Two State Player of the Year candidates having great seasons so far are Rachel Garcia of Palmdale Highland and Joe DeMers of College Park. Photos: Pawprint.com & Mark Tennis.
She gave up no hits and no walks and the runner who scored was put on second by international tie-breaker so is Rachel Garcia’s amazing outing for Highland of Palmdale a perfect game or not? This week’s honor roll also features Joe DeMers of College Park for baseball plus more on amazing softball seasons by Alyssa Palomino of Mission Viejo and Tannon Snow of Chino Hills.
As has been customary for many years, we collect the state stat stars in support of the Cal-Hi Sports State Record Book & Almanac. The book has been published seven times (the most recent, though, was 2009) and is as official as a state record book can be since no other exists. To report a State Stat Star of the Week of your own, please email details to markjtennis@gmail.com.
Note: All baseball and softball state records are in the process of being added to this web site. Some of them already have been added. They will be part of our Gold Club membership. To join our Gold Club today, please CLICK HERE.
Items contributed this week by Paul Muyskens, Mark Tennis and CIF Central Section historian Bob Barnett. This honor roll is for games played from April 21 to April 25 with some performances from this week also included and a few from April 14 to April 18.
BASEBALL
Joe DeMers (College Park, Pleasant Hill)
Forget scoring a run, just getting a hit against Joe at home has been tough as he pitched his third straight no-hitter at home during a 11-0 win over Northgate of Walnut Creek. He also went a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate during the win. DeMers was the 2014 State Junior of the Year and still looks like a frontrunner for Mr. Baseball for this year, especially if he keeps throwing no-hitters. Already this week, DeMers also has been ridiculous. He doubled, homered and had six RBI in a 15-2 win over Berean Christian of Walnut Creek and then went 3-for-3 with his sixth homer of the season and pitched a one-hitter with 10 strikeouts in a 17-0 win against Ygnacio Valley of Walnut Creek.
Dalton Blumenfeld (Hamilton, Los Angeles)
In a 11-1 triumph earlier this week over Los Angeles CES, Blumenfeld hammered his eighth homer of the season and collected five RBI. It was the most RBI he’s had in a game since the seven he had in March against Marshall.
Jensen Brotherson (Hanford)
He tossed his first 7-inning no-hitter with eight strikeouts in a 7-0 win over El Diamante of Visalia. He also had two hits at the plate.
Garrhett Wiley (South Fork, Miranda)
In a win two weeks ago against St. Bernard’s of Eureka, Wiley whipped his bat for a pair of doubles and had four RBI. He came back in his first game last week with a grand slam homer and then another double in a 14-1 romp past Ferndale.
Morgan Monashefsky (Sacred Heart Cathedral, San Francisco)
An easy pick for our NorCal Baseball Player of the Week earlier this week, he pitched the first perfect game in school history when he struck out seven during a 6-0 win over Archbishop Riordan of San Francisco.
Drew Finley (Rancho Bernardo, San Diego)
It was an epic pitcher’s duel down in San Diego last week during the Broncos’ 1-0 win over Westview of San Diego that lasted 12 innings. Finley pitched eight innings and allowed just one hit and one walk while striking out 14 for Rancho Bernardo.
Michael Mercado (Westview, San Diego)
While he didn’t strike out as many batters as Rancho Bernardo’s Drew Finley, Mercado did go one inning longer as he pitched nine innings and allowed just two hits and one walk before getting a no-decision during a 1-0 loss in 12 innings.
Adrian Acosta (Chatsworth)
Finally becoming eligible to play earlier this month after having to sit out due to a transfer from Simi Valley, Acosta he had five hits, including the game-winning walk-off base hit, during a 8-7 win over South of Torrance.
Frankie Saladate (McLane, Fresno)
The senior pitched a six-inning one-hitter and had a career high of 16 strikeouts against former teammates in a 13-0 win over Roosevelt of Fresno. Early in the season, Frankie was hot at the plate, going 12 consecutive hits at bat, the second best in Central Section history, according to section historian Bob Barnett.
Kevin Gowdy (Santa Barbara)
Nearly pitching a no-hitter, he allowed just one hit while striking out 11 during a 3-0 win over Dos Pueblos of Santa Barbara that allowed the Dons to take over first-place in the Channel League.
Easton Lucas (Grace Brethren, Simi Valley)
Although his streak of not allowing a run this season ended recently against St. Bonaventure of Ventura, Lucas did not allow one until then and had only given up four hits in his first 33 innings. That included a no-hitter back on April 15 with a season-high 14 strikeouts in a 5-0 win over Santa Clara of Oxnard. It also was Lucas’ second no-hitter of the season.
Brett Conine (El Modena, Orange)
A name that we have seen quite often in the last few weeks, Conine tossed his second shutout in two weeks with a 5-0 two-hitter against Esperanza of Anaheim in which he also had 11 strikeouts. Conine, who also has been one of El Modena’s top hitters this season, also had a shutout in his previous start. That was in a 1-0 win over Villa Park. He no walks and 10 strikeouts as well.
Colby Freeman (Centennial, Bakersfield)
He tied a school record with two other players with eight RBIs and also went 3-for-3, including a home run, in a 24-7 triumph over Garces of Bakersfield.
Rylee Pierce of El Diamante recently had 23-game hitting streak snapped.
SOFTBALL
Alyssa Palomino (Mission Viejo)
Breaking the Cal-Hi Sports state record for career home runs, she hit two home runs and drove in five runs during a 13-0 win over El Toro on April 23. Her two home runs game gave her 13 for the season and increased her career total to 55, moving her two in front of the previous state record. Palomino also hit her 56th on Friday when Mission Viejo dominated Dana Hills of Dana Point 13-0.
Tannon Snow (Chino Hills)
Palomino now has company in 50-homer club as Snow bashed her 50th to lead Chino Hills past Rancho Cucamonga 19-1. While it doesn’t look like Snow will catch Palomino for the state record, she has a good chance to surpass the current three-way tie for second at 53. Snow also has more homers this season than Palomino with 18 and may have broken the CIF Southern Section record for career RBI at 189. We have some work to do on that to see for sure.
Rachel Garcia (Highland, Palmdale)
Despite pitching a perfect game through seven innings, she got the loss in the championship game of the Thousand Oaks Tournament as she struck out the first 18 batters of the game and would finish with 23 strikeouts in eight innings but with the help of a runner starting the inning on second base her team suffered a 1-0 loss to Camarillo. There was even discussion among media members at the CIF 100th Anniversary celebration in L.A. about the performance. Does Garcia still get credit for a perfect game? While it’s true she didn’t allow a baserunner and neither did her team’s defense, a throwing error enabled the winning run to score. The error means it’s not a perfect game. In the semifinals of the same tourney, this UCLA commit had 18 strikeouts during a 6-0 win over Lakewood.
Emily Orosco (Camarillo)
She didn’t pitch a perfect game through seven innings, but she did get the win as she allowed just two hits and walked just one while striking out 16 during the 1-0 win over Rachel Garcia and Highland of Palmdale in the championship game of the Thousand Oaks tournament.
Cailtin Emberson (Taft)
She clubbed the 36th home run of her career, scored six times, had five RBI and went 5-for-6 at the plate in a 36-0 win over Bakersfield Christian. In the second game of last week, sophomore teammate Oliva Ortleib went 5-for-5 with three doubles in a 15-0 victory over Arvin.
Meehra Nelson (Westlake, Westlake Village)
She had 13 strikeouts and allowed just one hit during a 9-0 win over Thousand Oaks but she did even better earlier in the week during a 4-0 win over Calabasas in Marmonte League play when she pitched a perfect game with 16 strikeouts.
Kailla Searcy (Paraclete, Lancaster)
In a 14-0 triumph over Brentwood of Los Angeles, Searcy pitched a no-hitter with 12 strikeouts and and also went 4-for-4 with a homer and four RBI. She wasn’t done for the week, though. She later hit two homers for the Spirits when they swamped Viewpoint of Calabasas 17-1.
Kiana Pancino & Kayla Neff (Edison, Huntington Beach)
Stanford-commit Pancino pitched a no-hitter with six strikeouts while Neff led the offense with a triple, two home runs and six runs batted in when the Chargers defeated Fountain Valley 15-0.
Cielo Meza (St. Bonaventure, Ventura)
Putting Ks all over your scoresheet two weeks ago, she pitched three one-hitters while striking out a total of 49 batters. Meza’s performances included 16 strikeouts during a 10-0 win in six innings over Nordhoff and 19 strikeouts during a 1-0 win over San Fernando. Meza will play next at Long Beach State.
Meredith Meadows (Yorba Linda)
The Mustangs moved into the Top 20 of our state rankings earlier this week and she is one of the reasons they won their 10th straight game last week with a 11-2 win over Esperanza of Anaheim. The freshman went 3 for 4 with three home runs and six runs batted in.
Mickaela Brown & Lily Rose Vela (Frazier Mountain)
These two put on a hitting clinic in a 38-0 win over Alpaugh. Mickaela went 5-for-6 hits, hit two home runs, put her name in the state record book with three triples and had seven RBI. Lily Rose was perfect at the plate (5-for-5) with six runs scored and seven RBI.
Brady Kooyman (Elliot Christian, Lodi)
One of our NorCal/SoCal Players of the Week, this Missouri-bound standout went 13 for 14 during the week that ended last Sunday, including a game that saw her go a perfect 4 for 4 with two triples and six runs batted in during a 23-4 win over Stone Ridge Christian of Modesto. Already with her name in the record book for a three-triple game earlier this season, she has a chance to set the state record for most triples in a season.
Kaitlyn Eveland (Loara, Anaheim)
Showing the power that has her headed to Michigan State, Eveland hit two home runs during a 6-2 win over Segerstrom of Santa Ana. She was picked as this week’s OCSidelines Player of the Week.
Morganne Flores (Mater Dei, Santa Ana)
Named as our SoCal Softball Player of the Week, this future Washington Husky player had another multi-home run game last week as she went 3 for 4 with a triple, two home runs and five runs batted in during a 8-0 win over Rosary of Fullerton.
Rylee Pierce (El Diamante, Visalia)
She hit two homers and had four RBI in a 10-4 win over Mt. Whitney. In the second game of the week, Rylee saw her 23th consecutive game hitting streak come to an end in a 7-2 win over Hanford.
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
