Two of this week’s NorCal/SoCal Players of the Week are SS/UTL Maggie Paulovich of Albany & P Cody New from Hesperia Christian of Hesperia. Photos: sportsrecruits.com & Twitter.com.
Now that basketball action on the court is behind us and baseball and softball are now in full swing in all sections around the state, we have lots of players to choose from for a feature that we not only use to track potential entries in the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record Book, but also to uncover some hidden talent that sometimes goes without a lot of props. From the record book standpoint in softball, we had a girl last week with four homers in one game & now we have one with an amazing 28 straight hits (at least) in official at-bats.
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Note: For these honors, we consider CIF Central Section players for Northern California. To nominate anyone, email markjtennis@gmail.com.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Softball Player of the Week
Maggie Paulovich (Albany) Sr.
The Bay Area is our destination in search of the Northern California Softball Player of the Week award winner. We land in Albany, a city of just over 20,000 residents in the East Bay area sandwiched by Berkeley on the south and El Cerrito on the north. There, we find a Cal State Fullerton-bound senior shortstop who has been smacking around the yellow ball pretty well so far to start the season.
Like a lot of teams in the CIF North Coast Section, the Cougars have only played a handful of games but in the first two last week Paulovich had some solid numbers.
In a season-opening 17-2 pasting of host Vallejo St. Patrick-St. Vincent, Maggie was 2-for-4 with a double, two RBI and a run scored. Two days later in the home portion of the series, Maggie bagged three hits in three at-bats with a home run, a double, three RBI and two runs scored in a 9-1 victory.
As it sometimes happens, the write-up for being chosen for a weekly honor comes after a loss and that’s what happened to Paulovich and the Cougars. On Tuesday the D3 Cougars travelled to D1 Monte Vista and came home with a 5-1 loss. The Mustangs limited the Cougars to five hits, but as you might have guessed, Maggie had two of them in four at-bats.
So far in three games for 2-1 Albany, Paulovich was hitting .636 with the homer, two doubles four RBI, four runs scored and two stolen bases. She’s also perfect in the field after handling 13 total chances.
Paulovich plans to major in kinesiology or nursing in college and was her team’s MVP as a junior.
The potential of players with the frame that Austin Charles has is well-known by MLB scouts. Photo: Prospect Pipeline / YouTube.com.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Baseball Player of the Week
Austin Charles (Stockdale, Bakersfield) Sr.
For our Northern California Baseball Player of the Week we head to The Valley as the locals refer to the CIF Central Section, and so we remind readers that for all our Player of the Week features for all sports, boys and girls, the Central Section is considered Northern California. We land in Bakersfield at Stockdale where we find a player who just like this week’s Top 35 writeup said “had one of those days he’ll always remember.”
Last week, in a 16-2 pasting of Atascadero that got Stockdale to 8-0 on the season and secured the Mustangs a No. 20 spot in the new rankings, Charles, a 6-foot-6, 210-pound shortstop, went 4-for-4 with two home runs, seven RBI and four runs scored.
So far this season, Charles was hitting .480 with three home runs, a double, 15 RBI and 13 runs scored. His long legs have also produced nine stolen bases in seven games where he’s stolen a base in at least every game but none against Atascadero.
In the field, Austin has had a couple of errors in 16 chances but it has to be pretty hard to get a ball past his long frame and speed. Not surprisingly, the UC-Santa Barbara-bound Charles does some pitching and he’s 2-0 (one start) with a 0.00 ERA and 12 strikeouts and five walks in seven innings pitched. According to PerfectGame.org, his fastball can touch 91 miles per hour.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Baseball Player of the Week
Cody New (Hesperia Christian, Hesperia) Jr.
To find our Southern California Baseball Player of the Week, we head out to the Inland Empire on I-10, and then make a left turn at the I-15 and head north and over the mountains to the Victor Valley.
In Hesperia at Hesperia Christian we find a left-handed pitcher named New, and although opposing batter know New since he was 7-0 as a sophomore, in some games this year they haven’t known what to do with New.
Last week, in a 10-5 victory over Rosamond, New went five innings and although he did walk four he had 10 strikeouts and didn’t give up a hit before being relieved. He also had three RBI in the game.
So far this season in four starts for the 6-2 Patriots, the 6-foot-4, 215-pound three-sport star (football and basketball) is 2-1 with a 0.33 ERA and 46 strikeouts with only eight bases on balls in 22 innings pitched.
As a batter, Cody has not been hitting for much of an average, but he does have nine runs batted in. In the field, he’s perfect in 13 total chances.
New has committed to Cal Baptist of Riverside, an emerging D1 power program.
After Monday of this week, Miranda Pozos was batting well over .800 for Bloomington. Photo: Bloomington Softball / MaxPreps.com.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Softball Player of the Week
Miranda Pozos (Bloomington) Jr.
Just as we did for our baseball honoree, to find our Southern California Softball Player of the Week, we head out I-10 to the Inland Empire but this time we go past the I-15 and stop just short of San Bernardino in Bloomington, and at Bloomington High just a stone’s throw south of the freeway.
At Bloomington, we uncover a junior shortstop, our third shortstop out of four honorees this week, and just like the other three, Pozos has been giving opposing pitchers a dose of hitting when she’s at the plate.
There’s no such thing as perfection in any sport, but last week Pozos came as close as you can get – and including a game this week her hitting numbers are off the charts.
Miranda started the week going 5-for-5 with a home run, two doubles, five RBI, and four runs scored in a 25-7 rout of West Valley of Hemet. She followed that up by going 4-for-4 with a home run, two doubles, seven RBI and two runs scored in a 20-2 shellacking of Riverside Notre Dame.
Here’s an amazing stat. Her performance against Notre Dame completed a streak of seven consecutive games (it looks like the MaxPreps inputted stats are correct) where Pozos did not make out and had 28 straight hits. We will need to confirm it, but if it’s confirmed that total would obliterate the state record of 17 set by Selena Fine, (Redondo Beach Redondo Union) in 1995 and tied by Danielle Fletcher (Simi Valley Grace Brethren) in 2010.
The streak came to an end on Monday when Pozos went 2-for-4 with a triple, an RBI, and a run scored in a 10-5 victory over Canyon Springs of Moreno Valley. We’re not sure at this time if one or both of the hits added to the streak, so it could be longer than 28.
As you might suspect, Pozos is among the reported statistical leaders in the CIF Southern Section and the state in all six offensive categories. Her .882 average leads the state by .043 and her .892 on-base percentage is tops by .028. The 34 RBI Miranda has plated is fifth in the CIFSS and the state. And last but not least the 24 runs Pozos has scored is tied for No. 12 in the section and state.
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
