MaxPreps 2015 California Medium Schools All-State Softball Team

Video: Rachel Garcia - Gatorade Softball Player of the Year interview
See our Senior Writer Mitch Stephens' interview with the Highland High star.

Medium Schools State Player of the Year: Rachel Garcia, Highland (Palmdale), Senior
Garcia, who was named the national MaxPreps Medium Schools Player of the Year, finished with a 26-2 record, minuscule 0.20 ERA, 418 strikeouts and just 13 walks in 175 innings. In her final 92 innings pitched, she allowed just five base hits and no earned runs.

Garcia also batted .667 (68-for-102) with 20 homers, 57 RBIs, 12 doubles, two triples and 29 runs scored.

Garcia led Highland to the Southern Section Division 4 title game against Torrance in which she pitched 12 innings, allowed just two hits and struck out 24. But in the 13th inning, she injured her knee and could not pitch. The Bulldogs lost, 1-0.

Both of Garcia's 2015 losses were one-run defeats. The first was to West Ranch, 3-2, when she struck out 14, but allowed a season-high four hits. Garcia allowed two hits or less in 27 of her games pitched.

The other loss was an eight-inning, 24-strikeout performance where the winning run was placed on second by the international tiebreaker rule and eventually scored on a throwing error. No walks and no base hits, but a loss.

Garcia is a two-time Gatorade State Player of the Year and 2015 Gatorade National POY. The four-time MaxPreps all-American will attend UCLA.

The 5-foot-7 righthander, who pitched 10 no-hitters (including five perfect games) in 2015, finished her Highland career with a 0.48 ERA and 1,315 strikeouts in 601 innings. Opponents batted .099 against her and she pitched 57 shutouts while batting .593 with 44 home runs and 152 RBIs.

Medium Schools Team of the Year: Taft
Coached by Russell Emberson, Taft made the move from Division 4 to Division 3 without a hitch, as the Wildcats went 28-5 and captured the Central Section D-3 title and won their final dozen games.

Of their five losses, four were by one run and all were to larger schools.

Led by MaxPreps all-Americans Caitlyn Emberson and Arizona Pilgrim, Taft batted .402 as a team and scored 326 runs. With seniors Pilgrim and Emberson in the lineup, Taft won 119 times and lost 16 times in four seasons. They won the D-4 section title in 2014 and 2013, and were runners-up in 2012.

Both Pilgrim and Emberson will attend Charleston Southern University.

Medium Schools Coach of the Year: Brian Goulart, East Union (Manteca)
Goulart led a youthful East Union team to a 30-3 record and the Sac-Joaquin Section D-3 title. Oregon recruit Cherish Burks was the lone senior on the 2015 squad that featured three freshmen, six sophomores and seven juniors.

The Lancers batted .467 as a team and collected 322 base hits, including 122 that went for extra bases (36 home runs). The team struck out just 82 times in 33 games.

A former Delta College baseball player, Goulart has been the Lancers' head coach since 2003.


P - Jamie Wren, La Serna (Whittier), Senior
Wren had her second-straight 25-3 season and was again named Whittier Prep Sports POY. She hit .455 and drove in a team-high 34 runs. In the circle, Wren had a 1.13 ERA with 176 strikeouts in 192 innings and threw 11 shutouts. She has signed with Ohio University.

P - Arizona Pilgrim, Taft, Senior
Pilgrim had another impressive year, winning 26 of 31 games and striking out 293 in 169 innings. Her ERA was 0.54. She finished her Taft career with 103 wins, a 0.83 ERA and 1,028 strikeouts in 638 innings. She will attend Charleston Southern University.

P - Caitlyn Brooks, Burbank, Senior
Brooks, who has signed with Notre Dame, closed her career with another stellar season: 18-5, 0.66 ERA, 264 strikeouts in 149 innings and batted .451 with 26 RBIs as the Bulldogs went 21-5 and reached the Southern Section quarterfinals.

P - Veronika Gulvin, Dos Pueblos (Goleta), Senior
Gulvin was 16-2 with 10 shutouts and a 0.60 ERA. In 110 innings, she struck out 194 batters. The Channel League MVP guided DPHS to the Southern Section semifinals. Gulvin has signed with UC Santa Barbara.

P - Marissa Moreno, Torrance, Senior
Moreno went 17-6 with a 1.34 ERA and 264 strikeouts. Her big game was a 1-0, 13-inning win over Highland for the Southern Section D-4 title. She also drove in 36 runs and batted .448. Named the Santa Monica Breeze Player of the Year, Moreno will attend San Diego State.

P - Breanna Swint, Lindhurst (Olivehurst), Junior
Swint went 25-4 with 296 strikeouts and a 1.54 ERA in 191 innings as Lindhurst reached the SJS D-4 final. She also batted .495 with a team-high 38 RBIs.

P - Allie Hotetz, Aquinas (San Bernardino), Senior
Hotetz, who has signed with Hampton, posted 19 wins, a 1.54 ERA and 153 strikeouts in 109 innings during the Falcons' 23-4 season. She also batted .368 with 27 RBIs as the Falcons went deep into the postseason.

P - Angelica Dark, Pioneer (Woodland), Senior
Dark, who has signed with Thomas University, led Pioneer to a 26-4 season and the SJS D-3 final. Dark was 21-4 with a 1.68 ERA.

P - Gia Rodoni, Pacheco (Los Banos), Senior
Pacheco had a losing record (13-15), but Rodoni was 13-6 with a 0.58 ERA, 256 strikeouts in 121 innings and allowed just 47 base hits. She also batted .324. She has signed with Baylor.

P - Cheyanna Contreras, San Jacinto, Senior
Contreras went 22-6 with a 1.64 ERA and 194 strikeouts in 166 innings. She also batted .392 with 15 doubles as SJHS reached the Southern Section D-3 playoffs. She has signed with San Diego Christian.

C - Caitlyn Emberson, Taft, Senior
Moving up a division did not hurt Emberson, as she batted .708 and drove in 61 runs. Her on-base percentage was .763 and she slugged 1.146 to help Taft win the Central Section D-3 title. In her four varsity seasons, Emberson batted .608. She will attend Charleston Southern University.

C - Aubree Douglas, San Jacinto, Senior
Douglas batted .600 with 57 base hits and hit safely in the 27 games she played. She drove in 29 runs and had 28 extra-base hits. She has signed with Hamline University.

C - Niko Walker, St. Paul (Santa Fe Springs), Senior
Walker led St. Paul to the playoffs and batted .490 with 39 RBIs and 50 base hits in a 21-7 season. She has signed with Hawaii-Pacific.

IF - Mia Camuso, Shasta (Redding), Junior
Camuso's 2015 offensive display included a Northern Section-record of 16 homers plus 61 RBIs and a .604 batting average. The Oregon commit captured the Northern Section's triple crown.

IF - Rebekah Cervantes, Redwood (Visalia), Senior
A MaxPreps honoree repeat, Cervantes had another standout season when she hit .500 with 37 RBIs, 14 extra-base hits and scored 32 runs. She has signed with Boise State.

IF - Samantha Owen, East Union (Manteca), Junior
Owen batted .643 and had 61 RBIs to lead East Union to a SJS D-3 title and a 30-3 won-loss record. She also scored 51 runs, collected 72 hits and nine home runs. She was named the Stockton Record's Player of the Year.

IF - Asailah Brown, Lindhurst (Olivehurst), Junior
Brown was 33-for-33 in stolen base attempts, scored 43 runs and batted .490 for the SJS D-4 runners-up. She had a fielding percentage of .967.

IF - Kendelle Messersmith, Sierra (Manteca), Junior
Messersmith was the top hitter on the SJS D-4 champions with a .574 average and 29 RBIs, 20 runs and 38 base hits in 20 games.

IF - Danielle Thomas, Campolindo (Moraga), Senior
Campolindo won just six games, but Thomas batted .684 with 52 hits and drove in 28 while scoring 31 runs. She has signed with Boston College.

IF - Kendall Kapitzke, Tehachapi, Senior
Kapitzke led Tehachapi to 21 wins by hitting .587 and accounting for 55 runs. In 63 official at-bats, she homered 14 times with 25 extra-base hits to go with a .645 on-base percentage and a 1.507 slugging percentage. Her OPS was 2.155 as the Warriors reached the CS D-3 semifinals. She has signed with Southern Utah.

IF - Nicole Bates, Ceres, Junior
Ceres went 22-9 as Bates collected 59 base hits (.518 avg.) and accounted for 78 runs (27 RBI). She had 14 doubles and a .960 fielding pct. Ceres lost in the playoffs to eventual SJS finalist Pioneer (Woodland). Bates has committed to Washington.

IF - Whitney Pemberton, Warren (Downey), Senior
Pemberton led Downey to a 23-5 record and the postseason by hitting .526 (eight homers and 33 RBIs) and playing flawless defense (no errors in 108 chances). She has signed with UC Santa Barbara.

IF - Brittany Werre, Mira Costa (Manhattan Beach), Senior
Another Washington signee, Werre led Mira Costa to a 20-9 season with 41 hits (.519 average) in 27 games when she scored 34 times and drove in 20.

IF - Fa Leilua, Hawthorne, Senior
The Arizona State-bound senior didn't miss a beat after transferring from Mira Costa, clubbing nine homers with 30 RBIs on a .608 batting average. Leilua helped carry Hawthorne to an appearance in the CIF-SS D-4 playoffs.

OF - Cherish Burks, East Union (Manteca), Senior
The Oregon-bound Burks led East Union to the CIF-SJS D-3 title by hitting .550 (.654 on-base percentage), scoring 52 runs and driving home 31. She had 22 extra-base hits in EU's 30-3 season.

OF - Frankie Hammoude, Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland), Freshman
Hammoude made an immediate impact, batting .525 with nine home runs, nine triples, nine doubles and 49 RBIs in 26 games, leading the Dragons to the North Coast Section D-3 title.

OF - Zoe Casas, Aquinas (San Bernardino), Senior
The Florida State-committed senior is no stranger to accolades from MaxPreps. She was an underclass all-American as a freshman, underclass and small schools all-American as a sophomore and a small schools all-American as a junior. She is also 4-for-4 as an all-state honoree. As a senior, she batted .736 with 64 hits, giving her a state-record 248 base hits. In 105 games, she scored 193 runs and struck out just three times. For her four seasons at Aquinas, she batted .681.

OF - Sammy Fabian, Glendale, Sophomore
Fabian batted a team-best .615 (48-for-78) with six doubles, four triples, 32 runs, 16 RBIs and 17 stolen bases. In addition, Fabian has hit safely in each of the 45 games she's played for the Nitros.

OF - Alexis Erich, East Union (Manteca), Sophomore
After posting a 21-2 record as a freshman pitcher, Erich focused on hitting and the results paid dividends for the SJS D-3 champions: .644 batting average, 56 hits (10 homers), 59 RBIs and 37 runs scored. Her on-base percentage was .698 and her slugging percentage was 1.113.

UTIL - Jennifer Iseri, Cerritos, Senior
Iseri, who has signed with Hawaii, batted .554, drove in 33 runs, scored 26 and had an on-base percentage of .616. She also was 16-7 in the circle, averaged a strikeout per inning and posted a 2.11 ERA.

UTIL - Kira McKechnie, Christian Brothers (Sacramento), Senior
McKechnie batted .462 and drove in 40 runs (11 doubles, eight homers) and had an .860 slugging percentage. She also won a dozen games and struck out 195 in 140 innings. She has committed to Fresno State.