Maria Carrillo grad Andrew Vaughn soaks in 1st game in San Francisco as member of White Sox

Earlier this week, former Casa Grande baseball star Spencer Torkelson played in San Francisco for the first time in his MLB career.

On Friday, it was Santa Rosa native Andrew Vaughn’s turn.

The Chicago White Sox, the team that drafted the 2016 Maria Carrillo grad third overall in the 2019 MLB draft, opened a three-game weekend series with a 1-0 win over the Giants on Friday night. Batting as the designated hitter in the No. 2 spot in the lineup, Vaughn went 1 for 4, doubling in his final at-bat in the eighth inning.

The 24-year-old has been one of Chicago’s most consistent hitters in just his second season in the bigs. He arrived in San Francisco with a .307 batting average, seven home runs and 33 RBIs, well on pace to eclipse his numbers from his rookie season last year.

“You gotta see him every day to believe it but he plays like he’s been in the league five, six, seven years,” said White Sox manager Tony La Russa. “Very, very smart, very advanced as a hitter and as a player.”

While Friday was not the first time that Vaughn has played in the Bay Area since making his major league debut last season — the White Sox played in Oakland last September — it was the first time that he played in San Francisco, where he went to games with his family and friends while growing up.

“It was definitely different,” Vaughn said in the locker room after Friday’s game. “I mean, I’ve been in the league for a little over a year now, so I’ve seen a lot of stadiums, but this one kind of struck home. It’s just like, this is pretty surreal.”

There were plenty of Vaughn jerseys on display Friday night. A collection of his friends, his sister, Madison, and his fiance, Lexi, sat out in the bleachers while his parents, Toby and Diana, were with other family and close friends about 30 rows up the first base line in section 107.

And that was likely just the tip of the iceberg. Diana said she lost track of how many people reached out over the last few days.

“There’s a lot of people here that I don’t even realize are here because he’s a good kid and a lot of people respect him,” she said.

Toby was at Oracle Park early Friday to watch batting practice. He had driven Vaughn down to the city after he spent Thursday back home in Santa Rosa. Vaughn caught up on some sleep in the morning, then went out fishing Thursday afternoon with his dad.

It felt like old times, his parents said.

“He’s just Andrew, if that makes sense,” Diana said. “He’s the same person he’s always been. He hasn’t changed.”

They were at his MLB debut last April and have caught nearly a dozen of his games in person since. They were in Southern California earlier in the week to watch the White Sox series against the Los Angeles Angels and have plans to watch him play in Colorado at the end of July.

“Oh, here, it’s cool,” Toby said. “Place close to home, where he grew up. He’s pretty excited to be here, and so are we.”

Vaughn grew up with baseball as a constant presence in his life, but had other loves, too, like fishing. He and Toby attended Giants games when he was younger and he recalls watching the MLB All-Star Game in San Francisco in 2007, seeing Barry Bonds during his home run record chase and watching players like Buster Posey and Brandon Crawford become fan favorites.

“You know I fell in love with those guys as a fan,” he said. “They were awesome to watch.”

Vaughn has been a star at every level. He was a feared hitter in Mark West Little League, as a four-year varsity starter at Maria Carrillo High School and during a decorated three-year stint at Cal.

In 110 career prep games, he hit .380 with 29 doubles and 76 RBIs but just one home run, which came his senior year. He developed the power he displays now at Cal, where he hit 50 home runs with 163 RBIs and a .374 batting average. As a sophomore in 2018, he won the Golden Spikes Award, the most prestigious award given in college baseball, and finished as a finalist for it in 2019. During his collegiate summers he also played for the Healdsburg Prune Packers of the California Collegiate League.

“Watching the kid play through high school and in college, it’s amazing how much better he has made himself,” said Dion Noonan, a close family friend who coached him in Little League.

Noonan and the Vaughns have been close for years. He and Toby both coached together at Santa Rosa Junior College and eventually in Mark West Little League when Noonan’s son, Jared, and Vaughn were both growing up. Fittingly, Noonan was sitting with the Vaughns in their family section on Friday. He said that watching Vaughn play against the Giants, his favorite team, was a “no-lose” situation.

“Always been a huge Giants fan,” he said, “but I’m an Andrew Vaughn fan before I’m a Giants fan.”

The homecomings of both Vaughn and Torkelson this week underscore the amount of baseball talent that’s come out of Sonoma County in recent years. The region has produced its fair share of big leaguers over the last several decades — the Gomes brothers, Jonny and Joey; Brandon Morrow, Casey Fien and Jason Lane, to name a few — but the quantity, and quality, recently is arguably unmatched.

When Vaughn was selected as the No. 3 overall pick in 2019, he was far and away the highest local draft pick ever. That was before Torkelson was selected first overall a year later.

As of Friday, Sonoma County had four natives in the majors. Along with Vaughn and Torkelson, there’s Anthony Bender (Miami Marlins) and Jason Alexander (Milwaukee Brewers). Others, like Justin Bruihl, Garret Hill, Jake Scheiner and Scott Alexander, are currently in the upper levels of the minor leagues.

Then there are the coaches. Lane is currently on Milwaukee’s staff, Brandon Hyde is the manager of the Baltimore Orioles with fellow Sonoma County native Tim Cossins on his staff, Tommy Everidge is the hitting coach for the Oakland A’s and Tony Arnerich has the same role for the Seattle Mariners.

Noonan and the Vaughns were back out at Oracle Park on Saturday and will be there again for the series finale on Sunday. With Vaughn living in Chicago during the season, they’ll take advantage of any chance they get to see him play.

“It’s the best feeling in the world,” Noonan said of watching his former Little Leaguer play in San Francisco. “It’s cool in the simple sense of this is what he’s always wanted to do. He’s always talked about playing here, but it’s his first time here and it’s very cool.”

You can reach Staff Writer Gus Morris at 707-304-9372 or gus.morris@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @JustGusPD.