WILL CHATFIELD GO FROM YALE TO MLB?
Jimmy Chatfield has been around the game long enough to know pro baseball scouts will find talented players whether they play on the West Coast, the Great Plains or the East Coast — high school or college.
“I had schools like San Diego State and USD interested, but my dad (Jim) played football at the Naval Academy, so I was looking at academic schools,” said Chatfield, a multisport athlete while at Francis Parker.
Jimmy chose to play in the Ivy League at Yale, and after some early struggles, emerged this season as a prospect.
Wearing No. 4, his father's number when he played at Navy, Jimmy is a junior pitcher/right fielder, who has three years of college eligibility remaining.
He hit .303 this season with eight homers and a team-leading 30 RBIs. He also led the team in walks (34) and was hit by a pitch 10 times. Plus, he stole 10 bases, starting all 38 games for a team that was 20-18.
On the mound, he made three starts and was 2-1 with a 3.00 ERA with a fastball that touched 95 mph and sits at 92.
He was named team MVP at a ceremony.
“Yale was definitely the right choice for me,” Chatfield said by phone from Massachusetts, where he had just finished filling out an MLB Draft questionnaire.
“I'm getting a great education, and the scouts know where I am.”
Chatfield started at Yale as an economics major, but has been drawn to film, especially screen writing.
“I love writing, love story telling,” said Chatfield, who plans to play the 2023 season at Yale, graduate, then move to USC as a graduate transfer for the school's prestigious film school.
“I wrote music in Nashville and didn't like it much. The trend in the industry right now is on TV, but my interest is in full-length films.”
With the MLB Draft down to 20 rounds from 40 just a couple of years ago, Chatfield has no idea if he'll get drafted.
He most definitely wants to graduate from Yale, so that plays into any decisions he'll make on the draft, which is July 17-19.
“The pros are interested in me as a pitcher,” Chatfield said. “I enjoy pitching more
than hitting because pitchers are in charge when they're out there.
“Since I didn't play much my first two years at Yale, I was kind of a mystery. Turns out they needed me more in the outfield, and I worked my way up from hitting seventh in the order to hitting in the middle of the order.”
Chatfield had one of his best games when Yale came to the West Coast to play Cal Baptist. He had a five-RBI game with former Parker coach David Glassey in attendance.
“I love David Glassey, really enjoyed playing for him,” Chatfield said. “There were about 25 people from home there. I'm so glad I was able to play well with him watching.”
Now Chatfield, who is playing this summer for the Mystic Schooners in the New England Collegiate League, will have to weigh his options
with the draft fast approaching.
Baseball
Derek Diamond (Ramona) was part of an Ole Miss team that beat Oklahoma two straight to win the College World Series. Diamond was 4-4, appearing in 16 games with 14 starts. He pitched 651⁄3 innings in 57 strikeouts, making a start against Arizona in the Coral Gables Regional. Ole Miss, which was 7-14 in March, finished the season 42-23, winning 10 of 11 NCAA Tournament games.
• Shortstop Zach Prajzner (San Marcos) hit .282 with six homers, 44 runs and 35 RBIs for a Notre Dame team that advanced to the College World Series, beating Texas before losing to Oklahoma and Texas A&M. In 12 postseason games, he hit .250, scored five runs and had seven RBIs with a pair of
homers. Prajzner was an ACC All-Academic on a team that finished 41-17.
• Harrison Rodgers (Scripps Ranch), a sophomore infielder, hit .338 with 12 homers, 14 doubles and 49 RBIs for Colorado Mesa, which won the NCAA Division II South Central Regional. A first-team all-conference player, he was 10 of 16 with 14 RBIs in the conference tournament, and he had a three-RBI game against Angelo State in the Super Regional.
• Omar Lopez (Otay Ranch) hit .333 with 9 homers, 11 doubles and 44 RBIs on an Azusa Pacific team that finished 38-19, losing to Point Loma Nazarene in the NCAA Division II Super Regionals. In seven playoff games, he hit .629 with four homers, a double, a triple and had 11 RBIs. David Wylie (La Jolla Country Day) was 1-0 in 16 appearances for APU.
• Aidan Risse (La Jolla County Day) was 5-4 with a 4.93 ERA at Bard College in New York. He led the team in innings (552⁄3) and strikeouts (49). He had a season high nine strikeouts against Skidmore.
All-American
Cydney Sanders (San Marcos) hit .425 with a teamleading 21 homers and 63 RBIs for Arizona State and was named a softball firstteam All-American, one of only two freshmen on the three All-American teams. Sanders, a first baseman who started all 54 games for ASU, also led the team in walks (45) and had 14 doubles and scored 62 runs for the Sun Devils, who finished 43-11.
Softball
UCLA advanced to the Women's College World Series (WCWS), finally losing to Oklahoma. Megan Faraimo (Cathedral Catholic) was the ace of the Bruins' pitching staff, finishing 24-5 with seven saves with a 1.98 ERA. She threw 198 innings with 38 walks and 292 strikeouts on a team that was 51-10. Faraimo was named second-team AllAmerican. Seneca Curo (Ramona) hit .253 with a homer and 23 RBIs. Alyssa Garcia (Mater Dei Catholic) hit .333 with two homers and 14 RBIs. The Bruins were hurt by injuries to Lexi Sosa (Mater Dei Catholic) and
Aaliyah Jordan (Bonita Vista). Both were injured early in the season and are expected to return.
• Lauren Dvorak and
Sammy Stanley (La Jolla Country Day) helped Northwestern reach the WCWS. Dvorak, a pitcher, made 23 appearances, going 7-4 with a save. Stanley, an outfielder, was used mainly as a pinchrunner, scoring 13 times for a team that finished 45-13 and won the Big Ten championship, beat Oakland and McNeese in the Evanston Regional, and Arizona State in the Super Regional before losing to Oklahoma and UCLA in the WCWS.
• Catcher Sharlize Palacios (Eastlake) hit .348 with 18 homers and 57 RBIs for an Arizona team that advanced to the WCWS. Hannah Bowen (Ramona) was 10-4 with two saves and a 2.06 ERA in 102 innings for the Wildcats, who finished 41-16.
• Peyton Tidd (San Marcos) was 15-5 with a pair of saves at Notre Dame, a team that lost to McNeese in the
NCAA Regionals. She led the team with 15 wins, 1302⁄3 innings, 32 appearances and nine complete games. She also hit .279 with four homers and 14 RBIs on a team that finished 40-12.
• Shortstop Lexi Orozco (San Marcos) has transferred from Utah State to Notre Dame. She hit .354 with 12 homers, 13 doubles and 36 RBIs last season for Utah State. She holds the school record for home runs (36) and RBIs (138).
• Maya McLeod (La Jolla Country Day) capped a great career at Juniata College in Pennsylvania by hitting a team-leading .362. She also led the team in homers (four), RBIs (24), runs (26) and walks (24).
• Lauren Ziment (La Jolla Country Day) hit .340 with nine doubles and 16 RBIs at Pomona-Pitzer.
Swimming
McKenzie Kelly (La Jolla Country Day) helped Pepperdine to its first conference championship in 36 years. She was part of a 200 freestyle relay team that clocked 1:34.24 to break the school record, advancing to the NCAA Zone E Regionals in Flagstaff.
Golf
Four local players had a big impact on the USC golf team this season. Freshman
Jackson Rivera (Torrey Pines) led the Trojans with 37 rounds and had a teamlow 71.70 stroke average. He was sixth at the Pac-12 championships and 10th at the NCAA Stockton Regional.
Krando Nishiba (La Jolla Country Day) played 22 rounds, averaging 73.95. He was 27th at the Pac-12 championships. Shane Ffrench (Classical Academy) averaged 75.17 over 24 rounds.
Parker Sisk (Valhalla) averaged 77.72 over nine rounds.
Football
Chris Olave (Mission Hills), an All-American receiver at Ohio State and a first-round pick of the New Orleans Saints, along with his brothers Isaiah and Josh, will hold a free football clinic on July 7 at Mission Hills High. The clinic is open to players third grade through 11th and will run from 4-7 p.m. Players can register at hardcountathletics.com. Registration closes July 3.