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By Loren Kopff
While the Cerritos and Gahr softball teams were making expected deep runs in the California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section playoffs, their respective baseball teams were having interesting seasons as well. Cerritos had a rare winning campaign and just fell short of advancing to the postseason while Gahr rebounded from a slow start to notch another 20-plus win season. John Glenn’s baseball team won a rare Suburban League title while its softball team continues to raise eyes around the league. Here are the winners of the Los Cerritos Community News 2015 Spring All-Area Teams.
BASEBALL
FIRST TEAM
P-Jacob Carter (Cerritos)
P-Victor Sanchez (John Glenn)
C-Kyle Suezaki (Cerritos)
1B-Justin Fujii (Cerritos)
2B-Jesus Salazar (Gahr)
3B-Jack Struiksma (Valley Christian)
SS-Michael Perez (Gahr)
LF-Alberto Avila (Gahr)
CF-R.J. VanKampen (Valley Christian)
RF-Leotis Johnson (Gahr)
DH-Jorge Rivas (Gahr)
SECOND TEAM
P-Chris Corral (Gahr)
P-Brett Garcia (Valley Christian)
C-Aaron Kirchner (Valley Christian)
1B-Erick Galindo (John Glenn)
2B-Tyler Radecki (Valley Christian)
3B-Angel Chavez (John Glenn)
SS-Jacob Carr (John Glenn)
LF-Jared Algra (Valley Christian)
CF-Tyler Beyer (Cerritos)
RF-Hector Sanchez (John Glenn)
DH-Nick Sur (Cerritos)
THIRD TEAM
P-Josh Haley (Gahr)
P-Ian Rosenberg (Cerritos)
C-Luis Rosas (John Glenn)
1B-Rafael Alvarez (Gahr)
2B-Humberto Chiquito (John Glenn)
3B-Joe Dressel (Gahr)
SS-Kevin Sainz (Valley Christian)
LF-Matt Munoz (Artesia)
CF-Sammy Lopez (John Glenn)
RF-Jason Prieto (Cerritos)
DH-Jarod Trader (Valley Christian)
HONORABLE MENTION
P-Hector Amaya (Norwalk)
P-Anthony Larson (Artesia)
C-David Montano (Artesia)
1B-Kenan Koops (Valley Christian)
2B-Marcus Johnson (Artesia)
3B-Saul Ruvalcaba (Cerritos)
SS-Aaron Hinds (Cerritos)
LF-Gabriel Anaya (Norwalk)
CF-Nicholas Cepeda (Gahr)
RF-Nathan O’Toole (Valley Christian)
DH-Tony Varoz (John Glenn)
Player of the Year: Gahr second baseman Jesus Salazar was one of two Gladiators to bat over .400 for a team that won eight of its last 10 games including its last seven in San Gabriel Valley League action. Salazar, who batted .412 in the regular season, led Gahr in hits (42), doubles (11) and home runs (two), was tied for first in runs scored (29) and drove in 21 runs. Those totals were also for the regular season.
Pitcher of the Year: Once again, the ace of the John Glenn pitching staff was senior Victor Sanchez, who ended his high school career with a bang. Sanchez went 9-2 and won half of his team’s games. He had an earned run average of 0.80 in the regular season with 90 strikeouts and pitched six complete games including an eight-inning loss to Royal in the playoffs.
Co-coaches of the Year: The Suburban League got a lot tighter and even more competitive after what John Glenn’s Jack Brooks and Scott Parsonage of Cerritos did. Brooks guided the Eagles to an 18-9 record and the school’s first league crown since 1990. Glenn has had back to back winning seasons for the first time in over 18 years. Over at Cerritos, Parsonage wrapped up his second season coaching the Dons to a 16-11 season which included a six-game winning streak to begin the season. Cerritos, which was seeking its first trip to the playoffs since 1998, was a half game behind Bellflower for fourth place but still reached double digits in the win column for the first time since 2001.
SOFTBALL
FIRST TEAM
P-Deidra Genera (Gahr)
P-Jennifer Iseri (Cerritos)
C-Alyssa Kumiyama (Gahr)
1B-Celeste Gonzalez (Gahr)
2B-Deja Portillo (Gahr)
3B-Malia Quarles (Gahr)
SS-Jazmin Guzman (Norwalk)
LF-Briana Lerma (Valley Christian)
CF-Alyssa Cuffia (Gahr)
RF-Madison Huskey (Gahr)
DP-Kiarra Pope (Cerritos)
SECOND TEAM
P-Breanna Vasquez (Norwalk)
P-Destiny Vasquez (Gahr)
C-Heather Cameron (Cerritos)
1B-Ashley Iseri (Whitney)
2B-Amanda Lejano (Cerritos)
3B-Chanel Varney (Valley Christian)
SS-Dejanae Davis (Gahr)
LF-Leeann Tran (Cerritos)
CF-Megan Darling (Cerritos)
RF-Devany Esparza (John Glenn)
DP-Brianna Besenty (Gahr)
THIRD TEAM
P-Anna Collier (Valley Christian)
P-Destiny Enriquez (John Glenn)
C-Jenna Llamas (Whitney)
1B-Madison Lee (Cerritos)
2B-Samantha Navarrete (Norwalk)
3B-Kathleen Perez (Norwalk)
SS-Lailoni Mayfield (Cerritos)
LF-Sabrina Quarles (Gahr)
CF-Madison Wright (Valley Christian)
RF-Hannah Buckley (Valley Christian)
DP-Briana Lopez (Norwalk)
HONORABLE MENTION
P-Alyssa Rios (Artesia)
P-Nicole Waldecker (Whitney)
C-Celeste Borza (Cerritos)
1B-Briana Perez (Artesia)
2B-Jackie Mojica (John Glenn)
3B-Destiny Lucero (Cerritos)
SS-Emily Morrow (Valley Christian)
LF-Paola Martinez (Norwalk)
CF-Genesis Gonzalez (John Glenn)
RF-Daisy Vargas (John Glenn)
DP-Tia Naulls (Valley Christian)
Player of the Year: Gahr catcher Alyssa Kumiyama continues to dominate the area in her brief high school career and by the time she graduates, will have broken nearly every school record of statistics kept since 2000. The sophomore, who has already verbally committed to the University of South Carolina, batted .407 and led the Gladiators with 30 runs batted in and four home runs. She was one of five players to have at least 35 hits and currently holds the school’s top mark in batting average (.456) batting average and home runs (15) since 2000.
Pitcher of the Year: Senior Jennifer Iseri leaves as one of the most prolific pitchers in Cerritos High history. The future University of Hawai’i hurler sported an 18-8 record with an earned run average of 2.02 with 151 strikeouts. She also added eight shutouts including two against La Mirada and leaves Cerritos with a 49-18 mark as a four-year varsity member with 507 strikeouts and a 1.76 ERA.
Coach of the Year: Although he leaves after coaching just two seasons, Mike Freeman guided Cerritos to consecutive 20-win seasons, the first Lady Dons head coach to do that since Kim Denhart accomplished that feat in 1998-1999 when Cerritos went 25-6 and 26-7 respectively. Cerritos went 20-8 this past season and won the Suburban League for the second straight season, the first time the Lady Dons have done that since 1999-2000. Cerritos also went undefeated in league for the first time since 2000. Freeman leaves Cerritos with a 40-12 record.
