
Johanna Grauer, Amador Valley
Photo by Dennis Marpuri
She was the MaxPreps National Softball Player of the Year, so it will come as no surprise that Johanna Grauer of Amador Valley is the California Large Schools State Player of the Year.
Grauer was unbeaten in leading Amador Valley to a MaxPreps mythical national
softball title in 2014. She won 26 games, pitched 14 shutouts and
averaged almost two strikeouts per inning.
In addition to the
MaxPreps honor, Amador Valley won the California Interscholastic
Federation North Coast Section Division 1 title and swept the field at the
prestigious Michelle Carew Classic in Orange County. Amador Valley
finished the year 27-0.
Over
the last three seasons, Grauer won 73 games, lost just three and struck
out 900 with an average of almost two strikeouts per inning.
The Large Schools Coach of the Year was also not a surprise. Amador Valley's Teresa Borchard was named California Large Schools Coach of the Year.
The players on the Large Schools All-State Team are selected from schools that participate in enrollment divisions generally larger than 2,000 students.
MaxPreps 2014 California Large Schools All-State Softball Team
P - Johanna Grauer, Amador Valley (Pleasanton), Senior
Kaylee Carlson, Pacifica
Photo by Heston Quan
The UCLA signee tossed 14 shutouts with a 0.51 ERA and yielded a .097 batting average against. She also led her team with a .429 batting average with 39 hits and 20 RBIs.
P - Kaylee Carlson, Pacifica (Garden Grove), SeniorCarlson went 22-3 with 220 strikeouts, 14 shutouts and a 0.55 ERA in leading Pacifica to the CIF Southern Section D-1 title. The North Carolina-bound righthander threw five straight shutouts in the playoffs, and ended her high school career tossing 46 consecutive shutout innings.
P - Tera Blanco, Marina (Huntington Beach), SeniorA perennial all-CIF Southern Section honoree, Blanco has signed with Michigan. She went 22-5 with 228 strikeouts and a 1.14 ERA. Blanco hit .446 and finished with 23 RBIs and drew 32 walks to finish with a .622 on-base percentage.
P - Hayley Copeland, Esperanza (Anaheim), SeniorAnother elite pitcher from Orange County, Copeland struck out 283 and went 23-4 as Esperanza won its fourth-straight league title. She will attend South Carolina.
P - Katie Kibby, Vacaville, SophomoreKibby won 29 of 30 games as the Bulldogs won the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section D-1 title. She lost just once and in 202 innings, she struck out 233 and posted a 0.62 ERA. She has committed to UC Davis.
P - Alexis Osorio, King (Riverside), SeniorOsorio recorded 358 strikeouts in 205 innings while compiling a 21-4 record and 0.44 ERA (her team only scored one run in her four losses, including the 12-inning D-2 title game 1-0 loss to Pacifica). She was a finalist for California's "Ms. Softball." She will attend Alabama.
P - Taylor McQuillin, Mission Viejo, Junior
Amanda Viramontes, Chino
Photo by Heston Quan
On the year she went 25-1 with a 0.72 ERA and 316 strikeouts and just 17 walks in 164 innings. She threw two perfect games, two no-hitters and five one-hitters. McQuillin finished the season with 16 straight games of at least 10 strikeouts. In her five playoff appearances, she struck out 72 batters and scattered only seven hits for a 10-to-1 strikeouts-to-hits ratio. McQuillin, who was the Orange County Register's Pitcher of the Year, was named Gatorade's National Player of the year and has committed to Arizona.
P - Miranda Viramontes, Chino, SeniorViramontes won 23 games with a 0.28 ERA and 298 strikeouts in 174 innings while hitting .415 with 10 homers and 36 RBIs to lead Chino to the CIF Southern Section title game against Mission Viejo (a 1-0 loss in nine innings). She will attend Utah.
P - Natalie Lugo, South Hills (West Covina), FreshmanThe only freshman on the all-area first-team was arguably the area's best pitcher and is already verbally committed to NCAA champion Florida. She earned Sierra League first-team honors, finishing 16-6 with a 0.98 ERA with 197 strikeouts in 150 innings. She also helped the Huskies reach the D-2 playoffs.
P - Trish McNew, Centennial (Bakersfield), JuniorMcNew was the section's dominant D-I pitcher. In the playoffs, she shut out No. 1 seed Clovis in the semifinals and Buchanan in the championship. She finished 17-4 with a 1.00 ERA and 94 strikeouts against just 14 walks.
C - Vanessa Washington, Pleasant Grove (Elk Grove), SeniorThe Sacramento Bee All-Metro Player of the Year had 15 of the team's 24 home runs, six of the team's 14 triples and 44 of the 193 RBIs. She also had a team-leading .406 average. As a backstop, she also made only three errors in 229 total chances. She has signed with Delaware State.
C - Cortney Horne, West Hills (Santee), Senior Horne, the All-East County Player of the Year and three-time All-CIF San Diego Section choice, batted .455 with five homers and eight doubles. In her four seasons, defensively, she shined by allowing just six steals in 42 attempts and had 14 runners picked off. Horne has signed with Cal State Northridge.
IF - Nicole DeWitt, Pacifica (Garden Grove), SeniorThe CIF's Southern Section Player of Year, DeWitt batted .400, scored 30 runs and drove in 22 for CIF Southern Section D1 champion Pacifica. She has signed with national champion Florida.
IF - McKenna Arriola, El Camino Real (Woodland Hills), SeniorArriola led ECR to the Los Angeles City Section D1 final and a 24-2 record when she hit .585, drove in 35 and scored 40. She had 18 extra-base hits.
IF - Brianna Tautalafua, Carson, JuniorNamed the Wave Newspaper Group's Player of the Year for the second-straight year, Tautalafua once again put up big numbers: 19 homers, 60 RBIs, .561 average and 63 runs in 33 games. She had a .669 on-base average, a 1.402 slugging percentage and a 2.071 OPS. She has committed to UCLA.
IF - Tannon Snow, Chino Hills, Junior
Julia DePonte, Vacaville
Photo by David Steutel
Snow collected 61 hits and drove in 58 runs to lead Chino Hills to a 30-win season. She scored 43 times and had 21 doubles and 14 home runs. She has committed to Washington.
IF - Julia DePonte, Vacaville, SeniorDePonte led the Bulldogs to a 29-1-1 record, CIF Sac-Joaquin Section D-1 title and a MaxPreps national ranking by hitting .516 with 39 RBIs, 33 runs, seven triples and seven home runs. She has signed with Washington.
IF - Aniesa Maulupe, Carson, SophomoreMaulupe hit 14 home runs and drove in 45 runs en route to hitting .549 and scoring 42 runs as Carson won its final 18 games and the CIF-LAS D-1 title.
IF - Ashley Lotoszynski, Amador Valley (Pleasanton), SeniorLotoszynski was the field general of the Dons' 27-0 season. She also batted .353 with two home runs, five doubles and 31 runs batted in. In 105 plate appearances, she struck out only three times.
IF - Lauren Lindvall, West Ranch (Valencia), SeniorThe University of Oregon signee and All-L.A. Daily News pick had a monster year for the Wildcats as she batted .500 with 45 RBIs and 38 runs scored. She also appeared on the Student Sports Hot 100 national recruits' list. Lindvall is the third sibling in her family to earn a D-1 scholarship.
IF - Brynley Steele, Esperanza (Anaheim), SeniorAn All-State Underclass second-team selection last year makes the jump to first-team All-State after leading the Aztecs to a 23-5 record, a fourth-straight Century League title and a berth in the CIF Southern Section Division I playoffs. The Arizona State-bound third-sacker was also a first-team selection on both the OC Varsity and OC Sidelines All-Orange County teams. She batted .443 with eight home runs, 10 doubles, two triples, 30 runs scored, 25 RBIs and eight stolen bases.
IF - Sydney Romero, Vista Murrieta (Murrieta), JuniorCommitted to Oklahoma, Romero was named the HSGameTime All-Inland Position Player of the Year after hitting .612 with 30 RBIs, 11 home runs and scoring 41 runs.
IF - Cayla Broussard, Clovis, JuniorBroussard was Co-Offensive Player of the Year in the Tri-River Athletic Conference with a .518 average, 57 hits and 28 steals. She scored a record-tying 43 runs for the Central Section D-I semifinalist.
OF - Falepolima Aviu, Rancho Buena Vista (Vista), JuniorThe San Diego Hall of Champions All-CIF San Diego Section Player of the Year hit .651 on 54 hits, and on a roster of 14 girls the Longhorns' centerfielder had 14 of the team's 23 home runs, four of their five triples, 14 of the 35 doubles, 32 of the 108 RBIs and 40 of the 138 runs scored. Her 54 hits were 25 percent of the team's output as well. The speedy Aviu, who has committed to Oklahoma, also had 24 stolen bases to go with 31 as a sophomore.
OF - Taylon Snow, Chino Hills, FreshmanSnow tied a CIF Southern Section record with 72 hits and batted .567 for a team that reached the CIF-SS D-2 semifinals. Snow, who has committed to Washington, reached base 78 times and scored 39 runs in 34 games. She had multi-hit games in the team's last 16 games, including all four playoff games. Snow also hit five homers with 24 RBIs.
OF - Amanda Lorenz, Moorpark, JuniorThe outfielder is ranked as the No.1 junior prospect in the nation by StudentSportsSoftball.com. In 30 games this spring, she hit .642 with eight home runs, 22 doubles and collected 68 base hits. She scored 48 times and had base hits in all but two games. She has committed to Florida.
OF - Jessica Scroggins, Lakewood, Senior
Alyssa Palomino, Mission Viejo
Photo by Heston Quan
Scroggins, who has signed with Baylor, had a solid season (batting .500), but it was her play in the postseason that stole the spotlight, where she scored every time she got on base in the first three rounds of play.
OF - Alyssa Palomino, Mission Viejo, JuniorPalomino led Mission Viejo with 17 home runs, 36 runs and 34 RBIs to earn her a second-straight Orange County Register Player of the Year honor. With 42 career home runs, she sits four shy of tying the Orange County record set by El Toro's Lauren Chamberlain. She has committed to Arizona.
UT - Rebecca Faulkner, Carlmont (Belmont), SeniorFaulkner led Carlmont to the Central Coast Section D-1 title with a three-hit shutout of eight-time champion San Benito in the final. She was named the San Mateo Daily Journal Player of the Year. Faulkner went 19-1 in the circle with a 1.18 ERA and lost only twice as a starting pitcher during her last two seasons. She also had a .424 batting average with a team-best 42 RBIs and a team-best 40 hits. Faulkner will play next at UC Riverside.
UT - Paige Von Sprecken, Yorba Linda, SeniorWhen Von Sprecken was in the circle, Yorba Linda competed with every team. She was 16-8 with 255 strikeouts in 141 innings and posted a 1.64 ERA. She also was her team's top hitter with 23 RBIs and a .361 batting average. She has signed with San Diego.
UT - Selina Ta'amlio, Vista Murrieta (Murrieta), SeniorTa'amlio won 19 games and struck out 275 in 179 innings to go along with a 0.74 ERA. She also hit nine homers and drove in 33 runs. She has signed with UCLA.
UT - Madison Aurin, Centennial (Bakersfield), JuniorAurin batted .533, scored 42 runs, drove in 44 and had 32 extra-base hits (including nine homers) in leading Centennial to the CIF-CS D-1 title. She also was 10-0 with three saves and posted a 1.32 ERA in 69 innings.