National Highlight Reel: Cheridan Hawkins strikes out 53 batters in a day

Throwing 1,000 pitches every week is paying big dividends for Anderson (Calif.) junior Cheridan Hawkins.

The 5-10 ½-inch standout won three games Saturday of last week, striking out a staggering total of 53 batters.

She blanked Fortuna (Calif.), 4-0, while scattering two hits and striking out a career-high 19 batters. She also went 3-for-3 at the plate. Then she shut out McKinleyville (Calif.), 5-0, again striking out 19 and allowing only two hits.

In the final game, she fanned 15 while posting a one-hit, 14-0 victory over Eureka (Calif.).



"I didn't really expect this to happen," Hawkins said of her outstanding junior year.

She has, however, been pitching since she was 8 years old. A superb riseball is her strikeout pitch, but she also throws an off-speed drop curve and a 64-mph, four-seam fastball that sinks. Coached by her father, Charlie Hawkins, Cheridan has compiled a 16-3 record with a 0.96 ERA. In 109 innings, she has struck out 277, walked only 24 and scattered 31 hits.

She's no slouch at the plate, either. She is hitting .527 in 55 at-bats, with five doubles, four triples and one home run. She has driven in 14 runs.

The college interest is growing and she said her current favorites are Oregon and San Diego State.

* Analy (Sebastopol, Calif.) senior Nicole Ochoa pitched a perfect game with 14 strikeouts while shutting out El Molino (Forestville, Calif.), 11-0.

* Freshman Kristin Cullen fired a no-hitter with 17 strikeouts as Oaks Christian (Westlake Village, Calif.) shut out Nordhoff (Ojai, Calif.), 9-0.

* Archbishop Spalding (Severn, Md.) senior Emily Weiman pitched a perfect game with 14 strikeouts during a 10-0 victory over Mercy (Baltimore).



* Senior Lia Romeo hit three home runs to lead Lockport (Ill.) to a 15-4 rout of Andrew (Tinley Park, Ill.). That matched her entire total from last year.

* Trista Brownlee and Sarah Appold each pitched five-inning no-hitters as Valley Lutheran (Saginaw, Mich.) defeated Nouvel Catholic Central (Saginaw, Mich.), 12-0 and 15-0.

* Though just a freshman, Emily Griggs quickly is gaining a reputation as a clutch hitter. She tripled in the tying runs and scored the winning run in the seventh inning as Maize (Kan.) defeated Bishop Carroll (Wichita, Kan.), 4-3. In the second game of a twinbill, she hit a two-run single in the final inning for a 5-4 victory.

* Lauren Fischer struck out 15 as Robbinsville (N.J.) shut out Steinert (Hamilton, N.J.), 4-0.

* Lindsay Taylor pitched her second consecutive perfect game, striking out 18, as Kings Park (N.Y.) blanked Huntington (N.Y.), 5-0. Earlier in the week she was perfect during a 12-0 victory over Harborfields (Greenlawn, N.Y.).

* Conner (Hebron, Ky.) eighth grade sensation Elizabeth Sims pitched a one-hitter to stifle St. Ursula Academy (Cincinnati), 2-0. She won 23 games as a seventh grader.

* Escalon (Calif.) senior Caitlin Brooks is making a surprising comeback from a serious foot injury she suffered during the basketball season. She was not expected to play softball, but she already has posted a 5-0 victory over Hilmar (Calif.) and lost a 3-1 heartbreaker in 13 innings to Modesto Christian (Calif.) even though she struck out 17 and yielded only one walk.



* Ellet (Akron, Ohio) coach Chuck Shuman recorded his 500th career victory during an 11-1 rout of Kenmore (Akron, Ohio). He's now No. 3 on Ohio's all-time list.

Continue reading for baseball{PAGEBREAK}BASEBALL: SPOT STARTER SPINS NO-HITTER
Though not a regular starting pitcher, Kevin Stevens filled in for Joe Molina - who had a collapsed lung - and fired a no-hitter with a school-record 15 strikeouts as Redlands East Valley (Calif.) blanked Miller, 4-0.

* Boone Grove (Valparaiso, Ind.) stole 12 bases – five by shortstop Jake Wright – en route to a 15-3 victory over North Newton (Morocco, Ind.).

* Marin Catholic (Kentfield, Calif.) senior pitcher Rob Woodcock (6-4, 220) put together a streak of 21 consecutive hitless innings earlier this spring. That included two full no-hitters, one with 15 strikeouts, for the Santa Clara recruit.

* Senior Christian Lopes belted two homers and drove in eight runs to lead Edison (Huntington Beach, Calif.) to an 11-9 victory over Fountain Valley (Calif.).

* Calvert Hall (Baltimore) routed Gilman (Baltimore, Md.), 15-5 as 6-6 senior outfielder Matt Bosse slammed three home runs and drove in six runs.



* Ryan Wagner homered twice and drove in eight runs as Wheat Ridge (Wheat Ridge, Colo.) routed Arvada (Colo.), 31-0, in five innings.

* Golden Valley (Santa Clarita, Calif.) pitcher Scotty Barlow fanned 15 and scattered three hits during a 4-2 victory against La Quinta (Calif.).

* After losing to Fort Zumwalt East (St. Peters, Mo.) by a lopsided 19-7 margin in March, Holt (Wentzville, Mo.) gained ample revenge with a 21-7 rout in a return engagement. Along the way, the winners set a state record by collecting 14 hits during a 15-run second inning.

* Canarsie (Brooklyn, N.Y.) senior Debonair Bolling stifled Sheepshead Bay (Brooklyn, N.Y.), 11-0, with 16 strikeouts and a six-inning perfect game.

* Westview (Portland, Ore.) junior Carson Kelly was one strike from a perfect game when another junior, Grant Taylor, singled on a 1-2 pitch. He had to settle for a one-hit, 7-0 victory over Lake Oswego (Ore.).

* Murray (Utah) slugger Calob Aloi tied the state record by hitting three home runs during a 24-4 rout of Granger (West Valley City, Utah).

* Lake Highland Prep (Orlando, Fla.) nipped Lake Nona (Orlando, Fla.), 10-8, in 17 innings. The first 11 innings had been played on an earlier day before the game was suspended by darkness. Tanner Stanley collected five hits and pitched nine innings for the winners.

* Valencia (Calif.) defeated Bishop Verot (Fort Myers, Fla.), 6-1, to win the USA Classic in Millington, Tenn. Valencia pitcher-infielder Quincy Quintero, who is headed to Pepperdine University, was named MVP.

* Senior lefthander Kevin Griffey piled up 19 strikeouts as Smithfield (Va.) shut out New Kent (Va.), 9-0.



* Owasso (Okla.) senior flamethrower Dylan Bundy struck out 17 and allowed only a bloop single during a 5-0 victory over Red Oak (Okla.). Bundy has a 7-0 record with 95 strikeouts in 42 innings.

* West Perry (Elliottsville, Pa.) blanked Camp Hill (Pa.), 7-0, as Jade Wilson struck out 16 while pitching his second no-hitter this year.

* Coaching milestone victories: Bob Zamora of Capistrano Valley (Mission Viejo, Calif.) notched No. 600; Mark Carroll of Denham Springs (La.) and Lonny Cobble of Santa Fe (Edmond, Okla.) each won No. 500; George Petik of Pompano Beach (Fla.) won No. 400; Frank Bumbales of Coral Springs (Fla.) and Dane Ilertsen of Troy (Fullerton, Calif.) each picked up No. 300.

Continue reading for basketball{PAGEBREAK}BOYS BASKETBALL: AUSTIN RIVERS IS MVP
The USA Junior National Select Team defeated the World Select team, 92-80, before a crowd of 8,955 during the annual Nike Hoop Summit at the Rose Garden in Portland, Ore.

Duke-bound guard Austin Rivers drilled 7 of 11 shots for 20 points to earn MVP honors. Kentucky-bound Anthony Davis also sparkled with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Another Kentucky recruit, Michael Gilchrist, had 16 points and five blocked shots.

Remember the name Bismack Biyombo. The 6-9 standout from the Congo had a very impressive triple double with 12 points, 11 rebounds and 10 blocked shots.



* Chaminade College Prep (St. Louis, Mo.) senior guard Bradley Beal has been named Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year. The 6-4 standout averaged 32.4 points, 5.7 rebounds and shot 65 percent from the field. He will leave with the school's career scoring record, 2,634 points. He also carved out a 91.7 average in the classroom.

* Sophomore basketball star Aquille Carr, who averaged 32 points this year, will try out for football next fall at Patterson (Baltimore). Carr, who will be a slot back, did play football before he entered high school.

* Vice principal Chris Chevannes will succeed Kevin Boyle as head basketball coach at national powerhouse St. Patrick (Elizabeth, N.J.).

GIRLS BASKETBALL: KELLY FLYNN TAKES A BREAK
Kelly Flynn, who has dominated girls basketball in Nebraska, is stepping down as coach at South Sioux City (Neb.). Flynn, who has won 508 games and 11 state titles in 27 years, will remain as athletic director and assistant principal. However, the 53-year-old coach told the Omaha World Herald that he expects to return to coaching sometime in the future.

* The White team defeated Red, 83-73, during the annual WBCA All-American Game at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Rutgers recruit Briyona Canty earned White MVP honors with 13 points, eight assists and five rebounds. Duke-bound Elizabeth Williams was the Red MVP with 20 points and eight rebounds.

* Franklin (Portland, Ore.) star Jude Schimmel is going to join her sister, Shoni, at the University of Louisville, according to the Oregonian.



TENNIS: MCCOY RE-ENTERS PREP GAME
Mounds View (Arden Hills, Minn.) senior Wyatt McCoy is back with his high school team after two years of playing in national and international tournaments. McCoy, who won a varsity state title in eighth grade, told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that his future coaches at the University of Notre Dame want him to get used to playing in a team format again.

* Following a petition by her parents, seventh grader Ingrid Neel has been allowed to play on the boys varsity tennis team at Mayo (Rochester, Minn.). The 5-foot, 12-year-old already has beaten the defending Class 2A girls champion, junior Kelsey Frechette of Century (Rochester, Minn.) three times in tournaments.

* Jesuit (Portland, Ore.) tennis coach Jeff Wood notched his 200th victory recently to go with six state titles. He has lost just three matches during his 16-year tenure for a sizzling .985 percentage.

POTPOURRI
* LaSalle Academy (Providence, R.I.) boys lacrosse coach Steve O'Donnell has a somewhat unusual day job – he is a U.S. marshall, soon to become head of the Rhode Island state police.

* Bret Kooi has resigned as head football coach at Lockport (Ill.). He compiled a career record of 117-84, but in 17 years at Lockport his record was 106-68 with two Class 8A state titles.

* Jenks (Okla.) soccer coach John Timmons recently posted his 300th career victory.



* National Wrestling Hall of Fame member Vic Stanley has retired as wrestling coach at La Salle College (Wyndmoor, Pa.). During his 44-year career the 70-year-old coach won 481 matches while tutoring one team and five individual state champions.