This week’s NorCal softball honoree, Livermore junior Kaci Norton, had a no-hitter through six-plus innings against defending NorCal D1 champ Amador Valley, ending up with a one-hitter.
With half the team that collaborates on producing the State Baseball-Softball Players of the Week feature unavailable due to Cal-Hi Sports co-founder Mark Tennis being on the road, we were left to our own devices to research and pick the winners, so we put out a call on social media for nominations, and thankfully hit pay dirt. This week our stops are in La Mirada and Santa Fe Springs in Southern California, and in Northern California we visit Livermore and Cottonwood.
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Notes: For these honors, we also 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
Kevin Jeon (La Mirada) Sr.
Kevin Jeon leads Mats.
More often than not we like to shy away from players on Cal-Hi Sports highly ranked teams since they are usually ones getting plenty of recognition. When this nomination came in from James Escarcega of the San Gabriel Valley/Whittier High School Sports Zone, however, it looked like a perfect selection in choosing this La Mirada star slugger but it comes with a twist.
In a lot of respects, last week was a pretty good one for La Mirada baseball and Jeon, even though it ended in a loss and Jeon didn’t do much. However, it came in the championship game of the Boras Classic South against Corona in an 8-3 defeat. That happens to be the Cal-Hi Sports’ top ranked team and No. 1 in every major national rankings. It was the second loss for 10-2 La Mirada, both to Corona, and in a bit of a twist, the first loss was 10-1, but La Mirada is the only team to even get a run off the 11-0 Panthers.
So why is Jeon being selected as the SoCal State Baseball Player of the Week? It’s for what he did in the games leading up to the Boras title game loss. In the Boras opener, he had one hit and scored a run, but the Matadores didn’t really need his bat in an as expected 7-0 win over Lake Balboa Birmingham.
Next up for Cal-Hi Sports No. 3 ranked La Mirada was No. 2 ranked and undefeated Huntington Beach. In that game, Jeon went 2-for-3 and blasted two home runs, walked, drove in three runs, and scored twice. The result was La Mirada sent Huntington Beach to its first loss of the season in a 4-1 decision.
Next up was a semifinal with No. 8 ranked and undefeated Mater Dei of Santa Ana. In that game, Jeon was 2-for-2 with a double and scored twice in a 10-2 victory that sent the Monarchs to their first loss and set up the title-game matchup with Corona.
There are no baseball rankings this week, but if there were, La Mirada would almost assuredly move up behind Corona into the No. 2 spot.
La Mirada has four games this week, including three Gateway League games with a Downey team its fighting with for first place in league, and one with Warren of Downey.
La Mirada will be favored, but to keep its spot in the next rankings on April 7, and potentially move up, the Mats have to keep winning and Jeon will likely have a say in it. Heading into the first matchup with Downey on Tuesday at home, the Boston College-committed Matadores’ senior is leading the team with an even .400 batting average, plus three home runs, three doubles, seven runs batted in, and 10 runs scored.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Softball Player of the Week
Gianelle Napoles (St. Paul, Santa Fe Springs) Fr.
Gianelle Napoles is a freshman standout.
To find the second nomination from the SGV/Whittier HS Sports Zone, we head approximately 15 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles just about halfway between the I-5 and Whittier Boulevard and it’s in Santa Fe Springs at St. Paul that we find our SoCal State Softball Player of the Week.
Besides tracking potential entries for the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record Book, which is one of the goals of this feature, the other goal is to uncover and discover hidden talent that might only get local recognition. This Swordsmen freshman pitcher is a perfect example of a diamond in the rough looking to be discovered.
It’s been a bit of a rough start for Napoles and a fairly young Swordsmen team that only has five seniors on its 17-player roster. However, last Thursday Gianelle spun a gem that helped take a little sting out of an 8-9 start this season. Facing visiting Long Beach St. Anthony, Napoles threw a no-hitter with 11 strikeouts and only three bases on balls separated her from a perfect game.
St. Paul had a Monday Del Rey League matchup at home against a Lakewood St. Joseph team that like St. Paul was 1-4 in league. Whatever the outcome was, no one can take away the fact Napoles pitched a no-hitter to get her first varsity win in the circle.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Softball Player of the Week
Kaci Norton (Livermore) Jr.
To find the NorCal State Softball Player of the Week, we head to the East Bay and the Tri-Valley portion of the CIF North Coast Section and it’s at Livermore High where we find this week’s honoree.
With the Livermore Stampede just around the corner and with the Cowboys’ coaching staff, parents and volunteers putting on the top girls softball tournament in Northern California, when the nomination for Norton came in from head coach Andy Paulazzo and Stampede Tournament Director Toff Garcia, and after what she did in her most recent performances, it seemed the timing was perfect to honor the Cowboy junior.
Livermore is one of the oldest public high schools in California (established in 1891) and it has a rich athletic tradition, so whenever we visit the home of the Cowboys we like to give a traditional cowboy yippee-ki-yah shoutout to its most famous athletic alumnus, Hall of Pitcher Randy “the Big Unit” Johnson, who with 4,875 strikeouts is the all-time left-handed strikeout king.
In a bit of a twist, Norton is also a pitcher and last week she had two Johnson-like outings.
Facing defending CIF North Coast Section Division 1 and CIF Northern Regional Division I champion Amador Valley (Pleasanton) at home in a battle for the top spot in the East Bay Athletic League, Norton pitched a 3-0 shutout. Although she didn’t fan a ton of batters like Johnson regularly did in his MLB career, she tossed a one-hitter with two walks and three strikeouts, and she did it in a nifty 79 pitches. Norton came pretty darn close to a no-hitter since the only hit came with one out in the seventh inning.
Two days later on the road in an EBAL matchup with Dublin, Norton had the Gaels swinging and missing and although the final score was a 6-4 win, it’s a bit deceiving as to how it unfolded.
Norton started the game and went four innings and Livermore built a 5-0 lead. Paulazzo then pulled his ace and put in his sophomore back-up, and a comedy of errors ensued. It got to 5-4 and Paulazzo had to bring Norton back in and she took care of business and closed things out to get the win. Her line was 6.2 innings pitched, one hit, one walk, and 11 strikeouts.
Both Norton and Livermore had a shaky start as the team has been battling the flu for almost a month and lost two of its first four games. Livermore is 7-2 so far this season, but in her last five games Kaci is 5-0 and she’s only given up five earned runs with none last week, and has 44 strikeouts and only seven walks in 34.2 innings pitched.
“It would be a great honor for Kaci to receive this award. She works very hard and is backing up her great season from last year,” said Paulazzo in his nomination. “The team’s win against Amador last week and Kaci’s performance against another top EBAL pitcher was amazing. With the Stampede just around the corner, all of us can’t wait to see how her and the team measure up.”
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Baseball Player of the Week
Manny Sleezer (West Valley, Cottonwood) Sr.
Manny Sleezer has over 100 career hits.
We head to the far north and its in the CIF Northern Section, just about halfway between Redding and Red Bluff, around seven miles west on the outskirts of Cottonwood at West Valley High that we find this week’s NorCal State Baseball Player of the Week who comes to us via a nomination from his proud family.
The statewide award to go with local honors is somewhat a body of work recognition for Sleezer. While it doesn’t make the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record Book, two weeks ago in a 12-1 victory over Orland, Sleezer broke the school record of 98 hits after he went 3-for-3 with a double and four RBI, and that gave him 99 hits for his career.
Manny stayed hot and so did the Eagles and last Tuesday he added on to the record with two hits, including a double, two RBI and two runs scored, in a 9-0 victory over Oroville. In that game, the 6-foot-1, 205-pound Sleezer, who is the Eagles’ catcher but also does some work on the mound, pitched four innings with no hits, two walks and seven strikeouts to get the win. Manny finished last week on Friday by going 3-for-3 with a home run, double, three RBI and two runs scored in 16-3 win over nearby Corning.
So far this season for 6-3 Cottonwood, Sleezer had a .565 batting average with the one home run, five doubles and nine RBI and six runs scored. He was also 1-1 as a pitcher in four appearances starting this week with a 2.76 ERA and 18 strikeouts and only six walks in 12.2 innings pitched.
Sleezer now has 104 career hits, and although as previously mentioned it wont grace the Most Hits (Career) list in our state record book, it’s still a pretty solid accomplishment and gets this small town and small school star some deserved recognition.
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
