Two of this week’s honorees are Mia Valbuena from Marina of Huntington Beach (left) and Jayden Badhesha of Woodland Christian. Photos: SportsRecruits.com & X.com.
For this week, which will be the next to last group of picked players for the 2024-25 school year, we don’t have any entries for the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record Book. That is something this features tracks, but despite the funnel narrowing with not a lot of teams left in action, we fulfilled the second object of this feature by uncovering some hidden talent that now gets statewide recognition to go with local honors. The stops this week in Northern California are in Woodland and Fresno. In Southern California, we visit Woodland Hills and Huntington Beach.
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Notes: For these honors, we also consider CIF Central Section players for Northern California. Next week is the last chance for any players to get featured for the 2024-25 school year. To nominate anyone, email markjtennis@gmail.com.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Baseball Player of the Week
Jayden Badhesha (Woodland Christian) Jr.
Yolo County and the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section is where we find this week’s Northern California State Baseball Player of the Week, and now besides local recognition for his most recent performance, the Woodland Christian Cardinals’ junior pitcher and slugger receives a statewide award.
Last week, in a 5-1 CIFSJS Division 6 victory by the No. 2 seed over top-seeded Bear River of Grass Valley, Badhesha went six innings and only gave up three hits, no earned runs, 11 strikeouts and three bases on balls. His bat launched a two-run home run.
With the win, Woodland Christian claimed its second straight Sac-Joaquin Section title.
Heading into the CIF Northern Regional playoffs next week, Badhesha is 8-0 with a 2.00 ERA and 84 strikeouts and 21 bases on balls in 49 innings pitched.
With bat in hand, Jayden is hitting for an outstanding .461 batting average with six home runs, a triple, five doubles, 43 RBI and 34 runs scored. The 43 RBI is tied for the No. 11 reported mark in the state and No. 4 in the Sac-Joaquin Section.
Iyanna Molano of Fresno Roosevelt is shown we assume with her mother. Photo: Roosevelt HS Athletics / MaxPreps.com.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Softball Player of the Week
Iyanna Molano (Roosevelt, Fresno) Sr.
Do you know the way to Fresno? We do, but for this week’s Northern California State Softball Player of the Week we took directions from CIF Central Section historian and longtime Cal-Hi Sports friend and contributor Bob Barnett, who nominated Molano through his weekly Central Section Milestones missive.
Roosevelt was only the No. 10 seed in the CIF Central Section Division VI playoffs but thanks to the heroics of Molano the Rough Riders will be playing for their first ever section championship.
In the quarterfinals last week, and in a resounding 15-3 victory over second-seed and host Bishop Union of Bishop, Iyanna tossed a two-hitter in the circle with 10 strikeouts. At the plate, Molano was 5-for-5 with a double, three RBI and a run scored.
In a semifinal 8-3 victory on the road at No. 3 seed Strathmore, Iyanna threw a three-hitter with 11 strikeouts and only gave up two earned runs. As a batter, Molano with 3-for-4 with two doubles, three RBI and a run scored.
The bottom line is with the numbers she put up last week, Molano could possibly have won this statewide honor with her pitching or hitting stats alone. The fact she did so much damage in both the circle and at the plate makes things even more impressive.
Heading into the title game for Roosevelt at Fresno State on Friday evening against fifth-seeded Torres of Madera, Molano not surprisingly leads the 16-12 Rough Riders in pitching and hitting. In the circle, she is 12-7 with a 2.53 ERA and 149 strikeouts in 146.2 innings pitched. At the plate, Iyanna is hitting for a .406 batting average with two home runs, three triples, 14 doubles, 30 RBI and 11 runs scored.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
State Softball Player of the Week
Mia Valbuena (Marina, Huntington Beach) Jr.
Orange County is where we find this week’s Southern California State Softball Player of the Week, and the honoree, who now gets a statewide award to go with local recognition, is a star in the circle and at the plate for the Vikings, and she’s been near her best just when Marina has needed Mia the most.
Last Saturday, in a 4-0 CIF Southern Section Division 3 semifinal shutout victory over Yorba Linda, Valbuena was bueno after tossing a one-hitter with 10 strikeouts and only two walks. At the plate, she had a hit and a sacrifice bunt in three plate appearances.
Earlier in the week, Valbuena didn’t do any damage with her bat, but quarterfinal opponent St. Paul of Santa Fe Springs didn’t fare much better against her when she was in the circle because Mia pitched a three-hitter with 12 strikeouts and two walks in a 4-1 victory.
In a second round 7-0 victory over San Clemente, the Michigan-bound junior, who has a fastball that tops out at around 64 MPH, got it done both in the circle and with bat in hand. She tossed a three-hitter with nine strikeouts and three walks, and at the plate Valbuena was 2-for-3 with two doubles, two RBI and a run scored. It was two weeks ago but Mia started the playoffs with a one-hit shutout with 12 strikeouts and no walks in a 5-inning mercy-shortened 10-0 victory over Arcadia.
Heading into the CIFSS D3 title-game matchup with Westlake of Westlake Village this Friday afternoon in Irvine, Valbuena is 18-10 with a 1.91 ERA and 280 strikeouts in 168.1 innings pitched, but it should be noted that both Mia and Marina are riding a six-game winning streak heading into the championship title tilt. Of note is that the 280 strikeouts is the top reported mark in the Southern Section and No. 6 in the state.
Valbuena has a solid bat as well and currently she has a .337 average with two home runs, seven doubles, and 21 runs batted in.
We would be remiss if we didn’t at least give a shoutout to Mia’s twin sister Avi Valbuena. She has done a little pitching as well but she also plays the outfield and is the No. 3 leading batter on the Vikings with a .378 batting average
On a final note, Mia is also the quarterback on the Vikings’ flag football team.
Devin Gonor (left) and El Camino Real’s other pitching ace, Luke Howe, stopped for a photo after team won L.A. City title at Dodger Stadium. Photo: @Ecrbaseball / X.com.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
State Baseball Player of the Week
Devin Gonor
(El Camino Real, Woodland Hills) Sr.
The search for the Southern California State Player of the Week started out in the San Fernando Valley portion of the Los Angeles City Section but that’s not where we ended up, and the LA City Open Division championship title game wasn’t in Venice, the home of the opponent Gonor faced when he took the mound last Saturday.
The title game performance by the Royals’ senior left-handed ace hurler was spun at Chavez Ravine, and in the shadows of the famous wavy terra-cotta roofs over the outfield pavilions of Dodger Stadium, and although Devin has had more than one outstanding outing in his two-year varsity career, this was the performance of a lifetime.
On the biggest stage for baseball in Southern California, and for all the marbles against a top-seeded Venice team that came into the game with a 28-2 record, Gonor brought home the bacon for the second-seeded Royals by pitching a three-hitter with five strikeouts and two walks.
“I grew up coming to Dodger Stadium watching Clayton Kershaw and Cody Bellinger,” Gonor told Eric Sondheimer of the Los Angeles Times. “To be on the same field, it’s something you can only dream of.”
Not only was Devin on the field, but he also helped create a lifetime memory for himself and his teammates and coaches.
The win secured a 10th LA City Section title for El Camino Real and earned the Royals a spot on the bubble of this weeks Cal-Hi Sports State TOP 35 rankings.
Goner, who is committed to Concordia University in Nebraska, is now 11-0 on the season and goes into the CIF Southern Regional playoffs beginning next week with two straight shutouts after the performance against Venice followed a 2-0 blanking of Lake Balboa Birmingham. It’s almost like when Gonor takes the mound the opponents are goners.
Now, after getting some kudos from Sondheimer, Gonor receives a statewide honor as a keepsake to cherish as well.
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
