State Stat Stars of the Week

Two of the best on this week’s honor roll are Marina Vitalich from Mary Star of San Pedro and Cole Acosta from Santa Fe Christian. Photos: Courtesy family & Twitter.com.

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.

Paul Muyskens, Mark Tennis and CIF Central Section historian Bob Barnett all contributed items this week. This honor roll is for games played from April 6 to April 11 with some performances from this week also included and a few from March 30 to April 3.

BASEBALL

Drew Finley (Rancho Bernardo, San Diego)
An easy selection as one of our SoCal/NorCal Players of the Week earlier this week, he had 20 strikeouts while allowing two hits, two walks and one unearned run during a 2-1 win over Ramona.

Cole Acosta (Santa Fe Christian, Solana Beach)
If not for Drew Finley’s huge strikeout game, he may have been our selection for our SoCal Player of the Week as he pitched a perfect game against Canyon Crest Academy.

Austin Rubick (Buena, Ventura)
Despite allowing a run, he pitched a no-hitter with 11 strikeouts as the Bulldogs defeated Cathedral of Los Angeles 6-1 at the Righetti Spring Break Tournament.

Kevin Nordby (Monta Vista, Cupertino)
Throwing a no-hitter is a guarantee to get yourself listed in our weekly honors. Norby did his no-no and struck out 12 during a 3-0 win over Fremont of Sunnyvale.

Dominic Pedersen & George Sammon (Saint Vincent de Paul, Petaluma)
Pedersen and Sammon led the Mustangs, who are now 10-3 on the season, to a 3-1 week record. Pedersen, a junior and three-year member, won his fourth game against only one defeat throwing a complete game two-hitter (six inning, 10-run rule) with eight strikeouts and two walks while throwing just 78 total pitches in a 16-2 Fort Bragg Rotary-Bill Pavioni Invitational semifinal win over Cloverdale. Offensively over the four-game stretch, Dominic also was 7-for-10 at the plate with a home run, three doubles and 10 RBI (25 for the season through 13 games). Sammon, a senior and four-year team member, raised his team-best batting average to .545 on the season while going 8-for-12 with 11 runs scored. Pedersen and Sammon where both all-tournament selections in Fort Bragg where Saint Vincent lost to fellow CIFNCS Division V school Clear Lake-Lakeport 8-7 in the championship game.

Jack Owen (JSerra Catholic, San Juan Capistrano)
After being one of four pitchers to pitch during a 10-1 win over Great Oak of Temecula in the second round of the Boras Classic, he pitched a four-hit shutout in the SoCal championship game when the Lions defeated Mater Dei of Santa Ana 4-0.

Nick Green (Wilcox, Santa Clara)
He improved to a perfect 7-0 on the mound when he allowed just two hits and stuck out seven during a 5-0 win over Sacred Heart Prep at the Valley Christian tournament.

Easton Lucas (Grace Brethren, Simi Valley)
He pitched his second no-hitter of the season earlier this week, which will put him in contention for Player of the Week honors next week but last week he allowed just one hit in five innings while striking out nine during a 11-0 win over Carpinteria.

Thomas Wilson (Burroughs, Burbank)
Getting the start against Crescenta Valley and UCLA-bound starter Brian Gadsby, he picked up his fourth win of the season and lowered his ERA to 0.43 as the Indians got the 1-0 win.

Sebastian Lopez (Foothill, Tustin)
He went 2-for-3 with two RBI in a 3-0 win over Calabasas and then in the next game improved to 8-0 on the mound with a five-hitter as the Knights beat Canyon of Anaheim 3-1.

Justin Hull (Palo Alto)
One of our Cal-Hi Sports NorCal/SoCal Players of the Week, he pitched a three hit shutout while also driving in the game’s lone run during a 1-0 win over previous Top 20 ranked in the state Bellarmine of San Jose.

Hazahel Quijada (San Gorgonio, San Bernardino)
In addition to striking out 10 batters in five innings to remain unbeaten for the season on the mound in a 8-2 win over Rialto, Quijada also rapped out a pair of doubles and drove in a pair of runs.

Luke Williams (Dana Hills, Dana Point)
One of many big performances at the recent Anaheim Lions Tournament, he set a school-record with 8 runs batted in as he hit two home runs including a grand slam during a 14-2 win over Eisenhower of Rialto.

SOFTBALL

Alyssa Palomino (Mission Viejo)
In a 11-0 romp past Aliso Niguel of Aliso Viejo on Thursday of this week, Palomino pounded out a pair of homers that pushed her career home run total from 51 to 53. That ties her for the state record of 53 set in 2009 by Alia Williams of L.A. Crenshaw and Baillie Kirker of Crescenta Valley and then tied in 2012 by Darian Tautalafua of Carson. Palomino’s pal and also a leading candidate for Ms. Softball State Player of the Year, Taylor McQuillin, pitched a no-hitter in the same game.

Tannon Snow (Chino Hills)
She’s moving up the career home run chart as well. The University of Washington recruit hit the 48th in her four years with the Huskies in a win earlier this week against Rancho Cucamonga.

Anissa Lopez (University Prep, Victorville)
Speaking of career stats, we’ll have work to do next year when Anissa is a senior. The junior went 5-for-5 with two homers (including a grand slam) in a 10-9 win over Serrano of Phelan and has followed with a 2-for-3 and then a 4-for-4 with six RBIs already this week. Heading into next week, Lopez has a three-year batting average of .610 with 25 homers and 141 RBI.

Cassidy Cangemi (Albert Einstein Academy, Santa Clarita)
While the teams she is doing it against are far from being ranked in any of our softball state rankings, this freshman is putting up numbers that are among the best in the state. She doubled and hit two grand slam home runs for a nine RBI day during a 29-1 win last week over Newbury Park Adventist. Already with a three-homer game earlier this season, she now has 12 home runs and 48 runs batted in.

Kelcey Carrasco (Tulare Western, Tulare)
For the first time this season, she had a multi-home run game as she homered twice and drove in six runs during a 10-1 win over Porterville. Carrasco followed that performance from last week with another two home run game earlier this week and had four RBI during a 5-3 win over Mission Oak of Tulare.

Marina Vitalich (Mary Star, San Pedro)
Tuesday of this week was a good day for Marina because that was when she posted the 1,000th strikeout of her career in a 10-0 mercy-rule win over Pomona Catholic. Vitalich had a perfect game and struck out 11 for good measure.

Terra Jerpbak (Ponderosa, Shingle Springs)
In a 10-0 win earlier this week over Cosumnes Oaks of Elk Grove, the senior standout tossed a one-hit shutout and also collected three hits, including a double, triple and two RBI. Jerpbak, who homered in her previous game, has led Ponderosa to an 18-1 record heading into next week.

Lina Vaca (Redwood, Visalia)
According to CIF Central Section historian Bob Barnett, Vaca tied a section record with three other players by hitting four doubles, going 4-for-5 at the plate and getting four RBI in a 16-11 win over Golden West of Visalia.

Emily Hoover (Moorpark)
During a 10-8 win over Huntington Beach, she drove in half of the runs for the Musketeers while hitting a pair of home runs.

Delaney Hull (Capistrano Valley, Mission Viejo)
Named as the tournament MVP at the Alan Dugard Softball Classic, she pitched a complete game shutout as the Cougars defeated M.L. King of Riverside 3-0 in the championship game.

Kiannah Molina (Sierra Pacific, Hanford)
Another of our NorCal/SoCal Players of the Week, she went 5-for-5 in two games last week, including a two home run performance with five runs batted in during a 13-5 win over Corcoran. In the other game, she had three doubles and drove in four runs during a 21-8 win, also against Corcoran.

Gabriella Zucchiatti (Mills, Millbrae)
Named as the San Mateo County Girls Athlete of the Week by the Mercury News, she turned singles into doubles with her speed as she had three singles and three stolen bases while also driving in a run in a win over Menlo-Atherton.

Keely Brown (Buchanan, Clovis)
She hit a grand slam, a double and knocked in a career high of six RBI in a 15-2 win over Nipomo.

Raelene Estrada (Rialto)
Back on April 1, Raelene unloaded for seven RBIs on the strength of three hits and one homer in a 18-8 victory vs. Indian Springs. She has continued to rake since then, including a 3-for-3 game last week and a 2-for-3 outing already this week, and is now up to .697 for the season.

Jenna Gorman (Garces, Bakersfield)
In a 16-3 romp past Bakersfield High, Gorman hit two home runs, one going for a grand slam, and finished with a career high of six RBI.

Alex Sullivan (Brea Olinda, Brea)
The Wildcats as team hit three home runs in one inning during a 12-7 win over North Torrance and her home run swing provided the most impact as it came with the bases loaded for a grand slam home run at the Alan Dugard Softball Classic.

Ally Shipman (Valencia)
The younger sister of Tennessee All-American Madison Shipman is a freshman catcher who looks like she will be one to watch for many years to come. She hit two solo home runs during a 3-2 win over Murrieta Valley of Murrieta at the Michelle Carew Classic.

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