Torrance’s Konnor Smith (left) and Oakdale’s Kindra Hackbarth are among this week’s honorees. Photos: ProspectPipeline/YouTube.com & Mary Jo Hackbarth/The Modesto Bee.
One of this week’s honorees is going into the state record book in two different categories and we believe could be the first in state history to do what he did. We also have a no-hit pitcher from one of the toughest baseball leagues in the nation plus one girl who is part of a twin sister combination and another girl who could be one of the state’s top freshmen.
Note: For purposes of this feature, we also are considering the CIF Central Section to be in the north.
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).
It’s also a great time to sign up for our Gold Club to see all of our great content. The yearly rate has gone up, but you can now see all of our info, including state record book items for $9.99 covering three months. For details, CLICK HERE.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Baseball Player of the Week
Haydn King
(Archbishop Mitty, San Jose) Jr.
Not only did King score as the game’s lone run but he also was on the mound and pitched a no-hitter when the Monarchs went on the road last week in a West Catholic Athletic League game and defeated Valley Christian of San Jose 1-0.
Making his first start since a complete-game one-hit shutout over Bellarmine of San Jose, King topped his finest outing of the year with an even better one as he allowed just three walks while striking out four against the Warriors, who were unable to get a hit.
On the year, this junior left-hander also improved to 5-1 with a 0.54 ERA while striking out 41 in 39 innings. Not limited to just pitching, he also was hitting .362 with six doubles, one triple, one home run and five runs batted in.
Cal-HI Sports Northern California
Softball Player of the Week
Kindra Hackbarth (Oakdale) Sr.
Along with her twin sister, Maddi, the Mustangs have lost just once this season and they didn’t lose a game last week in Valley Oak League competition as Kindra had two big games during their 20-0 win over Weston Ranch of Stockton and 13-3 win over Manteca.
In the win over the Cougars, Hackbarth had two hits and drove in three runs and against the Buffaloes she doubled twice and hit a home run.
Earlier this season, she hit five home runs in a four-game span and began this week with a whopping .706 batting average.
Originally a Notre Dame verbal, Kindra is now headed to Fresno State next season to play with Maddi. Both Hackbarth sisters signed with the Bulldogs back in November.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Baseball Player of the Week
Konnor Smith (Torrance) Jr.
Konnor’s name will be going into our Cal-Hi Sports State Record Book multiple times for his performance last week during a 19-0 win over Leuzinger of Lawndale. In fact, in our 35 years of compiling records, we’ve never heard of anyone doing what he did.
For starters, Smith belted four home runs and drove in 11 runs in the win. While the state record for runs batted in during a game is 14, his 11 will get him listed in the book since that’s the lowest total needed to make it in that category.
In addition, two of his four home runs were grand slams, which ties a state record and also makes the book. Smith will also make the book with four consecutive home runs as he went a perfect 4-for-4 with a home run in every at bat.
Has anyone in state history hit four homers, including two grand slams, in one baseball game? It certainly doesn’t look like it because no one on the grand slams list also is on the four-homer list.
Another amazing stat from Smith’s day is that he only had one homer and 12 RBI for the season coming into it.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Softball Player of the Week
Ashley Daugherty (Templeton) Fr.
In addition to playing for the Eagles, Ashley is part of the San Luis Obispo County Nitro 16-under travel ball team and has been playing softball for many years despite her young age. Among her honors already is being part of the USA Elite Select 13-under All-American team.
Last week for Templeton, which has been in the CIF Southern Section Division V rankings for most of the season, Daugherty pitched a no-hitter with 15 strikeouts in a 4-0 win over Nipomo. Later in the week she also had a two-hitter with 19 strikeouts in a 2-1 win in eight innings over the same team.
Daugherty, who began this week at 8-2 with a 0.64 ERA and with 158 strikeouts on the season, also can hit. She went 1-for-2 with a double and one RBI in the first game, then went 1-for-2 with a double and two runs scored in the second game. She was hitting .435 overall after 17 games.
Paul Muyskens is the Stockton office assistant editor for Cal-Hi Sports. 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
One Comment
Konnor Smith, this kid is going very far, of course I am prejudice, he’s my grandson!