Two of this week’s NorCal/SoCal players of the week are juniors Ally Shipman of Valencia and Jack Hinrichsen of Sacramento McClatchy. Photos: FloSoftball & PerfectGame.org.
Three of this week’s choices — Jack Hinrichsen of Sacramento McClatchy (no-hitters), Dante Faicchio of Laguna Beach (doubles) and Ally Shipman of Valencia (home runs) — may be on their way to placing high in all-time state career record listings. The other, San Jose Archbishop Mitty sophomore Hannah Edwards, is on her way to playing for a junior national team.
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Note: For these honors, we consider CIF Central Section players for Northern California. To find out how your business could benefit by sponsoring these honors each week or to nominate someone by 12 noon on most Mondays, email markjtennis@gmail.com.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Baseball Player of the Week
Jack Hinrichsen (McClatchy, Sacramento) Jr.
Coming up just short of his fourth no-hitter of the season, this junior right hander allowed just one hit while striking out nine during a 5-0 win over Fairfield last week.
Averaging well over one strikeout per inning on the season, Hinrichsen has recorded at least eight strikeouts in seven straight appearances on the mound, which includes a season-high of 14 strikeouts back in April during a no-hitter against Florin of Sacramento.
That no-hitter was also his second in a row as he pitched a perfect game in his start before that against Burbank of Sacramento. For the year, after the Fairfield outing, he is now 9-1 with a 0.46 ERA and 89 strikeouts in 60.1 innings pitched.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Softball Player of the Week
Hannah Edwards (Archbishop Mitty, San Jose) Soph.
With the West Catholic Athletic League playoff championship on the line, this talented sophomore had a big game at the plate as she went 4 for 4 with a double, home run and three runs batted in during a 9-1 win over Valley Christian of San Jose.
The day before, during a 7-1 win over Presentation of San Jose, she allowed just two hits and an unearned run for her ninth complete game in the circle this season. Following up her 8-3 season last year, she improved to 10-2 with a 1.72 ERA and a no-hitter.
After contributing in a limited role at the plate last season, Edwards has been counted on more this season and rewarded her coach by hitting .356 with 20 runs batted in, six doubles and two home runs. Not only did Hannah have a big week on the field, but off it as well as she was named to the Great Britain U16 National Softball Team.
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Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Baseball Player of the Week
Dante Faicchio (Laguna Beach) Sr.
Among the reported state leaders in runs scored this season, Dante has been a four-year varsity standout for the Breakers and was 3 for 4 with a double, two runs scored and stole a base last week during a 6-2 win over Estancia of Costa Mesa.
During his senior season, heading into this week, he was hitting .451 with 21 doubles, 24 runs batted in and 44 runs scored. If that doubles total sounds high, it is. It’ll eventually be listed as one of the top 10 totals for a single-season in the state record book and it obviously could be higher.
Faicchio, who has signed to play next at the University of San Francisco, was a key player on last year’s team at Laguna Beach that won a CIF Southern Section title for the first time in the school’s 78-year history. Through 116 career games, Dante had a .397 batting average and 108 runs scored.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Softball Player of the Week
Ally Shipman (Valencia) Jr.
She’s one of those softball players who committed to a college in the eighth grade, but unlike some recent football players who did the same and ended up not being that great we’re pretty sure it’s going to work out for Ally.
Shipman is the younger sister of 2014 Honda Award winner Maddi Shipman (also of Valencia) who was a multi-year All-American at Tennessee. Her commitment also is to Tennessee and she recently told FloSoftball that the family will be moving there once she graduates from Valencia since Maddi is still there.
On the field, Shipman helped Valencia wrap up an impressive 10-0 run in the very tough Foothill League last week by hammering a pair of homers in a 6-0 win vs. Canyon of Canyon Country. She also improved her season totals to 14 homers with 37 RBI and a .630 batting average. Those numbers look even more impressive when you see she also has 28 walks.
Growing up as the kid sister of a national college player of the year can be daunting, but Ally definitely is on her way to making her own mark in the sport she loves.
Paul Muyskens is the Stockton office editor of Cal-Hi Sports. 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
