College Update: Hancock concludes stellar Redlands run with career season
Connor Hancock (Burbank native) Redlands baseball senior: It was a final season filled with accolades and big numbers for the Burbank resident who attended Loyola High.
On May 20, Hancock was one of three Redlands players to receive American Baseball Coaches Assn. of America (ABCA) Rawlings All-West Region honors.
It was the second straight ABCA Rawlings All-West Region accolade for Hancock, who ended his Bulldogs tenure with a .326 average (181 for 556) with 131 runs and 100 runs batted in.
As a senior, Hancock’s numbers were excellent: career-high .364 average (51 for 140), career-high 45 runs, career-high 40 runs batted in, career-high 25 walks, career-high 15 doubles, career-high five home runs, four triples, career-high .471 on-base percentage and a career-high .636 slugging percentage.
The outfielder was also a first-team All-Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference selection. It was Hancock’s second straight all-conference honor.
Redlands went 28-14 on the season with a 20-8 conference mark, with its season coming to a close on May 2 in the conference tournament. Redlands lost to Cal Lutheran, 9-3, with Hancock, playing right field and hitting fifth, going two for three with a run and an RBI.
It was the 17th multiple-hit game of Hancock’s season. He also had a 13-game hitting streak from March 21 to April 19 that began with four consecutive two-hit games.
Emily Seidel (Burbank native) Abilene Christian softball senior: It was a season of plenty of struggles that ended in triumph for Seidel in her final college game.
Seidel came through with a two-run, pinch-hit single in the seventh inning on May 2 to propel Abilene Christian past Houston Baptist with an 8-4 result.
Seidel, a pitcher, was given a 3-0 lead in the top of the first, but squandered it by allowing four runs in the bottom of the first. However, she shut the opposition over the last six innings to get the win.
Seidel allowed seven hits and three walks in the game, while striking out four. As for her single, it was her first and last plate appearance of the season.
For the season, Seidel, her team’s only senior, posted a 5.87 earned-run average across 42 appearances, 32 starts, 186 innings and 14 games. Seidel notched 90 strikeouts. She was 6-22.
Seidel had a pair of shutouts on the season that were likely her finest performances.
Against Prairie View A&M, Seidel got her first win of the season, allowing just three hits, while striking out nine and walking three for a five-inning shutout in an 8-0 win.
Against Incarnate Word, Abilene Christian, which went 14-33, 8-19 in the Southland Conference, won, 7-0. Seidel spun seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and four walks, while striking out three.
Cheyenne Steward (Burroughs High, 2014) College of the Canyons softball freshman: An All-Area pick last year, Steward was an All-Western State Conference Blue Division second-team pick this past season after putting up some phenomenal offensive numbers.
Steward led the postseason-bound Cougars with 56 runs scored and 12 stolen bases.
She also hit a whopping .476 (68 for 143), which trailed only teammate Lauren Anderson. Anderson hit .556 and was named the conference’s player of the year.
Rounding out her outstanding numbers, Steward had 10 doubles, nine home runs and three triples, 22 walks, just nine strikeouts, a .558 on-base percentage and a .776 slugging percentage.
COC teammate and Burbank High product Ashley Russo was also a conference second-team pick. Russo became the Cougars’ ace.
Russo went 12-4 in 27 appearances and 13 starts. She led COC with 108 innings pitched and a 2.85 earned-run average. She struck out 55 and walked 38.
COC tied for second in the division with a 15-6 mark and went 28-12-1 overall. The Cougars went to the California Community College Athletic Assn. playoffs, losing to Cerritos in two straight games in the Southern California Regional round.
COC lost the first game, 7-1, and the second on May 3, 11-8. Steward had an RBI in the first game and went two for four with two runs in the second.
Cristina Colon (Bellarmine-Jefferson, 2014) L.A. Valley softball freshman: As a rookie catcher for the Monarchs, Colon provided a bright spot during a season of some struggles.
The Monarchs went 15-24, 8-13 in the Western State Conference Blue Division.
Colon, however, was one of three all-conference picks for her team, earning second-team recognition — the highest honor for any Monarch.
In 38 games, Colon hit .320 (40 for 125) with 28 runs, 29 runs batted in and 14 extra-base hits, including five home runs. Colon struck out just eight times and had a team-high .536 slugging percentage.