Capistrano Valley power pitcher and hitter led team to CIFSS Div. I title and nips Norco's Matt Hobgood for state player of the year honor. He's just the fourth Mr. Baseball from Orange County since 1980.

By Mark Tennis, Executive Editor

Some of the decisions on who should be the CalHiSports.com Mr. Baseball State Player of the Year over the decades have been legendary.

Look back at 1982, for example, when the top player in Northern California was an outfielder from Serra of San Mateo named Barry Bonds while the top player in Southern California was a pitcher from Cleveland of Reseda named Bret Saberhagen. Since Saberhagen had thrown a no-hitter at Dodger Stadium in the L.A. City Section final while Bonds' last game for Serra was a loss, Saberhagen earned the nod.

This year's choice for the state's most prestigious individual honor, since it has been handed out much longer than any other statewide award, could one day be similar to Bonds vs. Saberhagen and frankly we hope that is the case.

Instead of Bonds vs. Saberhagen or Aaron Hicks of Long Beach Wilson vs. Riverside Patriot's Kyle Skipworth (which was last year's debate), this year it came down to Tyler Matzek from Capistrano Valley of Mission Viejo vs. Matt Hobgood of Norco and the final, close in-house staff vote went to Matzek, who has now been named as the 2009 Mr. Baseball honoree.

Matzek is just the fourth player from Orange County since 1980 to be the State Player of the Year. The previous three have been Ian Stewart from La Quinta of Westminster in 2003, Tom Redington from Esperanza of Anaheim in 1987 and Lenny Dykstra of Garden Grove in 1981.

One of the reasons these selections are so difficult is that we have never awarded co-players, co-coaches or co-anything in any ranking, all-state pick or any other evaluation that has been made.(Read full post)

After leading Archbishop Mitty to a mythical national title with her nearly untouchable pitching and thunderous hitting, it probably comes as no surprise that the state's most prestigious individual softball honor goes to her.

By Harold Abend, Special to CalHiSports.com

It was the top of the first inning of the championship game of the Livermore Stampede.

ESPN RISE FAB 50 top-ranked Sheldon of Sacramento was 18-0 and colliding with Archbishop Mitty of San Jose, a top five FAB 50 squad itself at 20-0, and with a hurler in the circle, Keilani Ricketts, who was 13-0 at the time and hadn't given up an earned run yet on the season.   

When Sheldon's Cal-bound Lindsey Ziegenhirt blasted a two-out solo home run in the top of the first, Ricketts and the Monarchs girls could very easily have folded.

Instead, Ricketts knuckled down and struck out Cal-bound Jolene Henderson to end the inning.

"After the home run, I figured with the kind of team they have I knew they were going to score but I knew our offense was strong and we could come back,” Ricketts recalled.

The girls, and Keilani in particular, came back in a big way, and in a hurry, and it was Sheldon that blinked.

After Henderson struck out the leadoff batter in the bottom of the first, Lindsay Norton slapped a base hit, Miyuki Navarrete reached on an error, and up stepped Ricketts.

She went with an outside fastball and the left-handed hitter and pitcher launched a high, deep shot to exactly the same place as Ziegenhirt, well over the left-centerfield fence.

With one swing of the bat, Mitty had all the runs it would need in an eventual 5-2 victory, and the term "They Got Ricketted” was born.

(Read full post)