Baseball players Jacob Johnson of San Bernardino Valley College and Trevor Castillo of Mt. San Jacinto are Pacific Coast Athletic Conference Men's Athletes for Monday, April 2nd through Sunday, April 8th.
Johnson, the Wolverines' sophomore right fielder out of Riverside Arlington High School, went 8-for-12 last week and is hitting .414 on the season with 10 doubles, 3 triples, 20 runs scored and 18 RBIs. He has a .495 on-base percentage and a .598 slugging percentage.
Johnson went 3-for-4 with a double, a triple and 4 runs scored in a 9-4 win over College of the Desert. He went 1-for-3 and drove in 2 runs in an 11-4 loss to COD and was 4-for-5 with a double, 2 runs scored and an RBI as the Wolverines dropped a 15-9 slugfest to the Roadrunners.
Previously, Johnson led SBVC to a stunning 8-7 victory over Palomar, which came into the game unbeaten at 9-0 and alone in first place m, on March 20th as he tripled and drove in 3 runs.
Castillo, a freshman corner infielder from Tahquitz High School in Hemet, led the way as the Eagles won the rubber game of their 3-game series at Palomar Ballpark 9-6. Castillo went 3-for-5 in the deciding game, driving in 6 of the Eagles' 9 runs as they came back from an early 5-0 deficit.
The upset win knocked the Comets (13-5 in conference, .722 winning percentage) out of first place in the PCAC, 11 percentage points behind San Diego Mesa (11-4, .733). The Olympians have already had their conference bye week, while Palomar has its bye week this week.
Mt. San Jac has won game 1 of at Palomar before the Comets traveled to the Eagles' new baseball facility in San Jacinto to even the series at a game apiece.
HONORABLE MENTION
Kekoa Pukahi, Volleyball, San Diego Miramar: Pukahi, who starred for Carlsbad's La Costa Canyon High School for three seasons before red-shirting at the University of Hawaii, led the way as the Jets wrapped up the PCAC championship.
A setter who also attacks the net, Pukahi lifted the Jets to their eighth and ninth straight wins. On Wednesday, Pukahi recorded 9 kills, 19 assists, 4 digs and 3 block assists in a 25-18, 27-25, 28-26 sweep of second-place and traditional state power Grossmont, a win that clinched the PCAC title. Then, on Friday, he led Miramar to a 25-21, 25-19, 25-22 non-conference sweep of St. Katherine University with 9 kills, 14 assists and 3 block assists.
Ian Thompson, Baseball, Grossmont: A 6-foot-4, 205-pound freshman right-handed from San Marcos High School, helped the defending state champions to 2 wins during their 4-0 week.
Thompson pitched a 1-2-3 inning in relief, striking out 2 batters, as the G-House defeated Imperial Valley 17-3 to cap a 3-game conference sweep of the Arabs. He came back to pick up the victory in a 7-6 non-conference win over Long Beach City College, throwing 7 innings of 3-hit, shutout ball. On the season, Thompson has appeared in 15 games, going 2-1 with a 2.60 ERA and striking out 19 batters over 27 2/3 innings.