Rio Mesa’s Young Honored as Top Sophomore in State

So much for the infamous sophomore jinx.

After being accorded the same honor as a freshman, Dmitri Young of Rio Mesa High has been named the state sophomore baseball player of the year by Cal-Hi Sports magazine of Sacramento. In addition, eight other Valley-area players were named to divisional all-state teams by Cal-Hi.

Young batted .500 (38 for 76) with eight doubles, six home runs and 28 runs batted in. He also stole 22 bases and was named to the Cal-Hi all-underclass team as an outfielder for the second consecutive year, although he played the entire season at third base. Additionally, Young was a first-team selection to the Southern Section 4-A Division and Times All-Ventura County teams.

Anybody for a three-peat? While Young agreed that a third award would be nice, he is more concerned about improving on this year’s statistics.

“I’m a pretty modest person, so I won’t let it go to my head,� Young said. “I try to concentrate on other things, like improving, and not on awards and things like that.�

Infielders Rich Aude of Chatsworth, Tim Costic of Monroe and Gino Tagliaferri of Kennedy, catcher Casey Burrill of Hart and pitcher Roger Salkeld of Saugus were selected to Cal-Hi’s large schools team (3-A level or above).

Aude, who batted .455 with 39 RBIs, signed last week with the Pittsburgh Pirates after being selected in the second round of the June 5 free agent draft. Tagliaferri (.365, state-high 13 home runs) and Costic (.403) both will play next season at Fresno State. Burrill (.453, 39 RBIs) will play at USC and Salkeld (13-1, 0.58 earned-run average) is currently negotiating with the Seattle Mariners, who drafted him No. 3 overall. Salkeld, a right-hander, was recently named All-American by USA Today.

Pat Bryant, a junior outfielder from Cleveland who was one of three underclassmen to make the All-City Section 4-A team, was selected to this year’s Cal-Hi all-underclass team after batting .464 with 21 stolen bases.

Keyaan Cook, a junior infielder from Montclair Prep, and Frank Fernandez, a junior infielder from Moorpark, were selected to the Cal-Hi small schools team. Cook tied for the Valley-area lead among Southern Section players with nine home runs and batted .500 with 35 RBIs. Fernandez led Ventura County players with a .507 batting average. The Cal-Hi small schools division includes teams at the 1-A level and below.