Two of this week’s SoCal/NorCal Players of the Week are Katir Prieto of Fresno (with coach) and Gia Rodoni from Pacheco of Los Banos. Photos: @FresnoHighAthletics & Grapettes.com
Just like we did during the football and basketball seasons, we are going to do our best to spread around these honors as much as possible with one boy and one girl chosen from each region in baseball and softball. This week’s best are from Valencia, Fresno, Etiwanda and Los Banos.
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). Please feel free to call at 209-463-9050 as well both for nominations or to see if your business or small company would like to become a sponsor for this weekly content.
Note: For purposes of this feature, we are considering the CIF Central Section to be in the north.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Baseball Player of the Week
Devin Davis (Valencia) Sr.
Finishing just one single shy of hitting for the cycle, Davis hit a grand slam home run during a 10-6 win over Cypress last week.
The grand slam was Davis’ second homer of the season. In the same game, he also hit his fourth double and first triple and finished with a season-high five runs batted in and now has 11 RBI on the season.
Headed to Loyola Marymount next year, this senior captain played in the Area Code Games last summer. He’s also a four-year varsity player at Valencia who last season as a junior batted .427 with five homers and 33 RBI.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Baseball Player of the Week
Katir Prieto (Fresno) Sr.
When anyone gets into the Fresno High record lists in baseball, that’s saying a lot since the Warriors have such an awesome tradition in the sport. Fresno counts two MLB Hall of Famers among its alums (Frank Chance and Tom Seaver) and the school’s 1954 team is still regarded as the best in state history.
Last week, Prieto threw an eight-inning no-hitter in a 2-0 win over McLane of Fresno and even more significantly than the no-hitter was his strikeout total of 21. According to CIF Central Section historian Bob Barnett (a Fresno High alum himself), Prieto’s total is the third best in school history. In the same game, he also set a school record with 12 consecutive strikeouts.
Teammate Josh Acosta came back in the second game of the week and had 16 strikeouts against Roosevelt of Fresno to lead Fresno High to a 12-1 victory.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Softball Player of the Week
Vanessa Taukeiaho (Etiwanda) Soph.
Taukeiaho’s older sister, Missy, currently plays at Cal State Fullerton and this junior has showed why she will be headed to Oklahoma.
Vanessa was an extra-base hit hitting machine last week as the Eagles won all four of their games. During a 10-4 win over Foothill of Henderson, Nevada, she doubled and hit her seventh home run of the season and then the next day she hit two doubles in both of their wins over Centennial of Las Vegas, Nevada. On the year, she is hitting .558 with 21 runs scored and 16 runs batted in.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Softball Player of the Week
Gia Rodoni (Pacheco, Los Banos) Sr.
Along with head coach and athletic director Charlie Pikas, Rodoni has helped put new school Pachedo on the softball map.
Heading into this week, Rodoni has allowed just one earned run over her last 56 innings in the circle and allowed just one hit in 14 innings last week. During a 4-0 win over Central Valley of Ceres ,she had 15 strikeouts and pitched a perfect game.
Earlier this month, Rodoni returned from some time off due to some shoulder discomfort and hit a two-run home run while throwing a five-inning no-hitter that saw her strike out 16 batters during a 15-0 win over Livingston.
In November, Gia became the first athlete from the school to sign with an NCAA Division I college when she signed her letter of intent to go to Baylor.
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
