Whitehill, Parucha Earn All-CIF Honors

There's no question Lucas Whitehill had one of the more dominating baseball seasons in the history of Mira Costa High, hitting .404 with a school-record nine home runs and 38 RBI in 33 games.

Mustangs' pitcher Robert Parucha had a more modest season statistically, posting a 7-1 record and a 3.23 ERA with 56 strikeouts in 69 1/3 innings.

Both were good enough to earn spots on the All-CIF Division II baseball team, Whitehill as a first-team selection and Parucha as a second-team pick.

Whitehill was impressive at the plate and on the mound. His nine home runs and 38 RBIs were tops on his team, as were his 40 hits, 31 runs and 10 doubles. He would have had 10 home runs and 39 RBIs, but one of Mira Costa's games was cut short because of rain and didn't count. Whitehill also had 12 multi-hit games, going 3 for 3 three times and 4 for 4 twice.

"He had a ridiculous season," Parucha said. "He was amazing."

Whitehill was equally impressive on the mound. He was 5-1 with a 2.57 ERA and had 70 strikeouts in 46 1/3 innings.

"Whenever he was on the mound, he was awesome," Parucha said. "He had such a great season."

Whitehill, who's headed to Brown University in the fall, was most impressive in Bay League games. He had 20 RBIs and hit seven home runs in 10 games. He hit three home runs in one game, tying a school record in a 14-10 victory at rival against Redondo Union.

"His league numbers were off the charts," Mira Costa coach Cassidy Olson said.

Parucha made 12 starts and down the stretch went up against the opposing team's top pitchers almost every time. But what made the right-hander stand out was his drive to come back from injuries in his sophomore and junior seasons.

Parucha was a four-year varsity player for Mira Costa. He made a few appearances on the mound in this freshman season and looked like he was going to find a place in the rotation in his sophomore year.

But he developed some elbow problems and pitched only eight innings in his junior season.

"Doctors kept shutting him down," Olson said. "But his conditioning was amazing."

The hardest part about Parucha's recovery and return to baseball was keeping him from overdoing it, Olson said.

"We asked him to go against the best teams every time," Olson said. "He packed three years of pitching into one year."

Parucha's only loss came in Mira Costa's second game of the season against Long Beach Poly in the El Segundo Tournament. He won his last three decisions, including a Bay League game against Palos Verdes that clinched at least a share of the league title.

Parucha gutted out a 3-2 win, pitching a complete game, giving up five hits and three walks.

"They were in first place and we asked Robert to go out there and beat them," Olson said.

He had another gutty performance against San Marcos in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division II playoffs. In another one-run game, he beat San Marcos 4-3, despite giving up two home runs.

"He didn't have his best stuff, but he figured out how to keep us in it," Olson said.

Parucha has yet to decide where he wants to go to college. He is considering the University of Oregon, UC Irvine, Hawaii and Arizona.

"From where Robert came from, being injured for two years, he worked as hard as any high school pitcher I've seen," Olson said.