Rio Mesa’s Young Honored as Top Sophomore in State

So much for the infamous sophomore jinx.

After being accorded the same honor as a freshman, Dmitri Young of Rio Mesa High has been named the state sophomore baseball player of the year by Cal-Hi Sports magazine of Sacramento. In addition, eight other Valley-area players were named to divisional all-state teams by Cal-Hi.

Young batted .500 (38 for 76) with eight doubles, six home runs and 28 runs batted in. He also stole 22 bases and was named to the Cal-Hi all-underclass team as an outfielder for the second consecutive year, although he played the entire season at third base. Additionally, Young was a first-team selection to the Southern Section 4-A Division and Times All-Ventura County teams.

Anybody for a three-peat? While Young agreed that a third award would be nice, he is more concerned about improving on this year’s statistics.

“I’m a pretty modest person, so I won’t let it go to my head,” Young said. “I try to concentrate on other things, like improving, and not on awards and things like that.”

Infielders Rich Aude of Chatsworth, Tim Costic of Monroe and Gino Tagliaferri of Kennedy, catcher Casey Burrill of Hart and pitcher Roger Salkeld of Saugus were selected to Cal-Hi’s large schools team (3-A level or above).

Aude, who batted .455 with 39 RBIs, signed last week with the Pittsburgh Pirates after being selected in the second round of the June 5 free agent draft. Tagliaferri (.365, state-high 13 home runs) and Costic (.403) both will play next season at Fresno State. Burrill (.453, 39 RBIs) will play at USC and Salkeld (13-1, 0.58 earned-run average) is currently negotiating with the Seattle Mariners, who drafted him No. 3 overall. Salkeld, a right-hander, was recently named All-American by USA Today.

Pat Bryant, a junior outfielder from Cleveland who was one of three underclassmen to make the All-City Section 4-A team, was selected to this year’s Cal-Hi all-underclass team after batting .464 with 21 stolen bases.

Keyaan Cook, a junior infielder from Montclair Prep, and Frank Fernandez, a junior infielder from Moorpark, were selected to the Cal-Hi small schools team. Cook tied for the Valley-area lead among Southern Section players with nine home runs and batted .500 with 35 RBIs. Fernandez led Ventura County players with a .507 batting average. The Cal-Hi small schools division includes teams at the 1-A level and below.