Whether Yucaipa’s Matt Davidson is going
to carry through with his commitment to play baseball at USC or be wooed into
the professional ranks by a handsome signing bonus remains to be
seen.
Photo By Kirt Winter
Matt Davidson, Yucaipa
No matter what the 6-foot-4, 225-pound
right-hander decides, Davidson is a nugget. It’s just a matter of how long it
takes him to polish his game. For sure, he is off to a great start.
Davidson has driven the Thunderbirds to
a 14-1 mark and a national ranking (No. 23 in this week's MaxPreps Xcellent 25). He is batting at a .524 clip (22 for 42)
with three home runs and 19 RBI.
As a pitcher, Davidson’s numbers are
arguably more glittering. In eight appearances, he has posted three wins and
four saves. He has not allowed an earned run and owns 24 strikeouts in 16 2/3
innings.
Not surprisingly, the Trojans have
Davidson ticketed as a two-way player – pitching and playing third
base.
Davidson, who has been clocked in the
high 80s, has been selected to participate in the Aflac All-American High School
Baseball Classic at Dodger Stadium in August.
MORE BASEBALL: Saintly southpaw is
heavenly
Jordan McLaughlin of St.
Augustine was named the MVP for the 4A Division of the San Diego 59th
annual Lions Tournament after helping drive the Saints past Otay Ranch 8-0 in
the finals. McLaughlin was 8-for-14 with a home run and five RBI in the five
tournament games. The junior left-hander also pitched five shutout innings to
gain the victory in the finale.
ADD BASEBALL: Torrey Pines’ Reading
railroads foes
Torrey Pines senior second baseman J.J.
Reading went 3-for-3 with two home runs and four RBI as the Falcons outslugged
14-10 a Cathedral Catholic outfit that features seven Division I college-bound
athletes in a San Diego Lions Tournament contest. A day later Reading broke up a
no-hitter with a single against El Capitan.
SOFTBALL: Stanford-bound
pitcher leads Norco to Carew crown
Although best known for her pitching
prowess, Norco’s Teagan Gerhart is actually a double threat. She proved that in
the championship game of the Michelle Carew Classic in Anaheim. Gerhart drilled
an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning, giving Norco (15-2) a 3-2
victory over Vista Murrieta (13-4). She also pitched a complete game, striking
out 12. In the semifinals, Gerhart homered and fired a shutout
against Oceanside El Camino.
MORE SOFTBALL: Carlsbad
pitcher serving up strikeouts
Carlsbad pitcher Monica Villarreal logged 26 strikeouts in
victories over Torrance and Granada Hills Kennedy in the Rancho Buena Vista
Longhorn Softball Tournament. She allowed only one earned run in
16 innings.
Other Top
Performances
– Poway junior Evan
Thomas clubbed three home runs and finished 4-for-4 with four RBI in the Titans’
7-3 victory over Valhalla in a San Diego Lions Club Tournament
game.
– Chino Hills batted around in
each of the first three innings to take a 14-1 lead and eventually claimed a
16-8 victory over La Verne Damien in a nonleague baseball
game.
– St. Augustine’s Matt Brown, a
senior left fielder-designated hitter, batted .615 with two home runs, four
doubles, six runs and nine RBI as the Saints went 5-0 in the San Diego Lions
Tournament.
– Collin
Jarvis of Rancho Buena Vista won the 3,200-meter run in a nation-leading time of
8:58.15 at the Arcadia Invitational. That is the 12th-fastest time in SDSCIF
history.
– Harvard-bound Sammy Silva of Our Lady of Peace
(SDSCIF) ran the fastest girls mile in the nation this season, finishing in
4:54.08 at the Arcadia Invitational.
– Isaiah Turner of Bakersfield
Stockdale was 4-for-4 with three home runs and five RBI as the Mustangs toppled
Torrey Pines 14-3.
– Santa Margarita’s Trayce (CQ) Thompson hit four of his Orange County-leading seven home runs
against Anaheim Servite.
– Senior right-hander Bryan
Crabb of Coronado blanked Pacific Palisades 1-0 on a 3-hitter, while striking
out 14. He was also 2 for 2 with a walk.
– Sophomore third baseman Antonio Duenas of Kaiser went
6-for-8 with six RBI to lead the Cats to a doubleheader sweep over Fontana.
– Chula Vista softball
freshman Kaela Williams went 8-for-11 with six extra-base hits, nine RBI and
three stolen bases in three games.
Coming Attractions
The Scripps Ranch Boys Volleyball
Tournament will be held April 17-18 in the Falcons lair. This event is one of
the premier regular season tournaments in the SDSCIF.
Dickens Dealings
Shifts in population often lead to new
schools and league realignments. This usually tests
the winds of change. To be sure, pleasing all involved won’t
happen.
At least two SDSCIF
conferences plan to shuffle their affiliations – one in the East and another in
the North.
For the first time since 1994, the East
San Diego County Grossmont Conference will have a new look. The 11 Grossmont district
schools have agreed to rearrange their present alignment effective for the
2009-2010 seasons.
This guideline covers all sports except
football, which will remain in its current structure for one more
season.
The setup sends Grossmont and West Hills
into the larger schools Grossmont South League, while the Spring Valley schools,
Mount Miguel and Monte Vista, jump to the Grossmont North League. These moves
are based on enrollment as much as number of championships won, depending on who
you talk to.
Those in favor and those against the
changes argued until the ink dried.
Bottom line, here is the new
arrangement:
Grossmont South: Helix,
Granite Hills, Valhalla, Steele Canyon, West Hills and Grossmont.
Grossmont North: El Capitan, Santana, El
Cajon Valley, Mount Miguel and Monte Vista.
There also is talk of Christian High, a
private Division IV school in East County, joining the Grossmont North. But that
too, has been met with opposition.
Fear of the Patriots coaches recruiting
in the area has some of the long-time administrators lobbying against allowing
Christian entrance. That in itself is ludicrous. If Christian wanted to lure
athletes away from neighborhood schools it could be done without membership in
the Grossmont Conference.
Admission of Christian would balance the
conference with six teams in each league. The Patriots have proven they can
compete in the majority of sports.
Intense growth in the
North County Conference, which currently consists of 19 schools divided into the
Avocado, Palomar and Valley leagues, has initiated discussion of developing a
fourth league. That has been prompted by the fact that three new schools are
opening in the area.
Any changes in the North, however, will
not occur until the 2010-2011 school year. Plenty of banter will be
bounced off the walls between now and then.
In the North, there are
more private schools attempting to gain acceptance including powerhouse
Cathedral Catholic.