SoCal/NorCal Players of the Week

Two of this week’s honorees are freshman Hunter Fugimoto (left) from Valley Christian of San Jose and Jazzy Burns from Murrieta Mesa of Murrieta. Photos: Twitter.com & extrainningsoftball.com.

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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 Southern California
Softball Player of the Week

Jazzy Burns (Murrieta Mesa, Murrieta) Jr.

We head to the far southeastern reaches of the Inland Empire to find our Southern California Softball Player of the Week where we land in Murrieta. At Murrieta Mesa, we find a team of sluggers with Burns the hottest for a Rams’ team that is up a spot this week to No. 5 in the recently released state rankings.

Last week, in a home and away series with crosstown Southwestern League rival Murrieta Valley, the balls were flying off the bats of the Rams’ hitters and Jazzy had the snazziest bat of them all.

On Tuesday in the away game, Burns was 4-for-5 with a home run, a double, a walk, seven RBI and a run scored. On Thursday at home in an 11-1 victory, Jazzy was 2-for-2 with a home run, a walk, three RBI and a run scored.

So far this season, and heading into a Tuesday afternoon game with neighboring Temecula Valley of Temecula, the junior catcher was hitting .432 with nine home runs, eight doubles and 37 runs batted in.

The nine home runs is tied for the No. 14 reported mark in the state and the 37 RBI is tied for No. 19 in the state, but unlike most of the other reported leaders, Burns’ numbers are against mostly top-notch competition.

We’re pretty sure the Ohio State-committed Burns would like to give a shout out to her Boise State-bound senior teammate and first base girl Zoe Karam. She blasted two home runs in the Thursday home win and now has eight round-trippers on the season.

Spencer Seid from Flintridge Prep of La Canada is shown signing his letter of intent with UC San Diego. Photo: Twitter.com.

Spencer Seid (Flintridge Prep, La Canada) Sr.

When all was Seid and done looking at this week’s possibilities for SoCal baseball, we headed north of Glendale and south of the Angeles Crest Highway to the foothills of Mt. Wilson and the city of La Canada in search of our Southern California Baseball Player of the Week. At Flintridge Prep, we find a pitcher and slugger that the Wolves’ faithful are wishing he could pitch every game.

Flintridge Prep moved to 16-6 overall last week, including two losses, but when Seid is on the mound the Wolves were a perfect 5-0 heading into a Tuesday afternoon game with visiting Palos Verdes Peninsula, a game in which Spencer may very well pitch. We don’t usually like to pick a pitcher who might pitch and lose in an early-week game but after what Seid has done this season we decided to take our chances.

Last week, in the one game the Wolves won, a 10-0 shutout of Rio Hondo Prep of nearby Arcadia, Seid wasn’t quite perfect but he did pitch a five-inning no-hitter with six strikeouts and three walks. At the plate, Spencer also had an RBI and a run scored.

Sandwiched between that win and his previous start, Flintridge Prep suffered another loss but prior to that and two weeks ago in a five-inning 11-0 win over Providence of Burbank, Seid turned the trick a first time after firing a no-hitter with eight strikeouts and two bases on balls. In that game, he also had a double, three RBI and a run scored.

Besides being 5-0 in seven appearances this season (not including what may have happened on Tuesday), a lot can be said for Seid and his 0.58 ERA, plus 66 strikeouts and only 10 bases on balls in 36 innings pitched. With bat in hand Spencer was second on the Wolves in batting average and first in on-base percentage at .407 and .564, respectively. He’s also one of the team’s leaders with 18 RBI and 16 runs scored.

In the fall, Spencer will be attending UC San Diego where he’ll also no doubt be playing baseball.

Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Baseball Player of the Week

Hunter Fujimoto (Valley Christian, San Jose) Fr.

Do you know the way to San Jose? We do because southern San Jose is where we land in search of our Northern California Baseball Player of the Week.

We don’t often pick freshmen for our weekly awards, and it’s not because we don’t want to choose them, it’s because very few first year players have as significant of an impact as Fujimoto has been having on one of Northern California’s top programs.

Last week, in three big wins that vaulted the Warriors seven spots to No. 16 in the most recent state rankings, Hunter did some big game hunting and had a hand in all three victories.

In the first game, a 15-3 rout of Live Oak of Morgan Hill, Fujimoto was 3-for-3 with a walk, four RBI and a run scored. In the second game, a 4-1 win over visiting Wilcox of Santa Clara, Hunter had an RBI single, was hit by a pitch, stole two bases and scored a run.

Finally, in a 2-1 win over visiting crosstown Pioneer, Fujimoto came through big time. The teams were deadlocked at 1-1 entering the bottom of the seventh inning when Hunter got his second hit of the game to drive in Carmelo Rivera for a 2-1 walk-off win.

So far for the 14-4-1 Warriors and heading into a Tuesday afternoon match-up with Gilroy on the road, Fujimoto was hitting .373 with 14 RBI and 12 runs scored. He has been hitting leadoff and for a freshman at Valley Christian that is saying something.

Rylee Gomez of Watsonville has signed a letter of intent with St. Mary’s College. Photo: Twitter.com.

Rylee Gomez (Watsonville) Sr.

Santa Cruz County and the city of Watsonville is our destination in search of our Northern California Softball Player of the Week and we have a doozy with this St. Mary’s-bound third base-girl who had a huge hand in four straight Wildcatz victories.

Last week, in a 14-3 victory over Christopher of Gilroy, Gomez was 3-for-4 with a triple, double, two RBI and three runs scored. Kylee followed that up by going 2-for-3 with a double, two RBI and a run scored in a 9-4 victory against Stevenson of Pebble Beach. Gomez then blasted two home runs and had three RBI and two runs scored and the Wildcatz needed every bit of her production in a 5-4 victory over cross-town St. Francis.

It doesn’t count for this week’s honors but it’s still in the mix after Kylee launched a two-run home run on Monday in a 9-5 win on the road at North Salinas of Salinas.

So far this season for 12-6 Watsonville, and heading into the Thursday game at home with Salinas, Gomez leads the team in batting average at .483, home runs with eight, doubles with seven, and 28 runs batted in. The eight home runs is tied for the No. 21 reported mark in the state and is tied for No. 4 in the CIF Central Coast Section. Gomez likes to swing the bat and in 63 plate appearances she’s only walked four times and somewhat amazingly only struck out twice, both in a 5-1 victory over San Jose Leland.

For her four-year varsity career, including only playing one game as a sophomore, Kylee is hitting .459 with 15 home runs, 61 RBI and 57 runs scored in 51 total games.

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