Two of this week’s honorees are Kaden Clive from Delta of Clarksburg (left) and Delainey Everett of Oakdale. Clive is shown after he threw a perfect game as a freshman. Photos: dhssaints / Facebook.com & Marg Jackson / Oakdale Leader.
Our award winners this week are from Sacramento river town of Clarksburg and rodeo town Oakdale in Northern California, while for our Southern California selections we land in the Inland Empire city of Fontana and to the far south of the state in Chula Vista.
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Note: For these honors, we consider CIF Central Section players for Northern California. To nominate anyone, email markjtennis@gmail.com.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Baseball Player of the Week
Kaden Clive (Delta, Clarksburg) Soph.
For our Northern California Baseball Player of the Week we wind our way south of downtown Sacramento around 15 miles along the Sacramento River to Clarksburg, a town of less the 500 residents in an agricultural and wine country region.
At Delta, we find a high school that not only heralded NFL playing brothers Tony Eason and Bo Eason, but right now they have a sophomore right-handed pitcher named Kaden Clive that recently has been on fire.
Last week, in an 8-0 blanking of Victory Christian of Carmichael, the slender 5-foot-10, 135-pound Clive was no jive after firing a two-hitter with 16 strikeouts, plus he was 2-for-3 with bat in hand.
In his two previous starts, both shutouts, an 11-0 five-inning win over Sacramento Waldorf, and an 18-0 four-inning victory against Foresthill, Kaden had a walk against Waldorf and two versus Forestville, but both were no-hitters.
Even in the one game that 15-1 Delta lost, a 2-0 setback to Woodland Christian, Clive only gave up two hits and neither of the runs was earned. The team is on spring break this week.
So far this season Kaden is 3-1 with a 0.48 ERA and the only earned runs he’s given up were two in a 3-2 win over Leroy Greene Academy of Sacramento. He also has 48 strikeouts in 29.1 innings pitched. Last season as a freshman, Clive made a name for himself with his first perfect game.
Clive can also handle things with bat in hand. He’s second on the team with a .409 average and also has 12 runs batted in.
Robert Alvarez is off to a great start for his senior season at A.B. Miller of Fontana. Photo: A.B. Miller Baseball / MaxPreps.com.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Baseball Player of the Week
Robert Alvarez (A.B. Miller, Fontana) Sr.
We take a trip to the Inland Empire city of Fontana, smack dab in the middle between Rancho Cucamonga to the west and San Bernardino to the east, and to a school named after the city’s founder, Azariel Blanchard Miller.
At A.B. Miller, we find a senior pitcher who plays centerfield when he’s not on the mound and who has had a huge role in an 11-5 season and 4-0 in Mountain Valley League play.
Last week in two games, Alvarez proved his value. In a huge blowout of visiting San Bernardino Pacific he was 2-for-2 with a walk and two runs scored. Two days later against visiting San Bernardino in another lopsided 11-1 victory, Robert was 3-for-3 with a walk, stolen base, three RBI and he scored in all four plate appearances.
In the San Bernardino victory, Alvarez also pitched and tossed a three-hitter with six strikeouts and no walks in a five-inning game.
By the time your eyes peruse this feature Alvarez and his Rebels teammates will already have played a game against Indian Springs of San Bernardino (1-11), and while nothing is for granted, it’s likely Robert has added to his numbers, although they’re already pretty astronomical.
For now, those season stats include a team leading .592 batting average, first on the team with runs scored at 26, and second on the team with 19 runs batted in. On the mound, Alvarez was 5-1 with a 1.72 ERA and 48 strikeouts in 40.2 innings pitched.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Softball Player of the Week
Delainey Everett (Oakdale) Jr.
Just northeast of Modesto where Highways 120 and 108 intersect is where we land in search of our Northern California
Softball Player of the Week.
At Oakdale, we find a junior pitcher who is hugely responsible for a 17-1 start and a spot on the bubble and knocking on the door of the most recent State Top 25 rankings.
Last week, in a 1-0 shutout of Central Catholic of Modesto, Delaney out-dueled our Week 1 award winner, Cal-bound senior Randi Roelling.
Although the run was unearned, Everett gave up one hit to three for Roelling, and she got her 15 to 13 on strikeouts.
So far this season, Delainey is 9-1 with a 0.41 ERA and eight shutouts. She doesn’t have any no-no’s but Everett does have five one-hitters, and she’s only given up four earned runs with three coming in the lone 7-6 eight-inning loss to neighboring Escalon after she’d tossed a previous one-hitter with 12 fanned in a 9-0 victory. She’s struck out 137 batters in 68.2 innings pitched and only given up 28 hits with 10 coming in the Escalon loss.
Everett didn’t have a hit in three at-bats against Roelling but she’s second on the team with a .464 average, tied for home runs with three, has twice as many doubles as any other player with 11, and her 25 RBI is tops on the Mustangs’ girls.
Maya Loper (top right) celebrates with her teammates (sister Sarah is on the left) after Otay Ranch captured 2021 CIF San Diego Section D2 title. Photo: thestarnews.com.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Softball Player of the Week
Maya Loper (Otay Ranch, Chula Vista) Sr.
We head to the far southern reaches of the CIF San Diego Section to Chula Vista and around six miles north of the United States/Mexico border and six miles east of San Diego Bay. At Otay Ranch, we find a senior pitcher and slugger who has been one of the top players in the section the last two seasons.
Last week in three games Loper had a huge role in two of them. Maya didn’t have a hit in a 3-0 victory over Helix of La Mesa but she did have a no-hitter with 11 strikeouts and only three walks separating her from a perfect game. She was a little wild in a 10-5 victory over Coronado with nine walks and three earned runs, but she fanned 10 and did some damage at the plate where Loper was 2-for-3 with a double.
In the second game of a doubleheader with Coronado she gave way to freshman Kaylin Phillips in a 9-1 victory in which Maya also had just one plate appearance.
So far this season, Loper stood at 6-4 with a 1.40 ERA and 120 strikeouts in 65 innings pitched. With bat in hand Maya was hitting .333 with two home runs, three doubles, nine runs batted in. Last season as a junior, Loper, who was also a member of the Mustangs’ volleyball team last fall, was one of the leaders for an Otay Ranch squad that won the CIF San Diego Section D2 championship.
Harold Abend is the associate editor of CalHiSports.com and the vice president of the California Prep Sportswriters Association. He can be reached at marketingharoldabend@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow him on Twitter: @HaroldAbend
