MANTECA BULLETIN ALL-AREA SOFTBALL TEAM
• SS Serena Hernandez, Weston Ranch sophomore: Diminutive player with big pop led area in batting average (.536), on-base percentage (.562), slugging percentage (.913) runs (20) and triples (seven) to go with nine doubles and a homer.
• SS/P Trina Solario, Manteca senior: Named Valley Oak League’s Defensive Player of the Year. Was also deadly at the plate, where she hit .448 with 22 runs, 22 batted in and an area-best 10 doubles.
• Kourtni McCall, East Union junior: Lancers’ table-setter from the top of the order and the pitcher’s circle. Finished first full year of varsity pitching with a 0.76 ERA, and a 15-4 record to go with 111 strikeouts to 23 walks in 129 innings. Batted .324 with 16 runs and 14 RBIs and was tied for most homers in the area with four.
• Brittany LaMar, East Union sophomore: Area’s top defensive backstop slumped midway through the season but started and finished with a bang. Hit .432 with 24 RBIs from the middle of the order.
• 2B Alicia Cook, East Union senior: “Cookie” enjoyed a breakout campaign in which she batted .449 while providing rock-solid defense in the infield.
• SS Cherie DeJesus, East Union junior: Adjusted well to new school and new position after playing third base for West of Tracy her sophomore year. Hit for a .378 average while scoring 16 runs, driving in 15 and blasting eight doubles.
• 3B Heather Scharmann, Sierra senior: Solid from the hot corner and with the bat, hitting .360 with 14 runs driven in to go with a .913 fielding percentage.
• 3B Rochelle Sellers, East Union senior: Anchored the middle of the Lancers’ potent lineup, blasting three home runs and driving in 14 runs at a .348 clip.
• SS/3B Katie Thomas, Ripon Christian freshman: Up-and-comer gives young Knights hope for the future after putting up impressive numbers (.375 average, 20 RBIs) in varsity rookie season.
• Jillian Goulart, East Union: As steady as they come in center field, Goulart led area players with 21 runs scored and was 11 for 11 on steal attempts. Batted .360 from the No. 2 spot in the order.
• Alissa Vickers, Ripon sophomore: Vickers had little trouble getting on base as evidenced by her .400 average, but she was even more deadly after reaching, as she finished with an area-high 17 steals.
• SS/P Angelysa Washington, Weston Ranch senior: The Cougars’ big bopper from the third-place spot hit .421 with eight multiple-base hits, including a homer.
• 2B/C/OF Paulina Ceja, Ripon sophomore: One of seven promising sophomores on the team, Ceja led them all with a .413 average, 26 hits, 15 runs, 11 RBIs and six doubles despite missing a week’s worth of action because of an ankle injury.
Oakdale’s protest of its 2-0 loss to East Union on April 21 broke up what would have been a four-way share of the conference title, which would have been the first in Sierra’s program history.
East Union and Sierra appealed, but to no avail. The Lancers used a player who Oakdale felt should have served a two-game suspension after being ejected during the previous contest.
Oakdale ended up with the outright title and got as far as the Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV playoff finals, where it fell to three-time champ Bear River. Ceres was awarded the other postseason berth, earning the tiebreaker over Sierra after sweeping the Timberwolves. Ceres was eliminated in the first round.
“We have three schools in Manteca, and we tend not to get along during the season,” East Union sophomore first baseman Cassie Waggy said. “But we and Sierra stood united when all that happened. It was as if we were representing Manteca, so the rivalry kind of brought us together.”
The sour end to the season doesn’t take away what Waggy and Sierra junior pitcher Gabby Hawkins — the Bulletin’s 2009 Softball Co-Players of the Year — accomplished. The league’s coaches voted to honor them as the Offensive Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year, respectively, and Hawkins is smitten to be recognized as such.
“There are really good pitchers and really good teams in league,” Hawkins said. “You just have to work hard and try to stay on top of your game with every hitter you face.”
One of those hitters in league was Waggy, who put up staggering offensive numbers while leading the Lancers to a 19-7 finish.
Waggy got the better of Hawkins in their first meeting on March 27, driving in both runs in a 2-0 victory with a double to deep left. But on April 29 Hawkins and her Timberwolves got their revenge, as she pitched a shutout in a 1-0 win that helped knock East Union out of playoff contention.
Though the team didn’t play up to its lofty annual expectations, Waggy far exceeded hers. She finished the season on a 22-game hitting streak to round out her impressive .500 batting average. Her 39 hits, nine doubles and four home runs were area highs, and she also drove in 27 runs.
She batted .398 as a first-year varsity freshman in 2008, but she aimed higher during the offseason by playing against top-notch competition.
“I went into the summer last year just looking to improve,” she said. “I played with and against older girls for an under-18 team, and a lot of those girls were getting ready for college ball. I put up some good numbers then, and so I figured that I could do as good in high school.”
Like Waggy, Hawkins proved herself to be a bona fide varsity player as an underclassman in 2008 after an injury to then-senior hurler Bree McGraw forced coach Nick Olmo to call her up from the sophomore squad.
Hawkins pitched masterfully in her first full varsity go-round, never once giving up more than two earned runs in a game. She finished with a tidy 0.65 ERA with 192 strikeouts to 22 walks in 172 innings pitched, while limiting opponents to a .153 batting average.
She was also productive at the plate, where she hit for a .324 average with 12 RBIs.
Her position is unquestionably the most important on a softball team, and it’s no surprise that with her in the circle Sierra enjoyed one of its all-time best seasons with an 18-6-2 overall record, and 11-3 in league.
“I’m really happy how our team did even though it didn’t end the way we had hoped,” Hawkins said. “We really started to come together toward the end of the season with our hitting and our defense. I thought we played really well, and we had some tough teams in league.”
