Despite a recent barrage of winter weather, the prep sports year has shifted to the spring in the mid-valley with several of our bigger schools having already competed in a number of contests.
Before the crux of the schedule hits, we take a look at some of the names likely to have big seasons in 2023.
– Landon Sable: The Sutter Union High senior catcher was seventh in the Butte View League in batting average (.412) and sixth in slugging (.600) for the 25-7-1 Huskies, who claimed the Northern Section Division III championship in its final year in the section. This year, Sable and Sutter transition to the Sac-Joaquin Section where it will compete in the Pioneer Valley League alongside area foes Marysville, Lindhurst and Wheatland.
– Brandon Doran: This Wheatland Union High senior continued right where he left off a year ago with a 13-strikeout performance in six-plus innings to help the Pirates take down East Nicolaus earlier this week. As a junior, Doran, a 6-foot-3 righty, was second in the BVL with 88 strikeouts in 69.1 innings.
– Michael J Ryan: The senior from Gridley was one of the top offensive forces a year ago, helping the Bulldogs finish second in NSCIF D-III ranks to Sutter. The 5-10 senior utility player led the BVL in batting (.562), slugging (1.034), home runs (5) and stolen bases (45). Ryan was caught once on the base paths in 31 games.
– Brent Gallegos: The senior Sacramento State signee from Yuba City was amid the leaders in the vaunted Capital Valley Conference in home runs (3), RBI (16) and runs (30)
– Dane LeBlanc: The Yuba City hurler had 52 strikeouts in 51 innings as a sophomore for the Honkers (16-12) a year ago.
– Darius Jacobs: The 6-foot senior first baseman from Marysville was top-5 in batting (.433), RBI (23) and slugging (.598) for the 26-6 Indians, who advanced to the Sac-Joaquin Section D-IV title game last year.
– Stevie Cherry: The Marysville 5-11 senior led the league in ERA (1.18) and was second in strikeouts (82) in 59.1 innings last year.
– Luke Kalfsbeek: The Colusa junior was among the leaders in the Sac Valley League in batting (.413) slugging (.630), RBI (36) and ERA (0.51) as a sophomore last year
– Jenissa Conway: The Michigan-bound senior from Marysville was second in the PVL in hitting (.567), first in home runs (8), first in slugging (1.167), first in stolen bases (24) and third in RBI (22),
– Zereniti Sousa: The Utah State signee from Wheatland led the BVL in batting (.543) and slugging (1.152) and was second in home runs (10) as a junior.
– Alexa Carino: The Sutter Union High junior hit .483 with 26 RBI and scored 13 runs as a sophomore for the 31-1 NorCal D-III champions.
– Meika Lauppe: The Arizona State bound senior from East Nicolaus was second in the SVL in ERA (0.81), first in strikeouts (229), first in wins (20) and second in no-hitters (7) last year.
All statistics were submitted through coaches via MaxPreps.com.
