Cal-Hi Sports’ all-state softball teams are out

Does it seem like there is an endless number of awards for some of our area softball players? It does to me, I guess because our softball is so good in this area. This might be one of the last, the Cal-Hi Sports all-state team:

All-state players from San Bernardino County

1st Team
Paige Halstead, Sr., C, Los Osos
Brooke Bolinger, Sr., P, Yucaipa
Tannon Snow, Sr., INF, Chino Hills
Zoe Casas, Sr., OF, Aquinas
Kennedy Clark, Sr., OF, Ayala

2nd team:
Kelly Martinez, Jr., C, Yucaipa
Eliyah Flores, So., INF, Grand Terrace
Taylon Snow, So., OF, Chino Hills
Cierra Schick, Sr., Multi-purpose, Los Osos

3rd team
Taylor Troost, Sr., P, Citrus Valley
Tiffany Kennedy-Cummings, Sr., Multi-Purpose, Chino

Medium Schools First Team
Eliyah Flores, So., INF, Grand Terrace

Medium Schools 2nd Team
Melanie Olmos, So., Multi-purpose, Grand Terrace

Small Schools First Team
Allie Hotetz, Sr., P, Aquinas
Zoe Casas, Sr., OF, Aquinas
Madison Paige, Jr., OF, Ontario Christian

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Tannon Snow named Maxpreps National player of the Year

Chino Hills High School shortstop Tannon Snow admits keeping the secret wasn’t easy. And this was a really big secret.
The Washington-bound standout has been named MaxPreps National Player of the Year, meaning she’s the best player in the entire country.
A representative called her a month or so ago to do the interview but the announcement didn’t come until last night. So word is out now, finally!

“I kept wondering when it was going to come out so I could tell people,” she said. “It’s truly an honor with all the great players that had great years. It’s awesome. I don’t even know what to say.”
Snow, an all-Sun selection put up just insane offensive numbers. In 32 games she hit a state-record 28 home runs and drove in a state-record 89 runs. She added 13 doubles and three triples so 44 of her 62 hits were for extra bases. She batted .573 and walked 16 times, with a slugging percentage of 1.513 and an unheard-of OPS of 2.129.
Snow’s numbers made her a strong candidate but some of the other top honors from other outlets went to other players, mainly due to the Huskies only getting to the CIF-SS quarterfinals.
“Our team didn’t go as far so I thought maybe those other players had the edge,” she said.
There are still more impressive numbers for Snow: in 21 games, she had two or more base hits. She drove in a teammate in 27 of Chino Hills 32 games and in 22 of the games she drove home more than two.
Snow homered in 19 games and had eight multi-homer games. Twice during the season, she homered in five or more games in a row. She hit three home runs and drove in seven runs in one game.
But the most amazing statistic is that in her final seven games, she homered 11 times
In addition to new state single-season  records for homers and RBI, Snow set state career records with 60 home runs and 212 RBIs and set a CIF-SS record for 21 doubles in a season.

The other locals also earned first-team honors with strong seasons.
Among the other players who landed on first team, earning All-American honors were pitcher Brooke Bolinger of Yucaipa, The Sun’s Player of the Year, and Taylor McQuillan of Mission Viejo, whose teams met in the CIF Division 2 title game.
Bolinger led Yucaipa to a 31-3 record and the Southern Section Division 2 title, beating undefeated and then-No. 1 Mission Viejo, 1-0. She had 306 strikeouts with a 0.26 ERA and limited opponents to a .088 batting average. She will attend University of Nevada.

Paige Halstead of Los Osos was named first team All-American at catcher. The USA Junior National Team member batted .568, scored 38 times and had 36 RBIs. She has signed with UCLA.
Zoe Casas of Aquinas is the fourth San Bernardino County player making the first-team. The Florida State-committed senior batted .736 with 64 hits, giving her a state record 251 base hits. In 105 games, she scored 193 runs and struck out just three times. For her four seasons at Aquinas, she batted .681.

–Written mostly by Michelle Gardner. Tweaked and edited by Pete Marshall

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Aquinas’ Zoe Casas named small schools player of the year


Zoe Casas, above, talks about tying the state career hits mark, which she eventually broke


Zoe Casas’ hit that tied the state record for career hits

Zoe Casas has had a storied career at Aquinas, and now she’s winning awards she’s won before. Casas, the 2013 California State Small Schools Player of the Year, has been awarded the honor again, by CalHiSports.com.
Casas, an all-Sun selection, batted .736 for the season, her best batting average of her four-year career and finished with a career total of 251 hits. She is bound for Florida State and also will be on the all-time state list for career batting average (.681) and runs scored (193).
Earlier, CalHiSports named Yucaipa coach Dave Kivett, The Sun Coach of the Year, as the Large Schools State Coach of the Year for leading the Thunderbirds to the CIF-SS Division 2 title.

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Zoe Casas of Aquinas breaks CIF State softball career hits record

Aquinas High School softball player Zoe Casas has already tied the state record for career hits and can break it in the first round of Thursday's CIF-SS playoff game. Casas has already committed to play softball at Flordia St. next year, Tuesday, May 19, 2015. (Photo by John Valenzuela/The Sun)

Aquinas High School softball player Zoe Casas has already tied the state record for career hits and can break it in the first round of Thursday’s CIF-SS playoff game. Casas has already committed to play softball at Flordia St. next year, Tuesday, May 19, 2015. (Photo by John Valenzuela/The Sun)

Zoe Casas of Aquinas High School broke the CIF State softball record for career hits in the CIF Southern Section first round playoff victory over Palm Desert, 10-0.

Casas entered the game already tied for the CIF State record, with 244 hits, but after going 3-for-4  at the plate, she stands alone with 247 career hits.

Aquinas softball coach Chris Ybarra, who has been her coach for all four years in high school, stated that it is a joy to watch her whether it is during practice or a game.

“Her work ethic is second to none,” Ybarra said. “I may never have someone like that again.”

Ybarra stated that because it was a playoff game, the team acknowledged the efforts of Casas after the game.

“After the game we handed her the game ball with the ball she broke the record with,” he stated.

Casas, who is a Florida State commit, also had two singles, a double and a run batted in during the playoff victory while pitcher Allie Hotetz had a complete game 3-hitter with nine strikeouts.

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STORY/VIDEOS: Aquinas’ Zoe Casas sets new CIF-SS, ties state record

The rain fell, but Aquinas senior softball player Zoe Casas did was she always does: she hit.
Casas went 3-for-3 as Aquinas downed Loma Linda Academy 8-0 in a four-inning, rain-shortened game at Aquinas High School.
Aquinas (21-3 overall, 13-1 Ambassador League) earned a share of the league title.
The hits gave Florida-State bound Casas 244 for her career, setting a new CIF-SS career mark, breaking the old mark of 242 set by Santa Ana Mater Dei’s Kelsey Kollen from 1995-98. She tied the state career record, set by Brenna Moss of Bakersfield North from 2008-11.

“It means so much to me,” she said. “It means my hard work and dedication has actually paid off, to do something for my small school.”

“You share a league title, seven in a row,” Aquinas coach Chris Ybarra said. “That’s something to be really proud of. On top of that, you want Zoe to break the record, and she gets three hits.”

Thursday’s was Aquinas’ last regular season game, so Casas will have a chance to break the state record in the first round of the playoffs next Thursday. Casas has a hit in every game this season, has at least two hits in 19 straight games and is batting an incredible .740.

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Aquinas’ Zoe Casas wins another award

Sophomore Zoe Casas of CIF-SS Division 5 softball champion Aquinas was The Sun’s Player of the Year for 2013.

She now has yet another honor: she was named Cal-Hi Sports’  Small Schools State  Player of the Year. Her statistics again: .663 batting average, 63 hits, 50 runs scored, 11 doubles, eight triples and two home runs. The Florida State-commit was one of two Inland Empire players to win a state award: Norco’s Kylie Reed was the overall State Player of the Year.

Earlier, Casas’ team had already won an award, being crowned state champions by Cal-Hi Sports after the Falcons were ranked No. 1 in the Cal-Hi Sports’ final Division IV rankings.

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