Cambria Salmon of Beaumont is shown after one of her games as a sophomore when she was State Sophomore Player of the Year. Jordy Lopez from Franklin of Elk Grove is shown just after team won 2023 CIF Sac-Joaquin Section D1 title. Photos: John Murphy / recordgazette.net & Mark Tennis / Cal-Hi Sports.
Although one honoree came close, there were no entries for the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record Book to track this week, which is one of the things we do for this feature, but we have some exceptional talent, both from some college-bound winners, and an under the radar honoree who is getting statewide recognition. This week’s stops are in Elk Grove and El Sobrante in Northern California, and in Southern California we visit Rancho Cucamonga and Beaumont.
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Notes: For these honors, we also consider CIF Central Section players for Northern California. To nominate anyone, email markjtennis@gmail.com.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Baseball Player of the Week
Jordy Lopez (Franklin, Elk Grove) Sr.
To locate this week’s Northern California Baseball Player of the Week we head around 15 miles due south of the state capitol and land smack dab in the middle of I-5 and Highway 99 in Elk Grove, and it’s at Franklin High where we find our award winner.
The Cal-bound left-handed pitcher and slugger and one of the stars of the defending CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division I champions is off to a great start and last week he helped put some icing on the cake both on the mound and at the plate in completing a three-game sweep of Delta League rival Jesuit of Carmichael.
On the mound, Lopez tossed a one-hit 5-0 shutout with seven strikeouts and three walks. With bat in hand, he produced more than enough offense himself to secure the victory after going 3-for-4 with a triple, two RBI and a run scored, plus he flashed some speed with two stolen bases.
So far this season for a 13-3 Wildcats team that jumped 12 spots in the most recent Cal-Hi Sports state rankings to No. 16, Lopez is 4-0 on the mound in five appearances and three starts. He has a 0.71 ERA and 29 strikeouts with only seven walks in 19.2 innings pitched.
As a batter, and including a Monday 2-0 league win over Davis, Lopez is hitting .435 with three triples, three doubles, nine RBI and 19 runs scored. The fleet-footed Lopez has also stolen 13 bases.
Giselle Taylor from De Anza of El Sobrante takes a mighty swing. Photo: De Anza HS Athletics / MaxPreps.com.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Softball Player of the Week
Giselle Taylor (De Anza, El Sobrante) Sr.
We head to the West Contra Costa County portion of the CIF North Coast Section to find the Northern California Softball Player of the Week and we find her just east of I-80 in El Sobrante near the border of Richmond and at De Anza High.
The Dons have had a bit of a rough start at 4-6, including a Tri-County – Stone League loss on Monday to Pinole Valley of Pinole, so hopefully with Taylor getting some statewide recognition it will take a little bit of the sting out of the early season bumpy road. However, even with that lone league loss, De Anza is still 4-1 in Tri-County Stone action and Giselle has been a huge part of the offense.
Last week, in a home and away series with league rival Hercules, Giselle was a lot more than swell in the two-game sweep.
In the first game at home, and in a 25-13 win that was mercy-shortened after De Anza put a 10-spot on the board in the bottom of the fourth, the victory was pretty much Taylor-made after the Dons’ senior, who can play multiple positions, was on base all five at-bats and went 3-for-3 with two home runs, a triple, two bases on balls, nine RBI and four runs scored.
On the road at Hercules, and in a 14-3 victory, Taylor had an RBI single, two walks, a stolen base, and two runs scored.
The nine RBI is close to making the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record Most Runs Batted In (Game) list, but falls one short of the 10 RBI needed.
So far this season, Taylor is batting .414 with three home runs, a triple and double, 14 RBI, 14 stolen bases and 20 runs scored.
In a bit of a twist, Giselle is not close to the .712 batting average she had as a junior, but the production in the one game against Hercules was close to a huge chunk of her slugging offense last season when Taylor had three home runs and 24 runs batted in.
Cal-Hi Sports Northern California
Softball Player of the Week
Cambria Salmon (Beaumont) Sr.
We head to the farthest reaches of the Inland Empire and end up around two miles north of where I-10 and Highways 60 and 79 intersect, and it’s at Beaumont High where we find the Southern California Softball Player of the Week award winner.
Salmon is no stranger to Southern California softball fans and despite a ton of accolades including all state selections and being named the 2022 State Sophomore of the Year and the Press Enterprise Player of the Year, we probably could have picked her many times previously, but this will be a first weekly honor for the Texas-bound fire-balling right-handed senior who has a devastating rise ball, drop-curve, screwball and change-up, plus she is a slugging star as well.
Salmon didn’t have the greatest outings at the Michelle Carew Classic two weeks ago but last week she found her rhythm in a 7-0 shutout Redlands East Valley of Redlands on a two-hitter with 15 strikeouts and two walks. She also had two hits with a home run, double, two RBI and two runs scored.
So far this season for the 11-5 Cougars, Salmon is 10-5 with a 0.90 ERA and 199 strikeouts with only 23 walks in 101 innings pitched. Cambria has recorded double-digit strikeouts 12 times this season with a high of 21 where only a base on balls separated her from a perfect game in a 4-0 win over Apple Valley.
At the plate, Salmon is no guppy. She’s batting .489 with seven home runs, a triple, five doubles, 15 RBI and 14 runs scored, and while she’s a strikeout queen in the circle, in the batter’s box Cambria has only fanned eight times in 57 plate appearances.
We say strikeout queen because the 199 batters that have whiffed against her this season came into this week as the top reported mark in both the CIF Southern Section and the entire state, according to MaxPreps.
For her four-year career, Salmon is closing in on the 1,000 career strikeout mark and currently had 901 heading into a league match-up on Wednesday at San Bernardino Cajon. Cambria also had a career .395 batting average with 24 home runs and 77 runs batted in.
As for her chances of making the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record Book on the Most Strikeouts (Career) List, they’re good since the threshold is 1,011 career strikeouts.
Hunter Meyer of Los Osos had been red-hot since going 5-for-5 with five RBI in his first game this season. Photo: fieldlevel.com.
Cal-Hi Sports Southern California
Baseball Player of the Week
Hunter Meyer
(Los Osos, Rancho Cucamonga) Jr.
We also head out to the Inland Empire portion of the CIF Southern Section for baseball this week and it’s in Rancho Cucamonga just north of the 210 Freeway and adjacent to the Deer Canyon and Day Canyon Washes at Los Osos High where we find this week’s Southern California Baseball Player of the Week honoree.
Meyer certainly has not been a lemon this year after the Cal State Fullerton-committed junior centerfielder started the season going 5-for-5 in a win over Rialto Carter and his bat still hasn’t cooled off in what has been a 14-5 start for the team this season.
Last week was a prime example in a three-game sweep of Baseline League rival Upland. On the road to start the series, and in a 5-1 victory, Meyer was 3-for-4 with a double and a run scored. In a 6-5 victory at home two days later, Hunter was 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored, and finally, the next day back at neighboring Upland, and in a 10-1 win, Meyer was 2-for-3 with a double, and RBI, a run scored and a stolen base.
So far this season, and including a first league loss on the road at Damien of La Verne on Monday, Meyer is hitting for a .554 batting average with three home runs, two triples, eight doubles, 28 RBI and 20 runs scored.
The game on Monday vs Damien also had a somber tone as it began with a moment of silence in honor of Los Osos junior Elias Cruz, who perished in a car accident on March 8 along with his younger sister, Sarah (also a Los Osos student). Elias played in his freshman season at Damien. Since our player of the week also is a junior, we’d assume he knew Elias very well. We hope Hunter and the team are recovering from their loss as much as possible.
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
