SportStars NorCal Issue 220, June 2023

Shaelynn Stinson of Pleasant Grove-Elk Grove

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A Fond Farewell

Welcome to our Yearbook Special edition for the 2022-23 sports campaign. These are always some of the most fun issues for us to put together.

And this time around, we plan to drag the celebration out a little longer.

In recent years, our Yearbook issues have included the annual Year-In-Pictures feature as well as our Bay Area 75 athlete countdown. This time around we’re breaking it up and will be featuring our Bay Area 75 countdown online before unveiling the Top 10 in our July/August issue later next month.

Our online celebration of the just-completed season will also include a NorCal Team of the Year vote. We plan to nominate up to eight championship teams for a van vote to determine NorCal’s top squad of 2022-23. The winner will be featured in their own episode of our SportStories Podcast at some point in July.

So what’s in the Yearbook? Well, we let the Year-In-Pictures be the star of the show in this one. Nothing helps illustrate the passion and excitement of a past year in sports than the images that our fantastic photographers capture. You can start checking those out on Page 8.

We also began our All-NorCal honors for spring, naming both our Baseball and Softball Players of the Year. The celebration of those sports will also continue on SportStarsMag.com in the coming weeks as we’ll be naming our Pitchers of the Year and our full All-NorCal Teams.

Now before you jump into our final tip of the cap to ‘22-’23, I’ll share a few thoughts on the year that was.

Firstly, as refreshing as the 2021-22 year was, it was still touched here and there by the tentacles of the pandemic. This year was the closest thing we’ve had to normal in four years. And that felt awfully good.

Some of the many memories that will stick out to us from this past year:

›› Pittsburg Football sending longtime coach Victor Galli out as a Div. I North Coast Section and CIF NorCal champion.

›› Quarterback Luke Baker and kicker Austin Shelton playing heroes for San Ramon Valley-Danville in one of the most thrilling CIF State Bowl championship games we’ve watched in some time.

›› The incredibly competitive East Bay Athletic League boys basketball race. (At one point the league had five teams inside our NorCal Top 20 rankings)

›› Seeing the Oakland High boys and Oakland Tech girls basketball teams win CIF State championships in backto-back games.

›› Hollister softball turning into an absolute force in May and TWICE beating NorCal’s most recent softball dynasty, St. Francis-Mountain View, for CCS and NorCal titles.

What’s going to be your favorite memory of this past year? Tell us on our social media channels. We’d love to know. Enjoy the Yearbook! ✪

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3.29.19

2020 De La Salle-Concord grad Kyle Harrison delivers a pitch during a SportStars photo shoot early in his junior season. Harrison was selected by the Giants in the third round of the 2020 draft (85th overall), and in just three years has risen to become the team’s top pitching prospect. As of June 16, he has a career minor leagues ERA of 3.02 with 423 strikeouts over 259 innings. Harrison currently pitches for the Sacramento River Cats and could earn a promotion to the big league club at some point this summer.

Chace Bryson photo

NCVA Wraps Season With Successful Numbers Across Several Divisions

Volleyball in California continues to thrive, and the Northern California Volleyball Association saw evidence of that throughout its 2022-23 season — and much of the same is expected for 2023-24.

The NCVA Girls Power League saw a good deal of growth this season. Returning and new clubs totaled more than 300. Of those teams, more than 70 earned bids to the junior national championships happening at the end of June and into July.

The boys season was massively successful as well, with NCVA claiming it to be one of the most active boys programs in the country. Registrations increased for the boys power league and just about every other tournament, including the Boys Summer Classic that was completed June 10-11.

While NCVA is closing the book on its indoor season, there’s still action to be had on the sand. The Summer Sand Classic is scheduled for July 29 at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and will feature brackets for 11U through 18U divisions. There will be an adult division as well.

For those interested in participating, information can be found at ncva.com/outdoor.

Planning for the 2023-24 season is already underway. The NCVA will be announcing its key Power League and tournament dates in the coming months. However, it does already have one locked in.

The Boys Far Western Classic will take place on Feb. 3-4 in Roseville.

Finally, if you’re interested in following NCVA clubs at this year’s Junior Nationals, the 14U-17U girls divisions will play for titles in Chicago from June 28-July 6. The boys will decide 12U-18U titles in Salt Lake City from June 29-July 6. Follow the action at usavolleyball.org.

Now that another school year has come to an end, we’re fired up to partake in one of our favorite traditions here at SportStars. It’s our annual Year-In-Pictures feature, featuring 13 pages of lasting images from the previous nine months. We’ve also sprinkled our final NorCal Rankings from the year for football, girls volleyball, basketball, baseball and softball. This is the crowning moment for all the photographers who help make us look so good. Join us in a tip of the cap to David Gershon, Ben Enos and Ike Dodson. They did the majority of the heavy lifting this season. And with that, enjoy the memories these images evoke.

— Chace Bryson

Brady Steadman (top) and the Dublin High football team.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Sunset at Folsom High as the Bulldogs host Serra-San Mateo in an epic season-opener, which Serra won 16-12; West Catholic Athletic League rivals St. Francis-Mountain View and Archbishop Mitty-San Jose during one of SIX(!) 2022 showdowns; Morgan Daetz, right, and Audrey Ross ham it up during a San Ramon Valley-Danville volleyball practice; San Ramon Valley’s Noah Labeau knows where the camera is; Oak Ridge-El Dorado Hills All-NorCal defensive end Conner Dasmann; De La Salle-Concord defensive back Jonathan Guerrero locks in.

FINAL 2022 NORCAL GIRLS VOLLEYBALL RANKINGS

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: The Alhambra-Martinez water polo team smiles prior to a match with Northgate-Walnut Creek; Branson-Ross volleyball’s Margaux Barber (2) and Sadie Snipes go up for a block; Northgate’s Colin Barber rises for a shot; Grant-Sacramento football team reaches to touch the CIF State Div. 3-AA State Championship trophy; SerraSan Mateo’s Danny Niu battles Folsom’s Ricky Flores Jr.

FINAL 2022 NORCAL FOOTBALL RANKINGS

FINAL 2022 NORCAL GIRLS BASKETBALL RANKINGS

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Whitney-Rocklin wrestler Anthony Berg leaps into the arms of his coach after winning a Sac-Joaquin Section Masters title; Mitty-San Jose junior Morgan Cheli glides to the hoop during the CIF Open Div. state final; Granite Bay’s Yaqub Mir drives to the basket during the SJS Div. II championship against Whitney; De La Salle sophomore Alec Blair splits two Dougherty Valley-San Ramon defenders during the North Coast Section Open Div. final; But it was Ryan Beasley and Dougherty Valley who cut down the net.

FINAL 2022 NORCAL BOYS BASKETBALL RANKINGS

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: California-San Ramon girls basketball gets hyped before an NCS playoff game; Del Oro-Loomis wrestler Jagger French celebrates an SJS title; Oakland Tech senior Erin Sellers with the CIF Div. I state trophy; Money Williams (3) and Oakland High celebrate their Div. III state title.

FINAL 2022 NORCAL SOFTBALL RANKINGS

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Turlock’s Olivia Walker clears the high jump bar at the CIF State Championships; Benicia’s Kyra Mason offers a slap hit attempt at the Livermore Stampede; Members of Clayton Valley-Concord baseball await the start of the NCS Div. I final; San Ramon Valley softball’s Samm Shah smiles for the camera.

FINAL 2022 NORCAL BASEBALL RANKINGS

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Whitney long jumper Juliana Roberson prepares to land at the CIF State Championships; Irvington-Fremont swimmer Angela Quan swims the breaststroke; Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa’s Nate Neihaus drives the ball; St. Francis infielder Madison Ferraro throws to first; Heritage-Brentwood’s Mathew Venezia delivers a pitch.

For the Hollister softball team and Sophia Mariottini, expectations for the 2023 season were modest at best. There were only a handful of returning seniors from an 18-win team in 2022, and one of those seniors — Mariottini — wasn’t particularly bursting with confidence to open the season.

“I came into the season really weak,” Mariottini said. “Mentally not strong, physically not strong. I hadn’t been pitching much. I wasn’t having great travel seasons.”

But as the team slowly began coming together and bonding during the early weeks of practice, Mariottini decided she owed it to her teammates to be the best pitcher she could be. As it turns out, that version of Mariottini is pretty darn good.

Which made Hollister better than good. It made them champions.

“Coming into this, I looked around at my teammates, and they’re my sisters. I had to work for them,” Mariottini said. “So I really worked hard. I knew they were going to do everything to back me up. We had mutual trust in each other, and I knew this was my last season and I was the senior pitcher this year.

“I knew I had to come through for everyone. So I definitely tried to work really hard for my teammates.”

Mariottini won’t ever be mistaken for a power arm that racks up big strikeout totals, but she was the winning pitcher in all 30 wins for the Haybalers this season. And her playoff dominance — while being matched against some of NorCal’s best teams — was more than noteworthy.

She allowed just three earned runs over six playoff games and tossed shutouts in three of her last four starts. That included 16 innings of shutout softball against the team that spent the most weeks of 2023 atop of our NorCal Top 20 Rankings, St. Francis-Mountain View.

The senior tossed seven scoreless innings in a 4-0 Central Coast Section Open Division championship victory, and then backed it up with nine scoreless innings in the CIF Div. I NorCal final. Mariottini finished the season with a 30-2 record, a 1.59 ERA and just 28 walks in 171.1 innings pitched.

St. Francis junior Shannon Keighran paid Mariottini the ultimate compliment after the Lancers’ 4-0 CCS finals loss to the Haybalers.

“We knew what she was throwing, we just couldn’t get our barrel on top of it,” Keighran told the San Jose Mercury News. Opponents hit just .188 off of Mariottini for the season.

Mariottini was a regular offensive contributor as well. Which was a key factor in her earning SportStars NorCal Player of the Year honors over some other candidates from championship teams.

She hit .414 with 29 hits in 70 at bats. She had eight doubles, two triples and two home runs. Mariottini hit safely in all but one playoff game and also drove in two of the team’s three runs in a NorCal semifinal win over Whitney-Rocklin. Mariottini is now set to start a new career at NCAA Division II Molloy University in Long Island, New York.

“I don’t really know what to expect, but I’m really excited to play for them,” the pitcher said. “It’s just something new for me and I can’t wait to start that journey.”

We have a feeling she’ll be doing so with a lot more confidence. ✪

— Story by Chace Bryson | Photos by Larry Kauk

Franklin baseball coach Bryan Kilby estimated he heard it at least 50 times.

Nolan Stevens made a habit of telling his coach the same thing.

“Whether it was in the weight room in January, or while getting water off the field in February and March, he was constantly telling me, ‘Coach, we’re winning Section this year,’” Kilby said. “You could tell he meant what he said.”

Then he went out and proved it with a dominant season as one of the state’s most complete players.

The Mississippi State commit was a difference-maker at the plate, on the mound and in multiple defensive positions for a Wildcats team that produced a schoolrecord 30 wins — and yes, brought home a section title. Stevens’ wide-reaching effect on so many aspects of the Wildcats’ success put him over the top when considering him among other talented players for SportStars’ top NorCal baseball honor.

“His ability to impact games in so many different ways: On the mound, at the plate, in the field… He just had a relentless, competitive attitude that he brings to the game every day,” Kilby said. “I just love that about him.”

The Wildcats coach has known Stevens for close to eight years. Kilby coached Nolan’s twin brothers Grant and Carson from 2016-19, and Nolan was always hanging around the field.

“What caught my attention was that he’s just a gamer,” the coach said. “He was always wanting to jump into workouts with the varsity players and willing to take any challenge head-on.”

This season, the challenge he zeroed in on was clear. He wanted that section title.

After a pair of losses at the Northern California Boras Classic in early April, the Wildcats reeled off 16 straight wins to capture the program’s first Sac-Joaquin Section Div. I title and reach the CIF NorCal Div. I semifinals.

“I think just over the course of the season, we learned to trust each other more,” Stevens said. “You can’t win every game with just one player. We had a lot of guys. As Kilby woud say, we had ‘a lot of dudes.’”

Kilby and the coaching staff had purposely kept their star from pitching much during the first month of the season, protecting his arm a bit and keeping him fresh for the second half. After the Boras tournament, they turned him loose.

Stevens went 5-0 on the mound with a 1.29 ERA. Those numbers are nice, but don’t nearly reflect the left-hander’s dominance. He allowed two hits or less in seven of his nine appearances, and struck out 62 batters across just 39 innings of work. He allowed just two extra-base hits all season.

At the plate, Stevens was just as good. He batted .360 with team-bests in hits (40), runs (35) and home runs (4). He had 23 RBI and finished his season on 13-game hitting streak, including a home run against eventual NorCal-champion De La Salle-Concord in his final high school game.

Over seven postseason games, Stevens was 13-for-24 (.541 average) with 11 runs scored, two homers, and six RBI. He was 2-for-3 with a double and 2 RBI in the team’s section championship win over Whitney-Rocklin.

“Winning that title meant a lot to me,” Stevens said. “I know a lot of former Franklin players were there too and how much it meant to them.”

Stevens now follows in the footsteps of his brothers into the collegiate ranks. Grant played for University of Pacific and Carson played at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo. Nolan will head for a slightly bigger stage by venturing into the SEC — the most competitive Division I conference in the country.

Mississippi State signed him with the idea of making him a two-way player.

It’s a challenge he’ll take head on. It’s what he does. ✪ — Story by Chace Bryson | Photos by David Gershon