Two of this week’s SoCal/NorCal Players of the Week are Maya Brady from Oaks Christian of Westlake Village and Christian Stapleton of Carmel. Photos: FloSoftball.tv & NCSASports.org.
Since she’s been getting better and better, we knew at some point during her high school career that we’d be writing up Maya Brady from Oaks Christian of Westlake Village as a SoCal Player of the Week. That week became this one as she’s led the Lions to a 12-0 start. This week’s other honorees are from Aliso Viejo, Carmel and San Francisco.
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Note: For these honors, we consider CIF Central Section players for Northern California. To nominate someone by 12 noon on most Mondays, email markjtennis@gmail.com.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Baseball Player of the Week
Evan Fitterer
(Aliso Niguel, Aliso Viejo) Jr.
Fitterer does a little pitching for the 11-3 Wolverines, and can bring it at 91 miles per hour, but it’s when he’s fit and with bat in hand that the UCLA-committed first-baseman has opposing pitchers fretting.
Last week, in a football-like 23-9 win over Riverside Arlington, the 6-foot-3, 180-pound junior must have felt pretty fit because Fitterer blasted two home runs, smoked a double and had seven RBI and four runs scored. He started last week with a 4-for-4 performance that included a home run, double, four RBI and a run scored in a 7-6 loss to Capistrano Valley of Mission Viejo.
Evan has smacked the ball around this week in 5-2 and 6-1 wins over Alto Loma and Chino Hills, respectively, but hasn’t homered heading into a Wednesday matchup with Great Oak of Temecula, but if he can connect it will get him out of a tie for second in home runs reported for the state and into a potential tie for the top mark.
Besides the five round trippers, Fitterer is hitting .432 with a triple, three doubles, 21 RBI, and 14 runs scored with a .886 slugging percentage. He also has a .963 fielding percentage.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Softball Player of the Week
Maya Brady
(Oaks Christian, Westlake Village) Jr.
They say it’s in the blood and while her uncle uses his arm to throw and her mother used hers to pitch, Maya uses hers to swing the aluminum and make pin-point throws to first base as a slick-fielding shortstop.
The niece of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, and the daughter of former state record-breaking pitcher Maureen Brady from Hillsdale of San Mateo (who went on to be an All-American at Fresno State), Maya is a big reason the Lions are off to a 12-0 start and up to No. 6 in the state rankings.
Brady’s uncle and her mom have won plenty of honors, but Maya can add this one plus an all-state underclass selection from last season. She’s also becoming one of the top national recruits in the Class of 2019. Our good friend and longtime colleague, Brentt Eads, who has compiled Hot 100 player rankings in softball for many years, recently told us the UCLA commit was up to the top five for that class. Forget the family connections. She’s just that good.
Last week, in a 14-4 and 12-2 doubleheader sweep of Canyon of Canyon Country, Brady was a combined 6-of-7 with two triples, two doubles, four RBI and six runs scored.
That followed her leading the Lions to the championship of the Dixie Tournament at St. George, Utah where they blew away the field. For the four games, Brady had three home runs, a double, nine RBI and seven runs scored while getting two hits in each game.
On the season, the 5-foot-7 shortstop was hitting .585 with four home runs, two triples, six doubles, 19 RBI, 21 runs scored, and she has a 1.121 slugging percentage with only four strikeouts in 48 plate appearances. As a base runner, Brady also had stolen seven bases in seven attempts, and in the field she was a perfect 1.000 in 43 total chances.
Photo: siprep.org.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Softball Player of the Week
Madie Augusto
(St. Ignatius, San Francisco) Sr.
We go to the Sunset District of San Francisco to honor a pitcher who is also a slugger for a Wildcats’ team that has emerged as potentially the top team this year in the wild-and-wacky West Catholic Athletic League.
To say Augusto has shown a lot of gusto in the circle and at the plate in leading SI to an 11-1 start would be a bit of an understatement.
Last week, the Wildcats opened WCAL action and Augusto was more like a whirling dervish than a gust of wind after tossing a one-hitter with 10 strikeouts in a 5-inning 11-0 victory over cross-town arch rival Sacred Heart Cathedral. At the plate, Madie had a hit that drove in two runs. She followed that up with a 2-hitter in a 4-0 win over San Jose Presentation where she had 14 strikeouts and a double with bat in hand.
Already this week, the 5-foot-10 Dartmouth-bound senior got her fifth straight shutout in a 9-0 victory over Half Moon Bay on a 2-hitter with 11 fanned.
On the season, the only team that touched her up was undefeated and perennial Central Coast Section power and unbeaten Carlmont in a 2-1 loss but even in that game Augusto only gave up three hits.
Overall, Augusto is 10-1 with a 0.23 ERA, 102 strikeouts with only 26 hits and 12 walks in 60.1 innings pitched. The two runs she gave up against Carlmont are the only ones Madie has given up this season meaning she has nine shutouts. As a batter, Augusto is hitting .588 with a home run, triple, double and 13 RBI, and amazingly she hasn’t struck out once.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Baseball Player of the Week
Christian Stapleton
(Carmel) Sr.
For our NorCal boys honoree, we go to the southern shores of Monterey Bay to honor a two-sport star infielder who was All-State Small Schools last year in baseball and just missed All-State in football where the 6-foot-3, 240-pound senior was a defensive lineman.
We can’t take the sting out of a close 3-2 loss on Tuesday to arch rival Stevenson of Pebble Beach where Christian had a hit in two at-bats, but last week and actually the last six games prior to this week, the Padres’ faithful have been on a staple diet of Stapleton.
Christian started last week with two home runs, a double, six RBI and two runs scored in a rout of San Juan Bautista Anzar. He followed that up with a double and an RBI with two runs scored in a 9-2 victory over Salinas. During the six-game stretch, Stapleton was a perfect 17-for-17 at the plate.
On the season for the 9-4 Padres, Stapleton is hitting .700 with two homers, a triple, seven doubles, 14 RBI and 10 runs scored. He has a 1.200 slugging percentage and has walked nine times and only stuck out once in 30 at-bats.
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
