By Loren Kopff
@LorenKopff on Twitter
The past four months was one of the more competitive spring seasons this area has seen in quite some time. The Cerritos High baseball team ended its long playoff drought while Gahr High’s baseball team was spectacular once again, and posted a rare 10-0 San Gabriel Valley League mark. On the softball side, there was a three-way tie for first place in the Suburban League with Norwalk High in the picture, while Gahr was status quo with another dominating offensive attack and stellar pitching. And the Whitney High softball team reached the playoffs for the first time since 2012. Here are the top players of the HMG-Community News 2016 Spring All-Area Teams.
BASEBALL
FIRST TEAM
P-Josh Haley (Gahr)
P-Jamriel Rodriguez (Cerritos)
C-Brett Wells (Cerritos)
1B-Sergio Sandoval (John Glenn)
2B-Jesus Salazar (Gahr)
3B-Joseph Angulo (John Glenn)
SS-Michael Perez (Gahr)
LF-Erik Gomez (Cerritos)
CF-Tyler Beyer (Cerritos)
RF-Jeremy Sifuentes (Gahr)
DH-Chase Alvarado (Gahr)
SECOND TEAM
P-Christian Corral (Gahr)
P-Brett Garcia (Valley Christian)
C-Victor Salazar (Gahr)
1B-Bernardo DeLeon (Cerritos)
2B-R.J. VanKampen (Valley Christian)
3B-Kyle Suezaki (Cerritos)
SS-Joseph Figueroa (John Glenn)
LF-Roger Ramos (Valley Christian)
CF-Oscar Carvajal (Gahr)
RF-Jason Prieto-Burnham (Cerritos)
DH-Brent Van Meeteren (Valley Christian)
THIRD TEAM
P-Samuel Arizaga (Gahr)
P-Humberto Chiquito (John Glenn)
C-Alexis Martinez (John Glenn)
1B-Zach Krosschell (Valley Christian)
2B-Alex Alcaraz (John Glenn)
3B-Jayden Cruz (Gahr)
SS-Trevor McInerney (Cerritos)
LF-Hector Sanchez (John Glenn)
CF-Michael Hill (John Glenn)
RF-Jarod Trader (Valley Christian)
DH-Tondre Neal (Artesia)
HONORABLE MENTION
P-Jose Llamas (John Glenn)
P-Julio Sanchez (Norwalk)
C-Nathan Guerrero (Artesia)
1B-Eric Marquez (Artesia)
2B-Jonathan Estrada (Cerritos)
3B-Lucas Koenig (Valley Christian)
SS-Kyle Bowie (Valley Christian)
LF-Xavier Estrada (Gahr)
CF-Jesse Smith (Valley Christian)
RF-Joe Gonzales (John Glenn)
DH-Antonio Guerrero (Norwalk)
Player of the Year: Cerritos High junior catcher Brett Wells was just one component of a program that began to turn the page last season and built off of that momentum this season. Wells led the Dons, and the area, with a .426 batting average, 43 hits and three triples. He was also tied for the team lead in doubles with 10 and tied for second on the team in runs scored with 22. Wells also had 21 hits with runners in scoring position
Pitcher of the Year: After losing the first game of the season to JSerra High 8-2, Josh Haley went on a roll the remainder of the season. The Gahr High junior lefty won 10 straight games and finished with an earned run average of 1.00. In 56 innings of work, Haley allowed 33 hits, struck out 67 batters and had two complete game shutouts, both in San Gabriel Valley League action.
Coach of the Year: Cerritos head coach Scott Parsonage showed that last season was not a fluke. After a 16-11 record and a fifth place finish in the Suburban League last season, the Dons just missed going to the playoffs. But this season, Parsonage coached Cerritos to a 14-14 record, 7-5 in league and a trip to the postseason for the first time since 1998. The league record was also the best since 1998 as was the third place finish.
SOFTBALL
FIRST TEAM
P-Danielle Martinez (Gahr)
P-Breanna Vasquez (Norwalk)
C-Alyssa Kumiyama (Gahr)
1B-Malia Quarles (Gahr)
2B-Giselle Tapia (Gahr)
3B-Ashley Armas (John Glenn)
SS-Dejanae Davis (Gahr)
LF-Briana Lopez (Norwalk)
CF-Alijah Vega (Artesia)
RF-Madison Huskey (Gahr)
DP-Karrington Houshmandzadeh (Gahr)
SECOND TEAM
P-Destiny Enriquez (John Glenn)
P-Taylor Genera (Whitney)
C-Jenna Llamas (Whitney)
1B-Kiarra Crockett-Pope (Cerritos)
2B-Erika Espinoza (John Glenn)
3B-Paloma Usquiano (Gahr)
SS-Ashley Iseri (Whitney)
LF-Jazmine Hill (Gahr)
CF-Alyssa Flores (Cerritos)
RF-Daisy Vargas (John Glenn)
DP-Aaliyah Chavez (Artesia)
THIRD TEAM
P-Hannah Kumiyama (Gahr)
P-Jennifer Morinishi (Cerritos)
C-Devany Esparza (John Glenn)
1B-Ashley Ponce (Norwalk)
2B-Natalie Luna (Artesia)
3B-Samantha Navarrete (Norwalk)
SS-Chanel Varney (Valley Christian)
LF-Elise Gibbs (Cerritos)
CF-Alyssa Cuffia (Gahr)
RF-Camryn McInerney (Cerritos)
DP-Kristina Mendez (Cerritos)
HONORABLE MENTION
P-Destinee Alvarez (Artesia)
P-Anna Collier (Valley Christian)
C-Samantha Ontiveros (Norwalk)
1B-Maria Enriquez (John Glenn)
2B-Niki Ibarra (Cerritos)
3B-Destiny Lucero (Cerritos)
SS-Kathleen Perez (Norwalk)
LF-Mary Kim (Whitney)
CF-Brianna Lerma (Valley Christian)
RF-Alejandra De La O (Norwalk)
DP-Christina Shryock (John Glenn)
Player of the Year: The career numbers keep rising for Gahr junior catcher Alyssa Kumiyama. After winning this award last season, Kumiyama batted .494 for the Lady Gladiators and led the team with 28 runs batted in, nine doubles and six home runs. For her high school career, Kumiyama is batting .469, has driven in 93 runs and has 21 home runs, all of which are tops out of every Gahr player since 2000. She can break the school’s career mark in hits and doubles in 2017 and leave her place as one of the all-time best in Gahr history.
Pitcher of the Year: The best two words to describe Breanna Vasquez are completely dominating. The sophomore pitcher dazzled her Norwalk High teammates and baffled opponents by posting two no-hitters and two one-hit games. Vasquez, who won 14 games, also struck out well over 230 batters and walked only a dozen. She will once again be a major force in the Suburban League next season.
Coach of the Year: After going 13-9 last season and 7-5 in the Suburban League, Norwalk head coach Paulette Gasporra improved in several areas this season. She guided the Lady Lancers to a 15-10 campaign, tri-champions in the league with a 9-3 mark and a trip to the California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section Division III quarterfinals for the first time in school history. The league championship was the first for the program since 2009.
