SERGIO PEDROZA
JAIME PEDROZA

HECTOR ESTRELLA
The Northview High School baseball team’s success this season can be traced back to the early 2000s when players like Sergio and Jaime Pedroza and Hector Estrella laid the foundation for the Vikings current achievements.
Those alums, like the current Northview group, are having their own success in professional baseball.
Sergio Pedroza, who later would star at Cal State Fullerton, is having the best success, advancing to the the Double-A level, playing the outfield for the Montgomery (Ala.) Biscuits of the Tampa Bay Rays organization. Pedroza, who has been one of the more consistent power hitters in the minor leagues the past few seasons, is hitting a solid .291 with two home runs and 10 RBIs through the first 10 games. Montgomery, which has won the past two Southern League titles, is 7-13 so far this season.
Jaime Pedroza, who spent three solid years at UC Riverside, is playing for the Inland Empire 66ers in the California League. Pedroza, who helped UCR to its first Big West title last spring, is off to a slow start. He is hitting just .153 with one home run and seven RBIs through the team’s first 20 games. The 66ers are also 7-13.
Estrella is off to a steady start, hitting .333 while playing four of 19games for the Cedar Rapids (Ia.) Kernels of the Midwest League. Cedar Rapids has won 10 of their first 19 games.

Wes Roemer and Brett Pill, two of the area top baseball stars within the past decade, are off to solid starts in their Cal League debuts.
Roemer, who made some appearances against Major Leaguers in spring training, has been solid in his first two starts of the season for the Visalia Oaks.
The former Glendora star, who later became a two-time All-American and Collegiate Baseball Player of the Year while at Cal State Fullerton, is 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA and 10 strikeouts in 11 innings. He will get to add to those numbers tonight when starts against the Inland Empire 66ers at Arrowhead Credit Union Park in San Bernardino . Game time is scheduled for 7:05. Roemer may also get to pitch to former Northview star Jaime Pedroza, who is hitting just .166 with five RBIs in nine games for the 66ers.

ROEMER

Pill is hitting .289 with a home run and seven RBIs in 10 games for the San Jose Giants.
The former Covina star, who also played at Cal State Fullerton, also has a slugging percentage of .400. He is platooning at first base. He went 1 for 4 on Sunday as the Giants beat the Bakersfield Blaze, 11-1, to win three of four games over the weekend.
San Jose travels to Stockton today to begin a three-game series against the Ports. The Giants, and Pill, will be in San Bernardino to face the 66ers in a four-game series beginning April 25.

PILL

This is an important season for former Valley baseball Player of the Year Chuck Tiffany, who is coming back after missing all of last season due to injury.
Tiffany, a former Valley standout from Charter Oak, was drafted by the Dodgers out of high school, enjoyed some solid performances, including throwing a perfect game during his first season in the minor leagues. He was then part of a four-player swap, going to the Tampa Bay Rays organization two years ago. He’s suffered through some injuries the past two seasons, including missing all of 2007 due to a torn rotator cuff. Tiffany, according to younger brother Danny, a starter for Charter Oak the past two seasons, is currently in extended spring training in Florida. Tampa Bay will then decide on his next assignment, which two years ago including pitching for Double A Montgomery, Ala. He has a career 16-11 record with a 4.11 ERA. But he has 291 strikeouts in 227 innings.
Here’s hoping for a successful return. Good luck, Chuck!

Mark Kotsay is pseudo local for the Valley, having prepped in the Whittier area at Santa Fe High School.
But his story is motivation for anyone who ever wanted to achieve anything.
During his junior and senior years at Santa Fe, he attended a baseball camp at Stanford University. He was told my a Stanford assistant coach that his talent wasn’t GOOD enough to play beyond high school, but wished him good luck.
Kotsay took that as motivation to prove the coach wrong. He then went to Cal State Fullerton and became one of the top players in collegiate baseball history, winning the Golden Spikes Award in 1995 and earning a spot on the College World Series all-time team after leading the Titans to a CWS title in 1995.
He’s continued it at the major league level, becoming a steady, everyday ballplayer, who after stints with the Floridia Marlins, San Diego Padres and Oakland Athletics, is now roaming center field for the Atlanta Braves.
So if you’re ever told you will never make it in your chosen field, just remember Mark Kotsay and you will realize that if you believe in your abilities, anything is possible.

Stacey Nuveman, easily the top softball hitter I’ve ever seen and arguably the top power hitter in the sport’s history, received some very good news last week.
The former St. Lucy’s Priory and UCLA star survived  the final cut list for the 2008 U.S. national team that will compete at the Beijing Olympics this summer. She makes possibly the United States’ final softball roster after giving birth to her son, Chase, in June.
Nuveman was a key part of the U.S. team’s Gold-medal victories in 2000 and 2004, getting the only hit in the 2000 Gold-Medal game and hitting a home run in the 2004 Gold-Medal game. She is also the most prolific power hitter in the sport, ending her collegiate career at UCLA as the the NCAA record holder in career home runs with 91. She was a four-time All-American for the Bruins, finishing her collegiate career with a .466 batting average and 1.016 slugging percentage.
Way to go Stacey!

Meet Ryan Garko.
The former Stanford University baseball star, who is now with the Cleveland Indians, did not prep at a local high school, but he did grow up in Walnut and still calls the (909) city  home.
Many are expecting this to be a break-out year for the Walnutite.
 Garko, who played high school baseball for Servite,  hit .292 with seven home runs in just 185 bats in his rookie season two years ago, then followed it up by hitting .289 with 21 homers last season. Is .300 and 30 knocks around the corner this season?
Many are expecting those type of numbers, so he could be a steal in your fantasy baseball league drafts.

Kevin Hansen was one of the top baseball players in Southern California when he was at Glendora High School earlier this decade, and he continues to tear it up on the ball field in college. Hanson is a key member of the University of San Diego baseball team, which has been one of the top teams in the country the past two years.
Hanson, the team’s starting third baseball, is off to another solid start, hitting .310 with 10 RBIs for the Torreos, who are ranked No. 14 by Baseball America.
Hansen earned All-West Coast Conference honors last season after hitting .316 with 34 RBIs.

Former St. Francis High School shortstop Joe De Pinto is making the adjustment to collegiate pitching at USC. He has appeared In 16 of the Trojans’ first 20 games and it batting .146 with four runs batted in. Three of his six hits have been doubles. De Pinto has a .911 fielding percentage with 24 putouts, and has been part of six double plays.

Above: St. Francis graduate Joe De Pinto.

Former Pasadena Poly standout Rob Rasmussen has appeared in just one of UCLA’s first 18 games. The hard-throwing left-hander worked 2 2/3 innings in his lone start, allowing three hits, two runs and one walk, while striking out three.

Remember April Valdez, the former All-Valley softball star, who along with Jamee Juarez, led Wilson to a CIF-Southern Section title in 2000?
She’s back, working as an assistant for two-time CCCAA state champion Mt. San Antonio College.
Valdez has accomplished a lot since leaving the friendly confines of Hacienda Heights. She signed with DePaul out of high school and played played one season with the Blue Demons, hitting .415 and earned first team All-Conference USA honors. She then transferred to the University of Oklahoma. She played in 87 games in two years withe Sooners, stealing 16 bases and going 2-1 in the circle with a 2.27 ERA. Oklahoma advanced to the Women’s College World Series her senior year. She also played for the Arizona Heat of the now defunct Pro Fastpitch league.