If it feels like the Pac-12 conference is being dominated by the North Bay, there are a couple good reasons for that feeling.
Over the first half of the collegiate season, UC Berkeley sophomore Andrew Vaughn and Arizona State freshman Spencer Torkelson have destroyed opposing pitching, and the duo has combined for three conference Player of the Week honors since March 6, with Vaughn winning the award for the second time this season (third time in his career) last week.
The Maria Carrillo-Santa Rosa graduate is hitting .467 with 14 home runs and 39 RBI, with a .598 on-base percentage that is tops in the nation. His batting average, runs batted in, slugging percentage of 1.011, and 34 runs scored are all leading the conference right now. Meanwhile, his 14 home runs are tied for the Pac-12 lead with Torkelson. It only seems fitting, after the two elite underclassmen battled at Carrillo and Casa Grande during their three years together in the North Bay League.
"Being successful is humbling, as is seeing fellow North Bay guys doing so well," Vaughn said. "Playing against guys like (Torkelson) in high school, and now seeing him succeed in the PAC as well proves the North Bay is doing something right. It's truly awesome seeing how many guys who I have known for a long time are succeeding at the next level."
Last week, it was Vaughn's three-run double in the eighth inning which secured an 8-3 victory over UCLA and cliched a series victory. In four games last week, he went 9-for-18 with two home runs and nine RBI. The wins were key for a Cal team which is 16-10 overall, but off to a 3-6 start in conference play.
Arizona State, meanwhile, sits in the middle of the conference with a 5-4 mark in league play. With 14 home runs in 29 overall games, Torkelson surpassed a well-known name for the most home runs by a freshman in Sun Devil history. In his 25th game, last year's Prep2Prep NCS Senior of the Year slugged his 12th home run, which broke Barry Bonds' former program record.
"It just feels unbelievable so far," Torkelson commented. "Seeing all of the late nights and early mornings putting in work pay off is really rewarding."
While Vaughn and Torkelson are headlining the Northern California products who are thriving in the Pac-12, they are far from the only local athletes who have made a name for themselves. In fact, College Park graduates Trevor Larnach (Oregon State) and Joe Demers (Washington) earned Pac-12 Player of the Week honors in back-to-back weeks early in the season.
Larnach earned his first weekly honor after hitting three home runs and eight RBI in the opening week of the season. His prowess at the plate has continued, hitting .343 with eight home runs and 37 RBI. Demers, meanwhile, was honored after throwing the first perfect game in Washington history. The former NCS Player of the Year is currently 2-1 with a 1.59 ERA, and is holding opponents to a .175 batting average.
While those four athletes have earned the individual accolades, a trio of Bay Area graduates have Stanford atop the Pac-12 standings, and with an overall mark of 22-3. Mitty grad Kris Bubic is 5-0 with a 0.96 ERA, having struck out 42 batters in 37 innings pitched. Meanwhile, Head-Royce grad Nico Hoerner is hitting .316 for the Cardinal and Sacred Heart Prep grad Andrew Daschbach is batting .286 with five home runs, five doubles, and 24 RBI.
Other Pac-12 standouts right now with local ties include Washington-Fremont grad Steven Kwan (Oregon State), who is tied for the conference lead with nine stolen bases, and St. Francis grad Jeremy Ydens, who is batting .359 for UCLA.
And though his numbers may not be among the conference leaders, a mountain of respect has to be handed to Vintage-Napa grad Jared Horn, who has a 3-3 record for UC Berkeley, with 38 strikeouts in 38 innings pitched during his sophomore season. His performance this year has come despite being in a fatal car accident back in late November. The accident, in which Horn's car was struck by a drunk driver, claimed the lives of his father, younger brother, uncle, and a cousin.
