EX-TORERO AND CURRENT CUBS PROSPECT KRIS BRYANT WINS HOME RUN DERBY
The six-foot-five-inch, 215-pound Bryant added to an already memorable season that includes a first half in which he paced the Southern League in all three triple crown categories with a .355 batting average, 22 homers, and 58 runs driven home in 68 games.
Bryant received a $6.71 million signing bonus from Chicago last summer, an organizational record, and entered this season rated by the magazine and web page: http://www.baseballamerica.com/ as the Cubs second-ranked prospect.
A year ago, Bryant was hitting in batting cages with his father in Las Vegas and had yet to sign with Chicago, who made him their first selection and number two pick overall last June at the 2013 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft.
FRANCIS PARKER HIGH LANCERS WIN C.I.F. CHAMPIONSHIP
The Francis Parker High Lancers baseball team traveled down the street to Fowler Park at Cunningham Field on the campus of USD in Linda Vista to defeat the Mt. Carmel High Sundevils by a final score of 6-4 in a matchup that lasted ten innings to win the C.I.F. San Diego Section Division III title on Friday afternoon, June 6.
The most recent championship for Francis Parker on the diamond came back in their 2007 campaign when the Lancers were seeded as a part of the C.I.F. Division IV bracket.
Despite the fact that only one of their runs were earned, Mt. Carmel still jumped out to an early 3-1 advantage over Francis Parker in the bottom half of the second inning.
The Lancers answered back with two runs of their own in the top of the fifth, knotting the ballgame up at 3-3.
In the top half of the tenth inning, 5-foot-11-inch, 150-pound sophomore Hayden Hastings singled to drive in six-foot, 165-pound sophomore Austin Rogers and six-foot-one-inch, 190-pound senior Jonathan Vizcaino tripled to score Hastings and 5-foot-10-inch, 175-pound senior Nate Glasser, giving Francis Parker a 6-3 cushion.
Vizcaino, the son of former MLB utility infielder Jose Vizcaino, came on in relief for six-foot, 225-pound junior starting pitcher Grant Shives to notch the save for the Lancers in the bottom of the tenth.
Francis Parker’s Shives, a crafty left-hander, tossed a strong nine innings, allowing only one earned run in improving his record to 9-1 on the year.
Hastings (two hits in two at-bats, as well as three runs batted in), Vizcaino (one triple in one at-bat and two runs batted in), Rogers (two hits in two at-bats), and five-foot-eight-inch, 140-pound freshman Nick Allen (two hits in two at bats, as well as two runs scored) were the hitting stars on this day for the Lancers.
With the victory, Francis Parker closes out their championship season with an overall record of 22-9.
Other local ballclubs that also saw their campaigns come to a conclusion on the baseball diamond included the Madison High Warhawks (17-13), Horizon Christian Academy Panthers (16-13), Clairemont High Chieftans (6-21), and Kearny High Komets (10-17).
After being ranked as high as the fourth-best squad in all of San Diego County by certain publications in the preseason, No.12-seeded Madison was clawed 7-1 by the No.5-seeded Valhalla High Norsemen in one of the play-in contests of the C.I.F. San Diego Section Division I Playoffs on the campus of Valhalla High School in El Cajon, California.
Six-foot-two-inch, 210-pound senior Carson Hermosillo (one hit in two at-bats, as well as scoring one run) was named as the Warhawks Player of the Game by the web page: http://www.maxpreps.com/.
Hermosillo (.298 avg.), Andrew Shebloski (.455 avg.), Trevor Halsema (.384 avg.), Jacob Vermillion (.355 avg.), Anthony Pozo (.353 avg.), Sam Vermillion (.337 avg.), Zak Kolek (.333 avg.), Matt Myron (.333 avg.), Ruben Valdez (.300 avg.), and Ryan Hartin (.296 avg.) did the majority of Madison’s mashing from the batters box this year.
Meanwhile, Pozo (3-1, 1.86 E.R.A.), Hermosillo (3-3, 2.87 E.R.A.), Sam Vermillion (5-3, 2.75 E.R.A.), Shawn Little (2-1, 1.03 E.R.A.), and Imani Abdullah (3-4, 3.27 E.R.A) were warriors on the mound for the Warhawks.
No.11-seeded Horizon Christian Academy was shipwrecked 6-0 by the No.6-seeded Coronado Islanders in a C.I.F. Division III play-in matchup played on the campus of Coronado High School on the island of Coronado.
Carter Watson (.417 avg.), Ronald Stokes (.397 avg.), Lane O’Dea (.344 avg.), Christian Arlington (.330 avg.), Tommy Lee (.324 avg.), Anthony Pizzo (.296 avg.), and Kalani Nakamura (.271 avg.) all took an interest in pounding opposing pitchers while standing at home plate for the Panthers this season.
Meanwhile, O’Dea (6-3, 1.38 E.R.A.), Pizzo (1-0, 1.98 E.R.A.), Lee (4-5, 3.32 E.R.A.), and Matthew Taylor (4-4, 2.00 E.R.A.) were the top hurlers on the hill for Horizon Christian Academy.
The Chieftans were scalped 8-4 by the Christian High Patriots to close out their Central League campaign in a ballgame played on the campus of Clairemont High School in Clairemont.
Zack Thorold, Ross Milo, Alex Beaubien, Michael Cortez, Joe Risi, and Austin Medina were the hitting stars on the year for the Chieftans.
The Komets fell to the Hoover High Cardinals in their final City League contest of the season by a score of 11-9 in a game played on the campus of Hoover High School in El Cajon, California.
Rob Stone is a life-long resident of the Clairemont Mesa/Kearny Mesa area and is also a certified talent scout through Sports Management Worldwide. If you would like a professional scouting report written up on your favorite athlete, you can feel free to contact him directly. He may be reached at http://www.highvoltigesports.blogspot.com, http://www.smwwscout.com/rob-stone, rstone@smww.com, Sportsguyrob@att.net, or 1 (619) 241-6516.
