More Baseball Players of the Year

State Junior of the Year Jeremy Ydens was leading player for final No. 2 ranked team while Nico Hoerner repeated as State Small Schools POY. Photos: @sfhsathletics & voqel.com.

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Congratulations to the following five players also who have been selected this week as Cal-Hi Sports State Players of the Year. Thanks to Stockton office assistant editor Paul Muyskens for contributing the writeups.

Juniors:
Jeremy Ydens (St. Francis, Mountain View)

Just named this week as the San Jose Mercury News Player of the Year, this talented junior also earns this honor from us after a season that saw him impress on the mound and at the plate for a Lancers’ team (27-5) that finished the season as the No. 2 team in the state.

At the plate, Ydens hit .404 with a team-best 44 hits and 22 runs batted in while also stealing 25 bases. His hit helped the Lancers get a comeback win over JSerra Catholic of San Juan Capistrano in the championship game of the Boras Classic, which also saw him earn the win.

Committed to UCLA, he also went 7-3 on the mound with a 1.69 ERA while striking out 67 batters in 62 innings.

Ydens, who is the first CCS player to gain this selection since James Roberts of Archbishop Mitty in 2007, won in a close call over 2014 State Sophomore of the Year Mickey Moniak of La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad). Moniak had another great season hitting, but Ydens’ being a pitcher as well as a hitter and leading St. Francis to a section title gave him a slight edge. Moniak has committed to UCLA as well.

Last 10 State Juniors of the Year: 2014 – Joe DeMers (Pleasant Hill College Park); 2013 – Jack Flaherty (North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake); 2012 – Brett Seeburger (Vista); 2011 – Rio Ruiz (La Puente Bishop Amat); 2010 – J.D. Davis (Elk Grove); 2009 – Jake Rodriguez (Elk Grove); 2008 – Matt Hobgood (Norco); 2007 – Kevin Eichhorn (Aptos); 2006 – Mike Moustakas (Chatsworth); 2005 – Shaun Kort (Woodland Hills El Camino Real).

Sophomores:
Hunter Greene (Notre Dame, Sherman Oaks)

A player many scouts already are projecting high for the 2017 MLB Draft, what stood out most about Greene as a sophomore is being named MVP of the ultra-tough Mission League and being on the L.A. Times All-Southland team.

Greene’s play at shortstop and on the continued to show why as a freshman he committed to UCLA. He batted .390 with 22 runs batted in and he also went 3-2 on the mound with a 1.77 ERA while striking out 28 in 27.2 innings pitched.

One of those wins on the mound included a late-season 2-1 win over St. Francis of La Canada on a two-hitter with 11 strikeouts while throwing over 90 mph. “Absolutely amazing,” is how Notre Dame head Coach Tom Dill described his control on the mound in a story in the L.A. Times after that performance.

Greene is, of course, from the same school as MLB slugger Giancarlo Stanton, who was not a State Sophomore of the Year but was the 2006-07 State Athlete of the Year. The last State Sophomore of the Year from the San Fernando Valley was Mike Moustakas of Chatsworth in 2005.

Trinity League MVP Royce Lewis from JSerra of San Juan Capistrano, also a sophomore, and top pitcher-hitter Danny Zimmerman from Redondo of Redondo Beach also were considered for this honor.

Last 10 State Sophomores of the Year: 2014 – Mickey Moniak (Carlsbad La Costa Canyon); 2013 – Joe DeMers (Pleasant Hill College Park); 2012 – Alex Jackson (San Diego Rancho Bernardo); 2011 – Ryan Tellez (Elk Grove); 2010 – Rio Ruiz (La Puente Bishop Amat); 2009 – Christan Lopes (Valencia); 2008 – Jake Rodriguez (Elk Grove); 2007 – Max Stassi (Yuba City); 2006 – Jordan Pries (Alameda); 2005 – Mike Moustakas (Chatsworth).

Magrisi won huge playoff games as frosh pitcher for San Diego Open Division champions. Photo: perfectgame.org.

Unlike softball, where you can get by in the playoffs with just one great pitcher, it’s important to have depth with your pitching and the Broncos had that depth to go with Mr. Baseball State Player of the Year finalist Drew Finley primarily from this talented freshman.

In Rancho Bernardo’s successful quest to capture the CIF San Diego Section Open Division championship, Magrisi went 8-1 with a 1.11 ERA with 54 strikeouts and walked just eight batters over 63.1 innings. His final win of the season came in the second round of the playoffs as he pitched a complete game against Cathedral Catholic. Magrisi also got the start in the section championship game but ended up getting a no decision in game that went extra innings.

It’s only been five years since the Broncos and legendary head coach Sam Blalock had State Freshman of the Year Alex Jackson (the sixth pick overall in last year’s MLB Draft). In short, the talent from this program doesn’t seem to be showing any signs of a slowdown.

Magrisi’s closest competition for this honor came from outfielder Jake Moberg from Vista Murrieta of Murrieta. He batted .414 in the very strong Southwestern League of the CIF Southern Section. If RB hadn’t won its section title and Vista Murrieta had gone further, the pick easily could have gone the other way.

Last 10 State Freshmen of the Year: 2014 – Tommy Palomera (Chatsworth); 2013 – Conrado Diaz (San Ysidro); 2012 – Jagger Rusconi (Valencia West Ranch); 2011 – Alex Jackson (San Diego Rancho Bernardo); 2010 – J.R. Crawford (Lakewood); 2009 – Ty France (Covina South Hills); 2008 – Christian Lopes (Valencia); 2007 – James Roberts (San Jose Archbishop Mitty); 2006 – Matt Davidson (Yucaipa); 2005 – Noe Ramirez (Alhambra).

Lambert also could be considered runner-up in final Mr. Baseball voting order. Photo: StudentSports.com.

A Cal-Hi Sports Mr. Baseball State Player of the Year finalist and L.A. Times Player of the Year, Lambert was an easy choice for this honor after going 13-0 with a 0.34 ERA for a Saints’ team that was two wins away from ending the season undefeated and the No. 1 team in the state.

Lambert’s high school career ended with him pitching back to back complete game shutouts in the postseason. First, he allowed just one hit during a 9-0 win over La Quinta and then just three hits during a 1-0 win over Santa Monica. He also hit .295 with 27 runs batted in.

A UCLA recruit, he was selected with the No. 44 pick in the recent MLB Draft by the Colorado Rockies.

Last 10 Medium Schools State Players of the Year: 2014 – Chris Mathewson (Fontana Kaiser); 2013 – Dominic Smith (Gardena Serra); 2012 – Troy Conyers (Lakeside El Capitan); 2011 – Rio Ruiz (La Puente Bishop Amat); 2010 – Angelo Gumbs (Torrance); 2009 – Ryan Wilkins (San Diego Cathedral Catholic); 2008 – Kyle Skipworth (Riverside Rubidoux); 2007 – Mike Stanton (Sherman Oaks Notre Dame); 2006 – Robby Alcombrack (Lake of the Pines Bear River); 2005 – Sean O’Sullivan (El Cajon Valhalla).

Small Schools:
Nico Hoerner (Head-Royce, Oakland)

While he didn’t put up as impressive numbers this season as he did last season, this Stanford-bound slugger still had an impressive enough year to repeat as small schools player of the year.

Hitting .517 with 30 runs batted in and six home runs, Hoerner finished his high school career hitting .523 with 103 runs batted in, 118 runs scored and 10 home runs in 80 games.

After averaging 40 innings per season on the mound the last two years, he only pitched 17 innings as a senior. That still helped finished with a 1.07 career ERA.

The last player to repeat as State Small Schools Player of the Year was Ron Robinson of Woodlake for 1979 and 1980. Robinson, a former MLB pitcher with the Cincinnati Reds, also was the honoree as a sophomore for 1978.

Last 10 Small Schools State Players of the Year: 2014 – Nico Hoerner (Oakland Head-Royce); 2013 – Carlos Salazar (Kerman); 2012 – Nolan Gannon (Solana Beach Santa Fe Christian); 2011 – Robb Woodcock (Kentfield Marin Catholic); 2010 – Dylan Covey (Sierra Madre Maranatha); 2009 – Andrew Rich (Easton Washington); 2008 – Clay Cederquist (Fowler); 2007 – Nick Noonan (San Diego Francis Parker); 2006 – Eddie McKiernan (Monrovia); 2005 – Brett Wallace (Napa Justin-Siena).

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