ACA's Phelps, Foothill's Seely are players to watch
Kevin Askeland
Winners of four Northern Section Division VI baseball championships in the past five seasons, American Christian Academy of Anderson is looking like the favorite to do it again in 2017. Senior Cameron Phelps is a big reason why.
Phelps is at or near the top in most hitting and pitching categories in the Northern Section, according to the MaxPreps leaderboards. With a 7-1 record, Phelps leads the section in wins. His 60 strikeouts also lead the section.
Offensively, Phelps is second in the section with a .566 batting average. His 30 base hits lead the way, as do his 11 doubles, while his three triples and three home runs each rank second. He has the most RBIs with 28 and his 1.056 slugging percentage is No. 1.
While Jessica Seely of Foothill has been one of the section's top pitchers for the past four years, she will go down in Northern Section history as one of the section's top sluggers.
With seven home runs on the season, Seely has 26 round trippers in her career. That places her fourth on the all-time list. While the No. 1 spot is likely out of reach, Seely could end up as the section's second all-time leading home run hitter.
Mia Camuso of Shasta hit 42 home runs in her career while Dominique Jackson of Pleasant Valley hit 30. Emily McEnaney of Red Bluff is third all-time with 27.
The 2020 Northern Section softball season could be one dominated by pitching as five of the top 13 strikeout leaders in the section are just freshmen. Raegan Breedlove of Central Valley is the second-leading strikeout pitcher in the section with 151 Ks.
Meanwhile three traditional softball powerhouses are going with freshman pitchers. Hailey Peterson had 81 strikeouts for Sutter, Sarah Reineman has 77 strikeouts for Red Bluff and Avery Croxall has 67 strikeouts for East Nicolaus.
Deven Hernandez of West Valley recently cleared 14-feet-6 in the pole vault at a Northern Athletic League meet. Not only was the height a personal record, it ranks No. 13 all-time in section history. The all-time record of 15-6 was set by another Eagle, Tyler Gray, in 2000.
One of the section's best all-time discus throwers, Wheatland's Erica Grotegeer now ranks as one of the section's all-time greatest long jumpers.
At an invitational in Marysville last month, Grotegeer covered 18-2, which ranks No. 15 all-time. It is also the second best jump in the section since 1999.
Long known or producing some of the best long-distance runners and discus throwers, Yreka has had few sprinters crack the ranks of the all-time section leaders. That could change this year as the Miners have two of the section's best.
Alisha McFall, just a freshman, leads the section in the 100 meters, according to athletic.net, with a best time of 12.57 and she also leads in the 200 with a time of 26.95. Anya Ireson-Janke, a junior, ranks second in the section in the 200 with a time of 27.05.
Those two, combined with Sophia Gliatto and Lena Fogle, has the best time in the section in the 4x100 relay with a clocking o 50.71.
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