To say he's ticketed for stardom might be a stretch since he's still only a sophomore, but if this week's boys honoree stays healthy and continues progressing we may be hearing his name a lot in the future.

By Harold Abend, Special to CalHiSports.com

When baseball players have gotten as much recognition at a young age as this week's ESPN RISE CalHiSports.com Boys State Athlete of the Week has received, they can often have big heads to go with a big bat or a blazing fastball.

So it was a little surprising to hear Valencia Coach Jared Snyder talk more about Christian Lopes' character than his on-field prowess when first asked to talk about his star shortstop.

"You made a good choice for the award and the fact he's a pretty good kid makes it even better,” said Snyder when told the criteria for receiving the honor included academics and what the student-athlete does off the field as well as the baseball aspect.

"He's a humble kid for how good he is, gets along with everybody on and off the field, has good character and makes good choices,” said Snyder, a Saugus High graduate who played five years as a catcher in the Cubs organization, and who's now in his 11th year at Valencia where he teaches world history.

Last year's CalHiSports.com's State Freshman of the Year can also handle the bat and plays a mean shortstop.

Last week in a 10-8 victory over Hart of Newhall he hit his ninth home run of the season and scored twice. He also scored three times in a 17-6 victory over Hart earlier in the week.

Plus the nine round-trippers, so far this season Lopes is hitting .373 on 25 hits with 19 RBIs, nine doubles, a triple and 29 runs scored on a team that is hitting a cumulative .334 with 31 home runs, and has won eight straight, scoring in double digits the last seven.

The leadoff batter has also collected 24 RBIs and 33 runs scored. He's walked 18 times and been hit three times for a total on-base percentage of .505 with a .940 slugging percentage.

As a freshman Christian hit .408 with 10 homers, four doubles and two triples out of 40 hits to garner CalHiSports.com's honor.

"Obviously Christian's very talented but he continues to make improvements,” said Snyder, whose teams have won five Foothill League titles.

"He's much more disciplined and patient at the plate, doesn't swing at pitchers' pitches and uses the whole field,” continued Snyder. "The biggest adjustment is he's only struck out four times this year.”

"He was one of the few kids that could really play as a freshman, which is rare,” said Andrew Drennen, the ESPN RISE Director of Area Code Baseball who added there were only four freshman invited to Area Code.

"Lopes is a good young player and solid defensively. As he gets older and matures he's going to be a great ballplayer,” continued Drennen. "He's a heck of a shortstop.”  

"He's probably the best sophomore in the nation,” said ESPN RISE Deputy Editor Mark Tennis, who nominated Lopes for the award.

He does pretty well in his studies as well, carrying a 3.0 GPA in the classroom.

"I'm bringing my grades back up because missing six weeks of school hurt me,” Lopes told CalHisports.com about being selected for the 19-member Team USA 16-under Junior National Team that went 8-0 this fall in Mexico and won the Gold medal. He was selected based on his summer performances at the Junior Olympics and tryouts conducted by Team USA.

"I did pretty well. Hit one home run,” continued Lopes. "It was a lot of fun and great to play and beat teams like Cuba, Venezuela, Guatemala and Puerto Rico.”

Cuba finished second in the tournament with a 7-1 record to earn the silver medal. Cuba's lone defeat was a 3-1, 11-inning loss to American boys.

Even with all the awards and accolades, Lopes is still only one member of a mostly young Valencia team whose older players have college-level talent.

"We start five sophomores and a freshman and it takes time with a young team, so we started a little slow,” said Snyder whose team is now 15-6 going into a May 1 home game against a Golden Sierra team the Vikings defeated 16-3 on Tuesday at Santa Clarita.

As previously mentioned, Valencia can smack the ball around from almost every spot in the order.

"I think I fit in real well on the team,” said Lopes in a Friday morning interview before school. "When I'm down they pick me up and I try to pick them up. We pick each other up.”

And knock each other in. An example is the Tuesday win at Golden Sierra where Lopes was 1-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.

Oregon-bound senior leftfielder Dylan Jones had an RBI double and scored twice. On the season he's hitting .386, leads the team with 26 RBIs, and has three homers, four doubles, a triple and 24 runs scored.

Another senior, outfielder Alex Pitman, who according to Snyder has definite college potential, had an RBI. He has four home runs and is hitting .322 with 23 RBIs and 21 runs scored.

It shouldn't surprise anyone that Lopes dreams of playing professionally but he's also interested in pursuing his education.

"Of course I dream about playing in the major leagues but it's also my goal to have the college experience and get my education first,” said Lopes, who added he and his family have checked out a few Pac-10 colleges on their own and his dad has already received questionnaires from pro teams.

"I've got to play my game one day at a time and work my butt off to get to my dreams. God willing it all works out but I'm just taking it one day at a time.”

When the subject turned to winning the award and family Christian's voice showed humility and pride, the kind we could tell was not just because his mom was there with him while we talked to him on his cell phone.

"I'm excited. Thank you so much. It's an honor to be recognized and shows my hard work is paying off, and it makes me hungry to play, but I want to also thank my dad. I would not be where I am if not for my dad.”

Joaquin or "Jack” Lopes, as Christian says everyone calls him, came west from New Jersey after a stint as a pitcher in rookie ball ended in an injury. He's currently a respiratory therapist at Kaiser-Permanente.

Him mom, Angelica Lopes, is from the Philippines and also a respiratory therapist at Kaiser where she met Jack.

"She wasn't really an athlete but she's a dancer and loves to dance and went to competitions,” said Lopes as we're sure mom was beaming in the background.

But hey, that's what this is all about. Except in rare circumstances do kids succeed, in privileged homes or in the most underprivileged conditions, without family support.

Dad doesn't just pitch every night to Christian, but also to his little brother Timmy, a freshman second-baseman for the Vikings. "He's coming off an injury but in his first at-bat he hit a grand slam.”

Does dad ever try to strike Christian out?

"Sometimes he'll try to strike me out. That's when it gets real fun,” said Lopes laughing.

Christian used to play football and basketball but says his parents want him to "concentrate on baseball.”

He still finds time to go to church and sometimes volunteers there and gets involved.

We ended the interview with Lopes' advice for young players like his brother or younger.

"Grades for sure are definitely first. Have good nutrition and eat right. Sacrifice for your craft. Do something every day. Anything you can do will improve your game.”

Sounds like a very well-rounded young man.

Makes the Vikings faithful even prouder every time he rounds those bases.

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