State Stat Stars Of The Week

One of our best outings for baseball came against a team that was in the national rankings while one of our best for softball came against a pitcher committed to UCLA. This week’s best also include Sergio Noriega of San Mateo, who has 15 doubles in helping team to 14-0 record, along with slugger Megan McClain of Atascadero, who closed last week with two homers in two games and then hit two more bombs in a game already this week.

Note: Writeups this week also from Paul Muyskens & CIF Central Section historian Bob Barnett. We also will collect totals from MaxPreps, newspapers, tweets and from those sent in to us. We also will compile single-game highs from this post throughout the season and of course we use our weekly State Stat Stars collection as an aid for the Cal-Hi Sports State Record Book. That is the only state record book anyone has ever done and we have published it seven times with full copyright protection. To report totals to us for this feature and for the record book, email markjtennis@gmail.com or call 209-608-1317. You can also text to 209-608-1317.

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BASEBALL

Carter Aldrete (Monterey)
It’s already been a great season at Monterey with head coach Michael Graves winning his 700th game and Aldrete is adding to it. The Arizona State recruit collected four hits and scored three runs in a 9-4 win last week against Soquel. Aldrete is the nephew of former MLB player Mike Aldrete. His dad, Rich, played as well. Carter’s sister, Annie, also was a recent first team all-state softball player at Santa Cantalina and is currently playing at Cal.

Dillon Brown (Foothill, Tustin)
The son of Foothill athletic director and head coach Vince Brown not only didn’t allow any earned runs in his seven innings on the mound, but he also hit the game-winning home run in extra innings in a 4-3 win by the Knights in against Brea Olinda.

Trace Eldridge (Valencia)
He doubled, homered and drove in five runs during a 12-4 win by the Vikings over Golden Valley of Santa Clarita.

Bret Hoffman (Excelsior Charter, Victorville)
We have a feeling we’ll be doing a lot of state stat star updates the rest of this spring about Hoffman and teammate Jacob Griego. For now, we’ll update Hoffman. He ripped a game-winning two-run homer last week in a 6-4 victory vs. Academy for Academic Excellence, but the outing we have to mention in stat stars came from earlier in the season. In a season-opening 20-5 win over much larger school Vista del Lago of Moreno Valley, Hoffman put his name into the state record books with four homers and 10 RBI. As a team, Excelsior also hit seven homers for the game. Last season, Excelsior’s Kaleb Murphy homered four times (including two in one inning) in a CIF Southern Section (21-0) Division VII playoff win vs. Trinity Classical.

Jake Huddleson (Harvard-Westlake, N. Hollywood)
Causing Notre Dame to huddle up on the mound when its pitchers tried to figure out a way to stop his bat, Huddleston hit a pair of homers and drove in six runs during a 9-1 win by the Wolverines over the Knights. Notre Dame did win two other games in the series, but not many stat stars get listed for doing something against an opponent that is nationally ranked, which Notre Dame was at the time.

Evan Larsen (Corona del Mar, Newport Beach)
Getting the start in Pacific Coast League play against University of Irvine, Larsen pitched a complete game shutout with seven strikeouts in the 2-0 win for the SeaKings.

Ivan Luna (Vista)
He had two big outing to help the Panthers win the Premiere Division title at the Mike Morrow Lions tourney. First, he tossed five-hitter on the mound in a 3-0 triumph vs. La Jolla Country Day. Later, the sophomore had two hits with a triple an run scored when Vista topped Christian of El Cajon in the title game.

Brian Martinez (Livermore)
It’s harder for players from a tough league like the East Bay Athletic League to get listed in this honor roll, but Martinez made the cut after tossing a one-hitter in a 6-0 victory vs. Mt. Eden of Hayward. Martinez also did not walk a batter in that game and finished with 10 strikeouts.

Phillip Miramontes (Selma)
With Selma baseball, we always think of longtime MLB manager Bobby Cox. This season, it may be Miramontes. In a 10-0 win last week vs. McLane of Fresno, he pitched a 5-inning no-hitter and had 10 strikeouts.

Matthew Montelongo (El Diamante, Visalia)
Matthew went longo with his bat, finishing 2-for-3 at the plate with five RBI in a 13-6 win over Golden West of Visalia in the Tulare/Visalia Invitational upper division title game. Bryce Jordan was the winning pitcher for the Miners.

Kyle Mora (Los Alamitos)
Headed to UCLA as part of the Bruins’ talented class of recruits for next season and an Area Code Games participant from last summer, Mora made sure he would get his second win on the year when he hit a three-run inside-the-park home run in a 5-2 win over Fountain Valley in Sunset League play. Mora, a three-year standout, is more known as a pitcher. He also pitched in that win against the Barons and did not allow an earned run. With his last name and going to UCLA, we had to check if he’s related to current Bruins’ head football coach Jim Mora, but that apparently is not the case.

Michael Muro (Santiago, Corona)
It doesn’t seem like Corona Centennial could be blown out in anything, but Muro and the Sharks did just that in a 16-4 win on the diamond last week. Muro led the offense as he homered and drove in six runs.

Sergio Noriega (San Mateo)
It’s been an awesome start to the season for the Bearcats, who have already improved to 14-0 earlier this week. Noriega has been the team’s top stat star. He went 2-for-3 with three RBI in a 7-0 win this week vs. El Camino of South San Francisco. One of those hits was a double and was recorded as his 15th double of the season. That seems to be a legit total, too. Noriega recently hit three doubles in a win over Aragon and went 2-for-3 with three RBI and a double in a win last week vs. Summit Prep. After the 14 games, he was hitting .591 with 26 RBI and also had a 2-0 pitching mark with 20 strikeouts in 12 innings.

Jack Reitsma (Central Valley Christian, Visalia)
A junior fire-balling pitcher, Reitsma pitched a seven-inning no-hitter with 10 strikeouts and just two walks allowed in a 4-0 win over Mission Oak of Tulare.

Brandon Sorto (North Hollywood)
Not only did Sorto pitch five shutout innings on the mound, but he also Sorto starred at the plate with three runs batted in. The Huskies defeated Mar Vista 9-2.

Tim Tague (Miramonte, Orinda)
Throwing a football or a baseball, Tague can really sling it. He was one of the top junior QBs in Northern California last fall and could be about to enjoy a great season pitching for Miramonte’s baseball team. In a 1-0 win last week against Dixon, Tague struck out eight in a complete-game shutout and also struck out eight batters.

Austin Tremelling (Westmont, Campbell)
The timing for Tremelling couldn’t have been better in the Warriors’ 4-1 triumph last week vs. Branham of San Jose. In addition to accounting for all four runs with one swing of his bat (grand slam homer), Austin also entered the game in the late innings and earned a save.

SOFTBALL

Analise De La Roca (Port of Los Angeles, San Pedro)
Listed as the top strikeout pitcher in the state this week by MaxPreps, she had back-to-back 17-strikeout games last week. First, she allowed just two hits and walked none in a 1-0 win over Cantwell Sacred Heart of Montebello. Later, she did almost exactly the same thing – 17 Ks, two-hitter, but two walks – but it was in a 1-0 extra-inning loss to Whittier.

Nina Del Rio (Brea Olinda, Brea)
While she may not be headed to as big of a school as teammate Hailey Jensen (see below), her performance during an 11-5 win over Fountain Valley deserves a mention all on her own. In that game, the Charleston Southern commit hit a three-run homer and a grand slam in the come-from-behind win for the Ladycats.

Lauren Hendrickson (Valley Christian, San Jose)
It’s not often in any sport that St. Francis of Mountain View gives up a stat star worthy outing, but Hendrickson certainly got one in a 10-2 win by the Warriors last week over the Lancers. At the plate, Hendrickson had three hits and drove in two runs on the strength of two doubles. She also was the winning pitcher.

Camryn Hohnecker (La Quinta, Westminster)
Costa Mesa could not find a way to get Hohnecker out as she went 3-for-3 with two doubles, two walks and stole three bases in a 15-7 triumph. She also drove in two runs and scored three times.

Hailey Jensen (Brea Olinda, Brea)
While North Carolina is likely more excited right now that its men’s basketball team has reached the NCAA Final Four, the softball team is likely counting down the days until Jensen joins their team. During an 11-3 win last week over Silverado of Victorville, she doubled twice, homered and drove in eight runs. She also hit a three-run homer during a 11-5 victory vs. Fountain Valley.

Megan McClain (Atascadero)
The junior first baseman/pitcher created headlines early in the season with three homers and six RBI in a game against Arvin and has continued to slug at a terrific pace. McClain went 3-for-3 with a double, homer and four RBI in a 17-3 win last week vs. St. Joseph of Santa Maria. She also went 3-for-4 with a homer in a 9-3 win vs. Paso Robles. Already this week, in a loss to Buchanan of Clovis, she pumped out two more homers and raised her season total to eight.

Hannah McEwen (Patrick Henry, San Diego)
A Class of 2017 commit to San Diego State, McEwen sparked the Patriots to a 5-0 week and was one of the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Athletes of the Week. She went 3-for-4 with a double in a 5-4 win against Vista and capped the week going 2-for-4 with a homer in a 6-1 triumph over Point Loma. In the five games, McEwen actually had the game-winning RBI in three of them. She also had three doubles, nine RBI in all and 12 hits.

Madilyn Nickles (Merced)
One hit away from a perfect game, Nickles struck out 14 during six innings when the Bears defeated Buhach Colony of Atwater 11-0. Madi can be a bit under the radar not being from Orange County or the Inland Empire or even from the Bay Area, but USA Softball knows all about her. The UCLA commit was the only player on the USA Junior National Team last summer who still had high school eligibility. She was all-state underclass after last season when he batted .526 with 46 RBI.

Serafine Parrish (Dana Hills, Dana Point)
Her performance was better than fine during a 12-6 win over San Clemente. In that game, she hit two home runs and drove in three runs for the Dolphins.

Briana Perez (Alhambra, Martinez)
The junior shortstop and one of the top players in the state started her season by going 10-for-15 in five games that the Bulldogs played in the Reed Invitational in Sparks, Nev. Perez also scored 12 runs in those five games and had two homers and six RBI. Alhambra made it to the tourney’s title game, but lost to the nationally ranked host school.

Emily Randall (Mt. Pleasant, San Jose)
Facing one of the state’s top pitchers didn’t prevent Randall from going 3-for-4 to help the Cardinals stun state No. 1 Pioneer of San Jose 4-3 in eight innings last week. The senior third baseman also scored a run and had two RBI off of Pioneer’s UCLA-bound Holly Acevedo. Heading into this week, Randall also was boasting a .680 batting average.

Gabby Sandoval (Mater Dei, Santa Ana)
Just missing out on a no-hitter, Gabby was not too shabby when she allowed just one hit and one walk while striking out 11 during an 8-0 win in five innings by the nationally ranked Monarchs over Garden Grove.

Julia Saver (North, Bakersfield)
Talk about a slugfest, that’s what the Stars were involved in when they played Foothill of Bakersfield last week and won 22-11. Saver didn’t save much energy with her bat. According to CIF Central Section historian Bob Barnett, she went 4-for-5, drove in seven runs and scored three times.

Jocelyn Simon (Sunnyside, Fresno)
Simon said give me something to hit and she did in a 19-8 victory by her team last week against Strathmore. In the win, Simon went 3-for-4, including one homer and a double, and knocked in six runs.

Vanessa Strong (Freedom, Oakley)
There were actually several East Bay team besides Alhambra of Martinez that were opening their seasons at the Reed Invitational in Nevada. Strong and the Falcons were another of those teams and in a 10-0 win against Carson of Carson City she pitched a five-inning perfect game.

Kacee Takasaki (Pacific Grove)
In a 14-1 victory by the Breakers over Marina, Takasaki took her bat sockied the ball for four hits. Included in her total was two doubles and one triple.

Paige Vargas (Santa Margarita, Rancho SM)
She had two outstanding outings last week, beginning when she pitched a three-hit shutout with nine strikeouts during a 10-0 win over Clackamas of Oregon. Vargas did even better against San Juan Hills as she allowed just two hits and struck out 17 in the 3-0 win at the Savanna tournament.

Aliyah Yates (James Logan, Union City)
The sophomore catcher crushed three homers in five games that the Colts played at the Reed Invitational in Nevada. In helping the team win four of those games, Yates also had two doubles, one single, scored seven times and knocked in seven runs.

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