Top Players in Softball Awarded

 Mira Costa junior catcher Katie Saunders and Peninsula senior third baseman Allison Blackman were picked as co-Most Valuable Players of the Bay League in softball this week.

“It’s great, but I was surprised,” said Saunders, who hit five home runs, drove in 36 and batted .480 this season. “It’s a big honor. I guess you never think of yourself as getting that award, at least I didn’t, since it’s such a big deal. It’s just a great and wonderful honor.”

Blackman also had an outstanding season, leading the Panthers to a co-championship in league with Mira Costa. Blackman hit .425 with four home runs and 30 RBIs. She helped guide Peninsula to the second round of the CIF playoffs. She also anchored the Peninsula defense, recording a .925 fielding percentage and committing only six errors in 27 games.

“Allison had an awesome year,” said Peninsula coach Tim Hall.

Mira Costa’s Stefanni Lajeunesse captured the league’s Most Outstanding Player award. Lajeunesse, a junior, led Mira Costa with 11 home runs, 41 RBIs and a .525 batting average. She tied for team-high honors in triples with seven with Taylor Glover. Like her teammate, Lajeunesse wasn’t expecting the high praise.

“I was very surprised. I never even think about becoming Most Outstanding Player of the league,” Lajeunesse said. “I just play the game I love to the fullest and work very hard. I was very proud of my teammates this season. They deserve credit. We really bonded this year and played as one. Everyone had each other’s back." 

She added, “If someone made a mistake or struck out, we picked each other up. We trusted each other so much that the game was so much fun and we didn’t even think about losing. We took a loss as fixing our mistakes and moving on to the next game. I think that had a great deal to do with our success.”

Junior pitcher Breanna Kelly, who finished 16-5 overall, and sophomore centerfielder Taylor Glover were first-team selections. Glover was one of the team’s catalysts, hitting a team-high .561 with three homers and 29 RBIs. She also led the team in steals (22), runs (43) and hits (60).

Second-team picks included seniors Chloe Krasnoff and Kamyle Glover. Krasnoff batted .448 with four home runs and 36 RBI, while Glover had two homers, 19 RBIs and a .372 batting average. 

All six players were pivotal in Mira Costa’s run in the league, finishing as co-champs with Peninsula.

“We had a tremendous year,” said Mira Costa coach Dick Amberik. “We scored 258 runs, which is incredible. And the team batting average was .414. It was a wonderful year and the kids did as well as they possibly could.”

Mira Costa, which finished 22-7-1 overall and 8-2 in league, earned a 8-7 victory in eight innings over Santa Maria Righetti in a CIF playoffs wild-card game in May. Costa was then eliminated in the first round a day later in a 7-6 decision by Lake Elsinore Lakeside.

Still, the loss didn’t dim the Mustangs’ run or their prospects for next year. The team will lose five players to graduation, but many of its top performers will return.

“I’ve never had a team that hit this well,” Amberik said. “This is the best one ever in my 18 years. And most of them are coming back.”

Junior shortstop Meghan von Behren, who finished with a .422 batting average and 38 RBIs, will be among them.

Von Behren was one of five players to share the team’s Most Outstanding Player award, which was given at a banquet Tuesday night. Saunders, Lajeunesse, Taylor Glover and Krasnoff were the others.

“We had such a great year, we had such a difficult time picking one,” Amberik said. “All five of them drove in 30 runs in only 30 games. If they were Major League baseball players, they would be making $40 million for that kind of effort.”

Other Mustangs awarded team honors: Shannon Savino (Freshman Player of the Year), Kelly (MVP), Kamyle Glover (Coaches’ Award) and von Behren (Most Improved).

Six Redondo players, all-league picks

Senior pitcher Brett Aspel, outfielder Jennifer Stevens and shortstop Cindy Zamudio were the all-league softball honorees for Redondo. The team also placed three players on the second team. 

Aspel compiled a 9-7 mark with 18 complete games. Stevens, a senior, tied teammate Linda Park for top honors in homers with six. She hit .359 and drove in 27 runs and scored 23 more. Zamudio, also a senior, hit .386 with four triples.

Park, a senior third baseman, freshman second baseman Katrina Cohen and junior outfielder Juliana Jordan made the second team.

Costa’s Foland among top runners at state meet

Mira Costa senior Aryn Foland finished sixth in the 3200-meter run, tops for runners from the South Bay, at the CIF state championships last week at Clovis on Saturday.

Foland, who will take her talents next season to Columbia University, finished 10.33 seconds behind the winner, Simi Valley’s Sarah Baxter (10:13.00). Her sixth-place finish allowed her to join the event’s other top runners on the platform during an awards’ presentation.

“That was exciting to watch her run,” said Foland’s coach, Renee Williams-Smith. “She’s such a hard worker and she had a goal in mind all year. She had a goal to be in the top six this year even though it was a faster field. But she made it. She focused on staying in the pack the whole time and she had an extra kick when she needed it. She’s a very smart racer.

“What I love about her is she’s a real student of the sport. She studies running and she just gets it. I could tell that her freshman and sophomore year that she would compete on a high level. It’s fun to coach someone like that. We can talk track and that’s fun for me as a coach, too. She’s progressed beautifully every year. And she got faster each year.”

Rebecca Mehra of Palos Verdes finished seventh with a time of 10:25.01.

In the girls 1600-meter run, Redondo’s Lyndsey Mull earned a 12th-place finish with a time of 4:58.89. Chadwick’s Jaye Buchbinder was 11th with a time of 4:54.53.

Editor’s Note: A full list of the CIF State Track and Field Championships results can be viewed online.

MVP in volleyball

Mira Costa senior outside hitter D.J. White was selected as MVP of the Bay League in boys volleyball.

Senior outside hitter Ryan Olson of Redondo was named the Most Outstanding Player, while Mira Costa senior libero Tony Ensbury was tapped Best Defensive player.

Costa topped the first-team picks, with junior middle blocker Karl Acres, senior setter Kameron Bain and opposite hitter Weston Carico.

First-teamers from Redondo are middle blockers Riley Theunissen and Ryan Mather. Junior outside hitter Shane Dyer of Palos Verdes and senior outside hitter Mike Austin of Peninsula rounded out the first team.

Second-team picks: senior middle blocker, sophomore setter Cole Fiers and sophomore outside hitter Brendan Hong (Palos Verdes); junior middle blocker Keith Waddell (Mira Costa); and senior outside hitter Max Wyman (Peninsula).