Two of this week’s honorees are Drew Finley of San Diego Rancho Bernardo and Jamie Wren of Whittier La Serna. Photos: sdhoc.com & Josh Barber/OCSidelines.com.
Just like we did during the football and basketball seasons, we are going to do our best to spread around these honors as much as possible with one boy and one girl chosen from each region in baseball and softball. This week’s best are from Anderson, Lake Forest, Sacramento and San Diego.
To nominate a player for next week, email markjtennis@gmail.com by Monday at 12 noon and be sure to include a photo that we can use (which means it’s not from the local newspaper or from another web site). Please feel free to call at 209-463-9050 as well both for nominations or to see if your business or small company would like to become a sponsor for this weekly content.
Note: For purposes of this feature, we are considering the CIF Central Section to be in the north.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Baseball Player of the Week
Drew Finley (Rancho Bernardo, San Diego) Sr.
A big-time pitching prospect with a great chance to be chosen early in the MLB Draft come June, Finley put on an impressive pitching performance last week that saw him strike out 20 batters during a 2-1 win over Ramona. In seven innings, he also allowed just two hits, walked one and the run was unearned.
With the win, Finley improved to 5-0 on the season with a 0.64 ERA and 57 strikeouts over 33 innings. A USC commit, he was the winning pitcher back in August at the Perfect Game All-American Classic in San Diego.
Rancho Bernardo, of course, is no stranger to having a top MLB draft pick. Just last year, Mr. Baseball runner-up Alex Jackson was tabbed in the first round by the Seattle Mariners.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Baseball Player of the Week
Justin Hull (Palo Alto) Jr.
Bellarmine of San Jose had to drop out of our new State Top 20 baseball rankings this week and this junior pitcher is the main reason why as he pitched a complete game shutout against the Bells last week.
In the 1-0 win, he not only held the Bells scoreless by allowing just three hits but he also drove in the game’s lone run.
With the win, the Vikings advanced to the championship game of the Cunningham Classic. Earlier this season, Hull picked up his fourth win of the season when he handed Wilcox of Santa Clara its first league loss of the year.
Another reason we wanted to single out Justin is that he is a three-sport varsity athlete at Palo Alto. He was the quarterback in football last fall and then played 24 games in basketball.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Softball Player of the Week
Jamie Wren (La Serna, Whittier) Sr.
Getting the start in the circle against a Mater Dei of Santa Ana team that had won 10 in a row, this Ohio University-bound senior pitched a complete game shutout when the Lancers picked up the 6-0 win at the Woodbridge Tournament. Allowing just two hits, she struck out three while also driving in a run at the plate.
On the season, Wren has 14 runs batted in and two home runs while going 11-1 with a 0.91 ERA in the circle. Last season, she was the Whittier Daily News Player of the Year after going 25-3 with a 0.55 ERA while hitting .463 with 27 runs batted in.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Softball Player of the Week
Kiannah Molina (Sierra Pacific, Hanford) Sr.
Showing why she is on the way to hitting over .500 for the third season in a row, Molina was a perfect 10 for 10 at the plate last week in a pair of games against Corcoran.
Going 5 for 5 with two home runs, two doubles and five runs batted in for the defending CIF Central Section Division VI champs, Kiannah first helped the Golden Bears pick up a 13-5 win and two days later she once again went 5 for 5 with three doubles and four runs batted in during a 21-8 win.
Earlier this season, Molina had a two home run game during a 22-0 win over Parlier that also saw her drive in nine runs. For the season, she is hitting .583 with seven home runs and 34 runs batted in.
Paul Muyskens is the Stockton office assistant editor for CalHiSports.com. 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
