Empire notebook: Casa Grande grad back for more Pac-12 baseball

In his sophomore campaign, Arizona State first baseman Spencer Torkelson is putting up solid numbers.

Through last week, the Casa Grande grad was hitting .379 in 64 at-bats with a .530 slugging percentage and 20 RBIs.

Torkelson had a phenomenal freshman season in which he was the national home run champion, with 25, and won Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, among other accolades.

Torkelson had recorded two homers heading into the three-game home stand with Washington State over the weekend. The Sun Devils are currently ranked 25th in the nation among Division I programs.

Ramirez, Hong first at Albiani meet

SRJC freshman Jackie Ramirez, who prepped at El Molino, won the 800-meter race at the Modesto Jack Albiani Invitational on March 8 with a time of 2:34. Her sister, Evelin, finished third in 2:40.

Tom Hong, a sophomore who prepped at Maria Carrillo, won the pole vault for the Bear Cubs after he posted a personal record by clearing 14 feet, 1¼ inches.

Montgomery grad and freshman Waisea Jikoiono took second place in the high jump with a leap of 6 feet, 4¾ inches. His best of the season is 6 feet, 7½ inches.

Miranda Huntsinger, out of Maria Carrillo, finished third in the 1,500 meters in 5:32. It was a personal best.

Dana Johnson, a freshman who prepped at Santa Rosa, finished third in the 3K steeplechase in 13:31, also a personal record.

Herrfeldt feeling it at the plate

Cardinal Newman baseball's quick start comes courtesy, in part, of some hot bats. Through last week, junior Sean Latham was hitting .400 and senior Nick George was hitting .500.

But senior Jordan Herrfeldt was putting up eye-popping numbers. Through the Cardinals' game with Montgomery last week, Herrfeldt was hitting .786 in 14 plate appearances.

Gauchos take lacrosse top spot

The Casa Grande girls lacrosse squad is 5-5 overall and 3-0 in the North Bay League after beating Justin-Siena 16-10 on the road Thursday.

The win sets up a contest with crosstown rival Petaluma on March 26. The Trojans sit atop the NBL with an undefeated record.

Cardinal Newman was 3-1 and Justin-Siena fell to 2-1 heading into their matchup Tuesday afternoon.

Seawolf golfer is player of the week

Sonoma State freshman golfer Megan DaLeo shared CCAA Women's Golfer of the Week honors for March 6-12.

She split the nod with Jaime Jacob, a junior out of Cal State San Marcos, after the pair posted identical scores at the CSU San Marcos Fujikura Invitational on March 12.

DaLeo, who prepped at Plano Senior High in Texas, shot a 73 and 72 and is ranked 15th in the nation, according to Golfstat. It's the third time this season that DaLeo has earned player of the week honors.

From Tiger to Aggie

Analy high school senior Charlie Janssen is set to be an Aggie. The senior goalkeeper on the Tigers' soccer team has committed to playing at UC Davis in the fall.

Analy went 9-7-3 overall and 4-5-2 in the North Bay League-Redwood Division last season. Janssen will join Maria Carrillo's Ryan Dieter, who is also signed on to play for UC Davis.

Hot bats for Jaguars

It's early in the season and the weather hasn't quite cooperated, but the Windsor High softball team is off to a 2-1 start thanks to some solid hitting from junior Gracie Hernandez, junior Kasandra Jaramillo and sophomore Savanna Cordova.

The trio is hitting .667, .500 and .500, respectively, for the Jags. Windsor suffered its first and only loss of the new season when the Jaguars fell 5-2 to Napa at Keiser Park on Thursday.

Next up is a home game against Alhambra High on Saturday. North Bay League-Oak play is scheduled to begin April 2 when the Jaguars travel to Rancho Cotate to play the Cougars.

You can reach staff columnist Kerry Benefield at 707-526-8671 or kerry.benefield@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @benefield