Catcher Cole Elvis (left) is headed to Cal and was the top player off of Vacaville’s CIF Sac-Joaquin Section D1 title team. At right, Brandon Dieter from South Hills of West Covina had an outstanding career that included being named State Sophomore of the Year. His batting totals were down this season, but Brandon also didn’t see much to hit. He was walked 25 times. Dieter will play next at Stanford. Photos: SportStarsMag.com & mlb.com.
The 37th annual Cal-Hi Sports all-state teams selections for baseball concludes with 30 players named second team overall plus 30 more who are third team. Any player from any school regardless of class or school size can be on second team. The third team, however, is only for seniors and only for large schools.
For the all-state first team, CLICK HERE.
For the all-state underclass teams (Gold Club post), CLICK HERE.
For the all-state small & medium school teams, CLICK HERE.
For Gold Club post of our all-time all-state first team baseball archive back to 1990 (with second team back to 2003), CLICK HERE.
Note: We hope you enjoy this free post. We’ll have an inside look at this year’s all-state baseball teams after all of the teams in baseball and softball are chosen, including names of other players that can be considered all-state sophomores and freshmen. That post plus more unique California high school sports content is for Gold Club members only. To join our team today, CLICK HERE.
If you are chosen to any of the Cal-Hi Sports all-state teams, you should consider yourself an “all-state” player. Whether it’s first team overall, second team overall, third team, underclass, medium schools or small schools, to be on any of these teams should be considered an all-state honor. I
This also makes everyone eligible to purchase an All-State patch through our partners from BillyTees.com. We wish we could send them all out for free, but there are no sponsors to cover the cost. Each patch also comes with a certificate suitable for framing. For details on the patch, CLICK HERE.
There are 1,200 high schools in California and the competition in baseball is second to none.
It isn’t just having the 2017 No. 1 and No. 2 picks in the MLB Draft — Royce Lewis & Hunter Greene — that makes California baseball so impressive. By all metrics, such as players in the World Series, college baseball teams in the College World Series and even Little League it’s tough to argue against California’s baseball tradition.
We try to research and collect info from everywhere we can and we give people several weeks to send in nominations. Still, it’s not a perfect system so of course it’s possible to miss on a deserving player.
With that said, congratulations to the following 2018 Cal-Hi Sports all-state baseball second team members as well as third team:
SECOND TEAM CATCHERS
Cole Elvis (Vacaville) Sr.
Jayden Kiernan (Corona) Sr.
Vincent Martinez (San Marcos) Sr.
Capistrano Valley’s Nathan Manning holds the ball that got the final out in CIFSS D1 championship. Manning, a junior who has committed to Cal for baseball, also has been a prolific passer for Capo Valley’s football team. Photo: Twitter.com.
SECOND TEAM PITCHERS
Keaton Carattini (La Costa Canyon, Carlsbad) Sr.
Johnny Cuevas (Palm Desert) Sr.
Jack Hinrichsen (McClatchy, Sacramento) Sr.
Sam Hliboki (Harvard-Westlake, N. Hollywood) Jr.
Brian Leonhardt (Eastlake, Chula Vista) Sr.
Josh Seward (Archbishop Mitty, San Jose) Sr.
Mitchell Scott (Serra, San Mateo) Sr.
Alex Williams (Redwood Christian, San Lorenzo) Sr.
SECOND TEAM INFIELD
Tanner Carlson (Elk Grove) Sr.
Cody Freeman (Etiwanda) Jr.
Nathan Manning (Capistrano Valley, Mission Viejo) Jr.
Ricky Martinez (St. Francis, Mountain View) Sr.
Charlie Rocca (Verdugo Hills) Sr.
Jalen Smith (Stockdale, Bakersfield) Sr.
Trace Tammaro (De La Salle, Concord) Sr.
Nick Yorke (Archbishop Mitty, San Jose) Soph.
SECOND TEAM OUTFIELD
Mac Bingham (Torrey Pines, San Diego) Jr.
Coleman Brigman (Valley Christian, San Jose) Jr.
Michael Dixon (Berkeley) Jr.
Connor Kokx (Aliso Niguel, Aliso Viejo) Sr.
Andrew Lucas (Camarillo) Sr.
Micah Pietila-Wiggs (Eastlake, Chula Vista) Sr.
SECOND TEAM MULTI-PURPOSE
(Hitting/Pitching)
Tony Bullard (J.W. North, Riverside) Sr.
Brandon Dieter (South Hills, West Covina) Sr.
Sean Higgins (Foothill, Tustin) Sr.
Nick Seamons (Rancho Bernardo, San Diego) Sr.
Kohl Simas (Clovis West, Fresno) Sr.
Four-year varsity player Steven Villagran of San Fernando (left) also has been MVP of the league he plays in three times. Villagran, an all-L.A. City Section pick, batted .524 this season, had 22 steals and a 4.3 GPA. Top grades also were achieved by San Jose Bellarmine’s Connor Henriques (right). He was the leading hitter for Bellarmine club that won the Boras Classic state title. He is attending Brown University of the Ivy League. Photos: sanfernandosun.com & fieldlevel.com.
Reminder: Third team is for seniors only, large schools only.
THIRD TEAM CATCHERS
Eli Brum (Stockdale, Bakersfield)
Austin Elder (De La Salle, Concord)
Alex Milone (Chatsworth)
THIRD TEAM PITCHERS
Nick Castro (Clovis West, Fresno)
Christian Ciuffetelli (Servite, Anaheim)
Bryce Collins (Hart, Newhall)
Bryson Kinnick (Heritage, Brentwood)
Nick Nastrini (Cathedral Catholic, San Diego)
Mason Pelio (Rancho Bernardo, San Diego)
THIRD TEAM INFIELD
Chad Castillo (Foothill, Tustin)
Will Chambers (West Ranch, Valencia)
Christian Encarnacion-Strand (College Park, Pleasant Hill)
Connor Henriques (Bellarmine, San Jose)
Mason Marquez (San Benito, Hollister)
Zach Prajzner (San Marcos)
Conagher Sands (Centennial, Bakersfield)
T.J. Smith (Vacaville)
Tyler Williams (Los Gatos)
THIRD TEAM OUTFIELD
Cameron Allie (Oak Ridge, El Dorado Hills)
Brandon Peterson (Helix, La Mesa)
Will Reynolds (Frontier, Bakersfield)
Jake Simons (Foothill, Pleasanton)
Steven Villagran (San Fernando)
THIRD TEAM MULTI-PURPOSE
(Hitting/Pitching)
Jared Aguilar (Clovis East, Clovis)
Wes Harper (Bellarmine, San Jose)
Nick Cirelli (De La Salle, Concord)
Ryan Jeffries (St. Francis, Mountain View)
Niko Lillios (Palo Alto)
Kyle Luckham (El Dorado, Placentia)
Jake Moberg (Vista Murrieta, Murrieta)
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
