All League baseball selections made for Southwestern League; plus AllCIF teams announced

JP Raineri

Sports Editor

It has been a busy summer and we almost forgot to recognize some of the area’s top high school baseball and softball talent from the 2023 Spring season. Plus, it is our downtime too, so we will just blame the delay on the heat for now. And, of course, we are still working on the softball aspect, but the Southern Section offices did recently release the selections for the All-CIF boys’ and girls’ spring sports teams, and quite a few local players from around the area found themselves topping the lists. The Valley News also has the Southwestern League selections, and we will start with those first. No other league’s submitted their selections, so please tell the admininstration at your favorite school to send those lists in.

Vista Murrieta, who won the Southwestern League title this year, making it a back-to-back championship run, had both the MVP, and Most Outstanding Pitcher. Vaughn Neckar, in just his sophomore year, was voted in as the Most Valuable Player. Neckar not only toed the rubber for the Broncos, but also played infield and hit an astonishing .448 at the plate for Vista Murrieta.

Teammate, Lukas Pirko, a newly graduated senior heading off to CBU, tallied a 1.47 ERA across 66.2 innings and notched sixtyseven strikeouts.

First Team selections include:

Joseph Castillo (12) - OF, INFVista Murrieta; Roman Meyers (12) - C - Vista Murrieta; Ryland

Duson (10) - INF - Vista Murrieta; Zach Anderson (12) - C - Temecula

Valley; Adler Cecil (12) - PTemecula Valley; Cody Liscio (11)

- P, OF - Temecula Valley; Riley

Ricken (12) - P, INF - Great Oak;

Dylan Fine (11) - C, INF - Great

Oak; Gavin Fine (10) - INF - Great Oak; Cooper Rasmussen (12)INF - Chaparral; Jonas Ballesteros (11) - INF - Chaparral; Jesiah Gereroso (11) - IF - Murrieta

Valley.

Second Team: Kaden Spencer (12) - OF - Vista Murrieta; David Ruth (11) - INF - Vista Murrieta; Noah Barba (12) - OF - Temecula

Valley; Grant Yzerman (12)OF - Temecula Valley; Ryan Lee

(12) - INF - Great Oak; Braden

Wauschek (12) - P - Great Oak; Chase Blackwell (11) - INF

- Chaparral; Kayden Winfrey (11)

- INF - Chaparral; Rafael Piceno

(12) - INF - Murrieta Valley; Rainn

McMillan (11) - C - Murrieta Valley; Daniel Gonzalez (12) - P, INF - Murrieta Mesa; Michael

Israel (12) - OF - Murrieta Mesa.

The following athletes also identified in this week’s issue were recognized as All-CIF Southern Section First Team selections. Program Coordinator, Anita Fopma, relayed that only First Team selections are still only ones who get recognized.

“We only have an All-CIF First Team, if the coaches select a player for a Second Team, we do not recognize it as All-CIF,” she says. Presented by the LA84 Foundation, as selected by the CIF-SS Baseball Coaches, the list includes:

Division 2 Vaughn Neckar, Vista Murrieta (10)

Division 4

Copper Rasmussen, Chaparral (12); Chad Horton, Elsinore (12); Elijah Butler, Linfield Christian (12); Gavin Malcomson, Linfield Christian (11)

Division 5

Riley Vogt, Liberty (10)

Division 6

Nolan Hill, Lakeside (10); Noah Scarlett, Temecula Prep (10)

Division 7 Micah Sweeton, Cornerstone Christian (11); Elijah Tapia, Nuview Bridge (12)

JP Raineri can be reached by email at sports@reedermedia. com

Temecula native Easton Gibbs named Mountain West preseason defensive player of the year

Temecula Valley High School

ROMERO from page C-1 over four seasons.

While an athlete, according to her website, Sierra became very passionate about growth through life’s challenges. She has overcome three knee surgeries that kept her away from the game for almost three years while also adjusting to the everyday highs and lows we face as humans.

“You gotta go through it to grow through it,” she says.

Sierra’s goal now is to be an ear and helpful hand for athletes and parents going through the tough recruiting and travel ball scene. She is now offering SR Consulting hoping to bring peace of mind and insightful information to the travel ball community.

To find out more information on Sierra Romero visit www.sierraromero.com.

JP Raineri can be reached by email at sports@reedermedia. com standout, this will likely be his final season in Laramie. The 6-foot-2, 235-pound tallied a team-best 121 tackles last season. That ranked him 22nd in the nation and third in the league. He also finished with three sacks and a pass breakup. Gibbs turned that production into All-Mountain West First-Team honors.

This past week Gibbs was named the Mountain West’s preseason defensive player of the year selection, but he is taking it lightly, admitting that he was asleep when the news broke. “You know, the preseason stuff, it’s very cool to get voted and it’s a blessing, but it was like last year, I wasn’t on any of that stuff,” he told the media. “I am telling myself the same thing I’m telling myself this year, there are bigger goals.”

With two years of eligibility remaining, he’s not planning to transfer. Instead, Gibbs is in hopes of a professional football career.

“You know, God forbid something happens (injury), but it’s kind of my plan. This will be it for me.

It’s my fifth year, my senior year and I want to go out with the guys that I came in with. “That’s kind of where I’m right now.” rival Colorado State. He registered a season-high 13 tackles and a sack in that win over the Rams. He entered UW lore in Week 4. Battling an illness throughout the night that saw his fever hit triple digits and his weight drop a reported “12-to-14 pounds,” Gibbs entered the Air Force game on the defense’s first possession and racked up six tackles in a 1714 upset.

“I felt bad for Jackson Marcotte because he was in the same room as me,” Gibbs told a reporter with a smile. He was referring to the Cowboys’ former tight end. “We still don’t even know what it was, whether it was food poisoning or what, but it was a rough one.”

If this is indeed Gibbs’ final go on the high plains of Wyoming, he hopes it’s a memorable one. With nine returners on his side of the ball, it could be. And, in the era of the transfer portal, with Texas Tech up first on the schedule (Saturday, Sept 2), Gibbs was asked what made him stick around when dozens of his former teammates did not.

It was a pretty simple answer says the Temecula native, “They were the people that took a chance on me. “They’re the first ones that gave me a chance…really the only ones that gave me a chance. You know, I feel like I owe it to the state and the people that brought me here and have welcomed me as family.”

Gibbs is also brushing off the media’s sixth-place prediction for the Cowboys this fall and

Valley News/Courtesy ultimately concluded that it’s an honor to be thought of as the conference’s best defensive player at the end of the day.

JP Raineri can be reached by email at sports@reedermedia. com