State junior player of the year Jake Rodriguez from Elk Grove and state sophomore of the year Christian Lopes of Valencia were even better than a year ago when they were chosen for their respective classes. Other top statewide individual picks named for freshmen, medium schools and small schools.

Note: Our all-state baseball teams are still to come. Congratulations to the following 2009 state baseball players of the year. Thanks to Steve Brand, Harold Abend and Paul Muyskens for providing the writeups on these players.

Juniors: Jake Rodriguez (Elk Grove)

After a sophomore season in which Rodriguez hit for .536 average and was the state sophomore of the year, he charged into last summer as a member of the U.S. Under-16 national team. In one game against Panama, Rodriguez slammed two home runs in one inning. You might have heard about a teammate of his on that team that did the same thing: Sports Illustrated coverboy Bryce Harper.

Being on that U.S. national team helped Rodriguez to decide that he couldn't afford to continue playing football for the Thundering Herd. He did just that as a sophomore and was one of the team's leading rushers.

This season, Rodriguez's batting average dipped just slightly to .522, but all of his other numbers were even better. The 5-10, 195-pounder cracked five homers with 10 doubles and four triples and drove in 47 runs. He also was impressive on the mound. In 41 innings, Rodriguez struck out 62 batters and had a 0.68 ERA with a 4-0 record.

Rodriguez may not be quite the phenom that his former U.S. Under-16 teammate has become, but among seniors in California next year he's clearly the one in the lead to be the 2010 Mr. Baseball State Player of the Year.

The last state junior player of the year from the Sacramento area was Channing Williams from Grant of Sacramento in 1982.(Read full post)

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.

(Read full post)