Breitbard Stars of the Month, April, 2005

April, 2005

Breitbard Stars of the Month

PROFESSIONAL

JACQUE JONES (Baseball, Twins/San Diego High) – The Minnesota Twins’ seventh-year outfielder was among the American League leaders in batting for most of the April before finishing the month ranked fourth with an average of .359. He had three home runs, 14 RBI and an on-base percentage of .467 for the 2004 American League Central Division champions. Jones had hits in 17 of the Twins’ first 18 games and three-hit games against Detroit and Chicago.

PHIL MICKELSON (Golf, USDHS alumnus) – Phil Mickelson won his third tournament of the year at the Bell South Classic in Duluth, Ga. He finished the month ranked first on PGA Tour in scoring with a 69.14 average, second on the money list with $3,842,456 and fourth in the World Rankings. In the Bell South Classic, Mickelson was 61st after the first round of the rain-delayed tournament, but a second round of 65 moved him up 59 places and three shots off the lead. With the tournament shortened to 54 holes, Mickelson and four others finished tied at 8-under par. “Lefty” won the five-way playoff with a birdie on the fourth extra hole.

JAKE PEAVY (Baseball, Padres) – The Padres’ fourth-year right-hander, the National League ERA champion in 2004, opened the new season with a 2-0 record and ranked fifth among the 2005 leaders in ERA at 1.77. Peavy picked up wins at Chicago and at home against San Francisco. In five starts he struck out 41 batters in 35 innings. In two of his no-decision three starts, he shut out Pittsburgh over 6 2/3 innings and yielded one run to Arizona in seven innings.

MARK PRIOR (Baseball, Cubs/USDHS) – The Chicago Cubs’ fourth-year pro was 3-0 for the month of April while allowing only one earned run with a 0.95 ERA. He picked up a win over Padres in his season debut and added two wins over the Cincinnati Reds. In the second game against the Reds, Prior struck out 10 batters in six innings. It was Prior’s 16th career double-digit strikeout game and the first of the season.

AMATEUR

BRANDON HALSEY (Wrestling, Fresno State/Rancho Buena Vista High) – The redshirt freshman at Fresno State won the U.S. Junior Freestyle National championship at 96 kilograms (211.5 pounds) in Las Vegas. Halsey, competing for the Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club, defeated John Laboranti of Virginia Tech in the final. The junior nationals s are for wrestlers between 18- and 20-years-old. Halsey is a former CIF State champion, having won the 215-pound title in 2004 as a senior at Rancho Buena Vista High.

EMMA MURPHY (Women’s tennis, USD) – The junior was named the West Coast Conference Player of the Year in women’s tennis player for the second straight year. Murphy, from Cork, Ireland, was also named to the All-WCC doubles team with Lauren Perl. Earlier in the season, Murphy earned Player of the Month and Murphy and Perl earned Doubles Players of the Month in March. She entered the NCAA Tournament with a national ranking of No. 35 and a season record of 23-7.

NILS NIELSEN (Men’s volleyball, Cal State Northridge/Fallbrook High) – The 6-foot-4 senior outside hitter for the Matadors earned second-team All-American honors as named by the American Volleyball Coaches Association. He was the only San Diegan named to the first or second teams. Nielsen led Northridge with 3.99 kills a game while adding 1.52 digs a game. He had double figures in kills in 22 of 32 matches, including back-to-back 28-plus kill matches in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament.

JON RANKIN (Men’s track and field, UCLA/Monte Vista High) – The UCLA senior broke the magical four-minute barrier in the mile and later in the month led the Bruins to a win over USC in the annual Pac-10 dual meet between the two national collegiate powers. Rankin’s time of 3 minutes, 57.89 seconds was the No. 1 mark in the world when he won the event. He became the 268th American to break the four-minute barrier and the sixth San Diegan and was named the Pac-10 track and field Athlete of the Week. On April 30, Rankin won the 800-, 1,500- races, and provided the winning points in the Bruins’ 83-80 victory over the favored Trojans when he placed third in the 5,000-meter race, the final event of the day. Rankin’s 3:40.39 in the 1,500 converts to a 3:58 mile and ranks No. 1 in the world. It was also a personal best and a school record.

PREPS

ALI HAWKINS (Girls soccer, La Jolla Country Day) – The La Jolla Country Day junior was named to the Parade magazine’s 13th annual All-America team. Hawkins, a 5-foot-8 midfielder, is the eighth San Diego girl to earn recognition as a Parade magazine All-America. She also is a member of the Under-17 Junior National team and recently announced an early commitment to accept a scholarship offer from national-power North Carolina.

CASEY HINGTGEN (Boys lacrosse, La Costa Canyon) – Casey is the team leader for the undefeated Mavericks who are the No. 1-ranked team in the western United States. He has scored four goals with eight assists from the long-stick midfield position. He has 165 groundballs (breaking his own school record of 126 set in 2004). Casey is routinely assigned to guard the other team’s top offensive player. He was named the Player of the Game by media and coaches at the First Four Tournament when LCC defeated Berkelely, 13-3.

KATE MATTOON (Girls track and field, Rancho Bernardo High) – The Notre Dame-bound senior won the girls pole vault at the Arcadia Invitational, the nation’s premier high school invitational. Mattoon won by clearing 12 feet, 3 inches. A week later she added another win at a prestigious event when she won the Mt. San Antonio College Relays with a personal record of 12-9. It was the fourth time of the year she’s cleared 12-3 or better, and the mark ranks No. 2 all-time in the CIF San Diego Section.

MELISSA MAY (Softball, Rancho Bernardo High) – The Florida State-bound senior pitcher tossed her second no-hitter of the season while leading the Broncos to the No. 1 ranking in the San Diego Section. May finished the month with a season record of 14-1 while striking out 182 batters in 101 innings. She had allowed only four runs for an ERA of 0.28. May was later named the CIF San Diego Section Player of the Year on the Breitbard All-CIF team.

VIDAL NUNO (Baseball, Sweetwater High) – The senior left-hander led Sweetwater to the first place in the Mesa League standings when he tossed a two-hitter at sixth-ranked Eastlake, the preseason favorite. The win improved Nuno’s record to 7-1 with a 1.66 ERA. Nuno also finished the month leading the San Diego Section in strikeouts with 67 in 59 innings. He is coming off an 11-3 junior season when he set a school record for most wins in a season and most strikeouts in a season with 107. Nuno later was named a first-team pick on the All-CIF team for the second straight year.

XAVIER SCRUGGS (Baseball, Poway High) – The UNLV-bound third baseman/pitcher led the Titans to two wins over Rancho Bernardo that vaulted the Titans to the top of the San Diego Section Top 10 as well as the Palomar League standings. Before the two wins, Poway had only defeated Rancho Bernardo two times in the previous 10 seasons. Scruggs, who is committed to UNLV, finished the month batting .419 (31-of-74) with 8 home runs and 32 RBI. On the mound, he was 5-0 with 35 strikeouts in 31.2 innings. Scruggs, recruited as a third baseman, also hit a grand slam in a double-header sweep of La Costa Canyon.