SOFTBALL DAILY NEWS ALL-AREA TEAM AND HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SEASON.Byline: RAMONA SHELBURNE Ramona Shelburne is an American sports journalist currently writing for the Los Angeles Daily News. Shelburne was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She attended El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills, California where she was a class valedictorian. STAFF WRITER Pitcher of the Year JORDAN TAYLOR So., RHP rhp abbr. rated horsepower , Valencia It's hard to believe Jordan Taylor was a freshman pitcher on the junior varsity junior varsity n. Abbr. JV A high-school or college team that competes in interschool sports on the level below varsity. Noun 1. level last year. After a spectacular sophomore season, the 6-foot-1 right-hander is now regarded as one of the country's top college prospects. UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX , Stanford and NCAA NCAA abbr. National Collegiate Athletic Association champion Michigan already are in hot pursuit. Taylor went 18-3 with a 0.57 ERA, including 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA in the playoffs, to lead Valencia to the Southern Section Div. I championship game. She set school single-season records for strikeouts in a game (24), strikeouts in a season (233) and ended the year with a 58-inning scoreless innings streak. It didn't take long for opposing coaches to take notice. At the Woodbridge of Irvine tournament, Taylor pitched Valencia to a 4-0 victory over Corona, then the state's No. 1 team, and the Vikings went on to win the tournament. Still, she never lost the humility and innocence one would expect from a sophomore. Asked what her best pitch was, Taylor said softly, ``I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. . I throw a lot of different pitches.'' They are all devastating dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. , though her best is probably an off-speed pitch Noun 1. off-speed pitch - a baseball thrown with little velocity when the batter is expecting a fastball change-of-pace, change-of-pace ball, change-up pitch, delivery - (baseball) the act of throwing a baseball by a pitcher to a batter that breaks down and away from right-handed batters. Contrasted with a 65 mph fastball and a sharp rise ball, the best most batters do against Taylor is make contact. Newcomers of the Year SAMANTHA TAKESHITA Fr., OF/SS, T.O. ALIANNA TELLES Fr., SS, Sylmar Takeshita had a big freshman year until injuring her thumb near the end of the season. She was hitting well over .400 until the injury and finished with a .365 average. Telles, a three-sport standout, batted .392 with 20 RBI RBI abbr. Baseball runs batted in Noun 1. rbi - a run that is the result of the batter's performance; "he had more than 100 rbi last season" run batted in and seven home runs to help Sylmar earn a share of its second consecutive Valley Mission League title. First Team COURTNEY BAUGHMAN Sr., RHP, Valencia The Hawaii-bound senior was 11-1 with a 0.65 ERA and 110 strikeouts in 86 innings. A team leader, Baughman pitched Valencia to victories in key games against Rosary of Fullerton, Saugus and Rancho Alamitos. BECCA BECCA Business Espionage Controls & Countermeasures Association HETENIAK Jr., P/1B, Royal One of the area's best all-around players, Heteniak batted .319 with a team-high 30 RBI, seven doubles, four triples and three home runs. She was also 16-1 with a 1.26 ERA and 128 strikeouts in 116 1/3 innings. SHAYNE LOTITO Sr., OF/P, Vasquez The Boston University-bound outfielder led all area players with 48 stolen bases and her .710 batting average was tied for best in the state. MEGAN MEGAN Model of Emissions of Gases and Aerosols from Nature MILLER Jr., RHP, El Camino Real El Camino Real (Spanish for The Royal Road or The King's Highway) was the name of a series of pre-automobile highways linking the various New World colonies of Spain:
The hard-throwing right-hander developed into one of the area's best pitchers and her improvement helped ECR ECR Efficient Consumer Response ECR European Congress of Radiology ECR Electron Cyclotron Resonance ECR El Camino Real (Kings Highway; California) ECR Electronic Cash Register ECR East Coast Radio (South Africa) to the City championship. She was 22-3 with a 0.57 ERA and 204 strikeouts in 171 innings. SELENA SALAZAR Sr., RHP, San Fernando The Cal State Northridge-bound senior led area players with 10 home runs. She also batted .503 with 44 RBI and was named first-team all-City. As a pitcher, she struck out 249 in 142 innings and had a 0.59 ERA. JENNA SCHACHTNER Sr., RHP, Flintridge Prep The small-school standout proved she was among the area's top pitchers, leading the Rebels to the school's first Southern Section Div. V championship game. Schachtner, who will play for UC San Diego next year, led area pitchers with 323 strikeouts in 160 innings. She had single-game highs of 43 and 30. TAYLOR SCHLOPY So., P/SS, Oaks Christian The speedy Schlopy is arguably the area's most entertaining player. The five-tool player is fast developing into a top college prospect. She hit .466 with a .707 slugging percentage hitting leadoff. She was perfect on 33 stolen-base attempts and scored 54 runs in 34 games. She was also 11-4 with a 0.53 ERA as a pitcher. KIRSTEN SLOUBER Sr., P/UTIL, Mont. Prep Batted .655 with five home runs and 23 RBI to lead her team to the playoffs after it was winless in Olympic League play in 2004. Slouber, who will play for Loyola Marymount next year, also excelled as a pitcher, striking out 206 in 120 innings, with a 0.76 ERA. She struck out 47 in a two-day, 21-inning victory over Crossroads of Santa Monica on May 9. ASHLEE VEILLEUX Sr., P/SS, Oaks Christian Veilleux was a contact hitter the first three years of her career, but became a slugger this season. She hit .434 with 35 RBI in 34 games with 11 triples, six doubles and three home runs. CAPTION(S): 12 photos, 3 boxes Photo: (1) JORDAN TAYLOR Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer (2) SAMANTHA TAKESHITA (3) COURTNEY BAUGHMAN (4) BECCA HETENIAK (5) SHAYNE LOTITO (6) MEGAN MILLER (7) SELENA SALAZAR (8) JENNA SCHACHTNER (9) TAYLOR SCHLOPY (10) KIRSTEN SLOUBER (11) ASHLEE VEILLEUX (12) ALIANNA TELLES Box: (1) Honorable Mention (2) By the Numbers (3) Top 10 |
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