Christos Stefanos is very excited right now.
After winning MVP for West Ranch baseball, he was named the Foothill League Player of the Year. Now, he’s on the Division 1 All-CIF Southern Section first team, a list that was released on Monday.
“The awards were awesome,” said Stefanos, a rising senior. “I was not expecting the awards. It was just awesome getting those texts from my coach, Casey Burrill.”
In 28 games in his junior campaign, Stefanos hit .396 with 36 hits, 28 RBIs and 26 runs scored.
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More than that, though, Stefanos thinks his maturation as a player helped contribute to the honors.
“Sophomore year I had a lot of problems,” he said. “I think I was a little too worried about being a sophomore on varsity.
“But sophomore to junior year I grew up and figured things out baseball-wise and learned to relax, and I’m going to just play senior year like I did junior year.”
Recent Valencia grad Chase Farrell was also named to the All-CIF Division 1 first team. Farrell was also named the Foothill League Pitcher of the Year and was drafted to the Houston Astros in the MLB Draft’s 40th round last week.
Farrell owned a 1.43 ERA with 82 strikeouts in 73 2/3 innings as part of the Foothill League champion Vikings.
“He’s a great pitcher,” said Stefanos. “Every time I faced him, I knew he was one of our best pitchers in our Foothill League. It was always fun facing him. I always worked hard to see what I would do off of him.”
Farrell will play for UCLA in the upcoming season. He officially moves in on Sept. 22, but is already regularly taking classes and training at the campus.
Stevenson Ranch resident and Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks grad Hunter Greene was also selected as a first team honoree.
Greene, who was picked second overall in the MLB Draft by the Cincinnati Reds, posted a .75 ERA in five outings on the mound and batted .324 with six home runs and 28 RBIs.
“Having three guys all from this area selected shows how competitive it is out here,” Farrell said. “What kind of competition we’ve got.”
The Santa Clarita Valley also had two players selected to the All-CIF Division 7 list.
Albert Einstein Academy’s Sam Stulman and Trinity Classical Academy’s Drew Pfeiffer were each named to the list.
Stulman was a force at the plate and on the mound for the Omega League champion Rockets. Stats were not available for Pfeiffer, who helped the Knights to third place in the Heritage League this season.
