. Bernard’s); 2021 – Braden Ross (El Cajon Christian); 2020 – No selection (pandemic); 2019 – Daniel Carrion (Winters); 2018 – Alex Williams (Redwood Christian, San Lorenzo); 2017 – Robert Cruz (Redlands Arrowhead Christian); 2016 – Brett Super (Newport Beach Sage Hill); 2015 – Nico Hoerner (Oakland Head-Royce); 2014 – Nico Hoerner (Oakland Head-Royce); 2013 – Carlos Salazar (Kerman); 2012 – Nolan Gannon (Solana Beach Santa Fe Christian); 2011 – Robb Woodcock (Kentfield Marin Catholic); 2010 – Dylan Covey (Sierra Madre Maranatha); 2009 – Andrew Rich (Easton Washington); 2008 – Clay Cederquist (Fowler).
Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow Mark on the Cal-Hi Sports Twitter handle: @CalHiSports
2 Comments
Looks like article states Malcolm Moore never played for Stanford baseball and was drafted in 2022. He played two years at Stanford and was drafted in 2024.
Had someone else in mind when writing that sentence. Thanks for correction.