State Baseball/Softball Players of Week

Two of this week’s honorees are Ethan Williams of Los Gatos (left) & Vivi Navarrete from Warren of Downey. Photos: Los Gatos HS Athletics / MaxPreps & Keith Durflinger / The Downey Patriot.

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Notes: For these honors, we consider CIF Central Section players for Northern California. To nominate anyone, email markjtennis@gmail.com.

Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Softball Player of the Week

Vivi Navarrete (Warren, Downey) Soph.

The search for the Southern California Softball Player of the Week takes us to the Los Angeles County portion of the CIF Southern Section and just about smack dab in the middle of a triangle formed by I-710 to the west, the I-105 to the south and the I-5 to the northeast. Our destination where we find our award winner is at the home of the Bears at Warren High in Downey.

Navarrete, a right-handed sophomore pitcher and slugger, might be a member of the Bears, but last week Vivi, who only stands 5-foot-3, was more like a giant killer in two games.

First, in a 5-1 Gateway League victory over previous Cal-Hi Sports No. 6 ranked La Mirada, Vivi was pretty nifty in the circle and got the Matadores’ batters out despite only getting one strikeout and walking five, but she pitched a one-hitter in a 5-1 victory. With bat in hand she also had had a single and drove in all the runs she needed with two RBI. Two days later, Navarrete blanked previous No. 19 and crosstown arch-rival Downey in a 7-0 win where she gave only three hits and struck out five with one walk. This time as a batter Vivi went 2-for-3 with a triple and one RBI. Downey also was inside last week’s State TOP 25 rankings but the loss to Warren helped knock out the Vikings this week.

So far this season and heading into the Gateway showdown at Cerritos Gahr on Thursday, Navarrete is 10-3 as a pitcher with a 3.47 ERA and 42 strikeouts. Hitting-wise, she is second on the team with a .442 average, leads with four triples, plus five doubles and 12 RBI. She’s also only struck out twice in 60 plate appearances.

Parker Smith of Poway has been a very productive player for the Titans this spring. Photo: X.com.

Parker Smith (Poway) Sr.

To find the Southern California Baseball Player of the Week, we visit the CIF San Diego Section and venture north of downtown San Diego around 20 miles up the 1-15 and around 3-miles east of the interstate where we land at Poway High.

The Poway Titans have always excelled in many sports and have a long history of sending players on the big league level, including Tony Gwynn Jr., the son of San Diego Padres’ all-time great Tony Gwynn.

Smith has not reached that kind of level yet, but the 6-foot-2, 190-pound Michigan-committed right-handed hard-hitting outfielder and third baseman has now garnered a statewide award to go with local recognition.

Smith didn’t do much this past Monday in a 7-3 win over Fallbrook that got Poway to 5-1 in the Avocado League and 10-9 overall, but last week in the games against neighboring Ramona he owned the Bulldogs.

Smith, who leads Poway in almost every offensive category, started last week by going 3-for-4 with two doubles, an RBI and two runs scored in a 11-4 victory. He followed that up with another 3-for-4 performance with a home run, double, two RBI and three runs scored in a 14-7 win, and in the final game of the week when Ramona could take no more and fell in a 24-0 rout, Smith was 4-for-4 with a home run, two doubles, six RBI and four runs scored.

So far this season and heading into a Wednesday game with Fallbrook, Smith is hitting .446 with five home runs, 13 doubles, 15 RBI and 26 runs scored. He’s also only committed two errors on defense in 37 total chances.

Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Baseball Player of the Week

Ethan Williams (Los Gatos) Sr.

The far western end of Silicon Valley around 15 miles west of downtown San Jose, and in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains is where we find this week’s Northern California Baseball Player of the Week, who now gets statewide recognition to go with local kudos in the San Jose Mercury News.

We find our NorCal baseball honoree at Los Gatos High, the home of the Wildcats, and in his most recent outing on the mound this cat named Williams darned near turned in a perfect game. All he did was strike out 16 with no hits or walks, and only two fielding gaffes by Los Gatos denied him perfection in an 8-0 win over visiting Santa Clara.

Ethan doesn’t hit so he didn’t really contribute to a 16-1 win later in the week over Santa Clara, but with that win the Wildcats got to 16-2 overall and 9-0 in the De Anza League, and with the wins they jumped eight spots to No. 23 in the most recent Cal-Hi Sports state rankings.

It didn’t really count towards this week’s award, but Ethan was also lights out in his previous performance. In an 11-0 tournament win over Tennessee Friendship Christian, Williams tossed a 1-hitter with no walks and 11 strikeouts in a 5-inning affair. That means Ethan has fanned 26 of the last 38 batters he’s faced with only one hit and no walks in 12 innings pitched.

So far this season for Willams, a 6-foot, 200-pound right-hander who sports a 4.21 GPA but is uncommitted, he’s 7-0 with a 0.57 ERA and 65 strikeouts and only seven bases on balls in 37 innings pitched.

DeAmor Coleman from Salesian of Richmond is shown in her travel ball uniform. Photo: SportsRecruits.com.

DeAmor Coleman (Salesian, Richmond) Jr.

To find the Northern California Softball Player of the Week we head to the West Contra Costa County portion of the CIF North Coast Section and go to Richmond where we find our honoree at Salesian College Preparatory.

Salesian has won quite a few NCS championships, with the three most recent ones coming in basketball with the boys Open Division championships both this past year and three years ago, and a Division 2 girls title this past season as well. However, when it comes to softball, the Pride have only cashed in once and that came in Division 4 in 2001, but the way Salesian is playing now with a 13-2 start, this could be the year for a breakthrough, and Coleman has been a big part of this year’s drive to the playoffs with both her pitching and hitting. Last week was a perfect example and for her performances DeAmor gets some love from us as the NorCal weekly softball award winner.

The week started with a 24-1 rout of El Cerrito where all the Pride’s bats were hot but Coleman’s was sizzling after she went 3-for-5 with two home runs, a double, six RBI and three runs scored. DeAmor also pitched in the 5-inning affair and gave up a run on two hits with a walk and eight strikeouts. Two days later and in a 13-0 shellacking of neighboring De Anza of El Sobrante she was 3-for-4 with three doubles, two RBI and a run scored. In that 5-inning contest she dominated in the circle as well with a 1-hitter with a walk and 12 strikeouts.

So far this season and heading into a Wednesday showdown with a visiting Pinole Valley of Pinole team that has dealt the Pride one of two losses, Coleman is at an even .500 with seven home runs, a triple, 15 doubles, 36 RBI and 22 runs scored. Her 36 RBI is tied for the No. 2 reported mark in the NCS. From the circle, DeAmor is 12-0 with a 2.50 ERA and 82 strikeouts in 84 innings pitched.

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