Two of this week’s SoCal/NorCal honorees are pitcher/hitters Tanner Mahon from Campbell Hall of North Hollywood and Kendall Nakano of Norwalk. Photos: @gocampbellhall / Twitter.com & Norwalk softball / MaxPreps.
One of the goals of this feature is to track potential entries for the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record Book and talent that may only get local recognition, and this week we have both. Also, we get a lot of nominations for the various Player of the Week features, and more often than not the nominees only make the Stat Stars feature, but this week both of the Northern California winners, from Fresno and Watsonville, came via nomination. In Southern California, meanwhile, our stops are in the San Fernando Valley at North Hollywood, and in Norwalk.
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Notes: For these honors, we consider CIF Central Section players for Northern California. To nominate anyone, email markjtennis@gmail.com.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Baseball Player of the Week
Tanner Mahon (Campbell Hall, North Hollywood)
We head to the San Fernando Valley in search of the Southern California Baseball Player of the Week and in North Hollywood at Campbell Hall is where we find our award winner.
Mahon started the last week of Gold Coast League play with an RBI and three runs scored in an 18-0 shellacking of Santa Monica Crossroads, but in that game Tanner was just warming up.
The next day, and in a 14-4 win over visiting Calabasas Viewpoint, the 6-foot-4, 195-pound pitcher and first baseman had two hits, including a home run with three RBI and two runs scored.
Two days later Tanner got even hotter in the away game against Viewpoint. In that 5-0 win, he took the mound, pitched five innings and gave up no hits and no walks, and he struck out 10 of the 16 batters he faced. At the plate he had a triple and drove in the only run he needed in the victory.
Heading into the CIF Southern Section playoffs for the 20-2-1 Vikings, Mahon was batting .444 with five home runs, three triples, four doubles, 39 RBI and 32 runs scored.
On the mound, he stood at 7-0 in nine appearances with a 0.00 ERA and 66 strikeouts with only 11 walks in 48 innings pitched. His 0.00 ERA is one of seven reported with enough games to qualify as a state leader, and of the seven Tanner has the most innings pitched. On top of that his 39 RBI is the No. 7 reported mark in the state.
Cayden Munster of Clovis West is shown with head coach Kevin Patrick when he signed his letter of intent with Fresno State. Photo: @cw_hardball / Twitter.com.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Baseball Player of the Week
Cayden Munster (Clovis West, Fresno) Sr.
The search for the Northern California Baseball Player of the Week takes us to Fresno in the heart of “The Valley” as the locals like to call it when talking about the CIF Central Section, and whenever we visit “The Valley” we remind readers that for all Player of the Week features in all sports, girls and boys, the Central Section is considered Northern California.
At Clovis West, we find a 6-foot-4 senior infielder named Munster that was more like a monster last week in a three-game series with Buchanan of neighboring Clovis. This week’s selection also is a case of a team not having to win every game for a player to get recognized, and sometimes this late in the season we look at the overall body of work as a criteria, and that was a factor as well.
In the first game against Buchanan, Munster went deep for the only run the Golden Eagles got in a 14-1 home loss. The next day at Buchanan, and in a 9-7 victory, Cayden went yard again and had two RBI and two runs scored. Munster couldn’t help prevent an 8-2 loss at home two days later to Buchanan, but in that game he accounted for both runs with two round-trippers. For the three games, Munster was 4-for-7 with four home runs, five RBI, five runs scored and four bases on balls
Stats for a Tuesday 6-2 win over host Clovis that got Clovis West to 13-13 on the season were not reported, so we texted Golden Eagles head coach Kevin Patrick, the nominator of Munster, since our intuition told us Cayden must have a had a hand in the win, and he did. For the fourth straight game, Munster homered to give him six this season.
Besides leading the Golden Eagles in home runs this season he’s also the leading hitter with a .361 batting average heading into a Wednesday evening Tri-River Athletic Conference match-up at home with Clovis. If Munster can homer in that game he will make the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record Book list for Most Consecutive Games Hitting Home Runs. It takes five-straight games to qualify. Note: Munster homered again in the Wednesday game and could tie the state record of six first set in 1997 by former MLB player Chase Utley of Long Beach Poly and then tied in 1998 and 2000.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Softball Player of the Week
Kendall Nakano (Norwalk) Jr.
To find the Southern California Softball Player of the Week we head around 15-miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles just about smack dab in the middle of a triangle formed by I-5, I-605 and Highway 91, and it’s in Norwalk that we find our honoree.
The Lancers’ junior star, who is also a member of Team Japan, has been in some silly routs in recent weeks for 21-5 Norwalk, so her numbers are explosive, but there’s no denying that Kendall is a unique talent and this is just as good a week as any to write her up.
In two games last week, all total Suburban League blowouts with wins against Dominguez of Compton and Lynwood, seven was her lucky number as Nakano knocked in seven runs in each of the two games. All told Kendall was 8-for-10 with two home runs, five doubles, 14 RBI and five runs scored.
Pitching stats for the Dominguez game were not reported, but against Lynwood Nakano pitched a two-hitter with eight strikeouts in a five-inning affair.
So far this season and heading into a CIF Southern Section Division 3 match-up with Culver City on Thursday, Nakano is batting .684 with 16 home runs and 57 RBI. Her stats on MaxPreps clearly are not accurate with at least three duplicated stat lines, but 16 homers and 57 RBI regardless would put her among the reported state leaders. Plus, 16 homers will get Kendall’s name into the state record lists.
On a side note, Kendall isn’t the only star at Norwalk from the Nakano family. Her older brother Kaleb is a senior on the Lancers’ 21-4 baseball team and is committed to the University of La Verne.
Kayla Fullalove-Silveira had a bat last week that full of a lot of hits. Photo: Courtesy family.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Softball Player of the Week
Kayla Fullalove-Silveira
(Monte Vista Christian, Watsonville) Soph.
We return to Santa Cruz County and the town of Watsonville again this season and it’s at Monte Vista Christian that we find our Northern California Softball Player of the Week, and the nomination came from Monte Vista Assistant Director of Athletics and head wrestling coach Jeff Silveira.
Last week was a busy week for Kayla. In five games with Monte Vista Christian going 3-2, it was mostly full of love for the Mustangs and their faithful.
Fullalove-Silveira started the week by going 3-for-5 with a triple, five RBI and a run scored in a 16-9 victory over Salinas Alisal. The next day, in an 11-4 win over Rancho San Juan of Salinas, the home fans were loving again after she went 3-for-4 with two doubles, three RBI and a run scored. Two days later, in a 23-4 shellacking of cross-town Pajaro Valley, Kayla was still cooking after blasting a home run and two doubles with five RBI and two runs scored.
Monte Vista Christian lost two non-league games on Saturday, 12-1 to Elliot Christian of Lodi and 3-2 to Design Tech of Redwood City, but Fullalove-Silveira homered in the Design Tech loss and had hits in both games.
For the five games last week Kayla was a combined 11-for-17 with two home runs, a triple, four doubles, 15 RBI and five runs scored.
On Monday of this week she went deep and had four RBI and four runs scored in a 25-7 rout of Seaside, and on Tuesday, in a 5-3 loss to Saratoga she had two hits, an RBI and a run scored.
So far this season for 13-9 Monte vista Christian, and heading into a Pacific Coast Athletic League – Cypress Division match-up on Thursday with Soledad, she is hitting a team-leading .619 with five home runs, 13 doubles, 45 RBI and 39 runs scored.
The 45 RBI and 39 runs scored are both the top reported marks in the CIF Central Coast Section, and the .619 average is the No. 11 reported mark in the section.
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
