Prep Softball All-Metro: On the mound and at the plate, our MVP did it all
Numbers don’t tell the whole story, but they tell a lot of Aissa Silva’s story.
First, there are these from the Elk Grove High School pitcher: 0.54 ERA and 320 strikeouts in 167 innings of work.
She allowed six extra-base hits all season. In her worst games, she allowed three earned runs.
But Silva locked up The Sacramento Bee’s MVP award by also contributing at the plate. She had her team’s only home run and her eight triples were as many as the rest of the Thundering Herd combined to hit.
In a year with myriad great stories and efforts, nobody was more valuable to their team than Silva. And it almost didn’t pan out this way. Her travel club didn’t let her bat last year, so Silva was pretty rusty for the first few weeks of the season. But she wasn’t going to let a little thing like not facing live pitching for nine months slow her down.
“I think her work ethic is what impresses me the most about her,” coach Amanda Buck said. “She’s not your typical pitcher. She works harder than everybody. Sometimes, I have to tell her don’t slide, don’t slide, and she’s still going headfirst into bags.”
Silva laughed when she heard what her coach said. Yeah, she tends to go all-out at pretty much everything. That’s a family trait. So when it came time to relearn how to hit, she got into the batting cage to figure it out.
“Although we really hate the machine, because it is a pain to hit off of. At the end of the day, I believe our hitting did get better because we hit the machine so much,” Silva said. “(Buck) ended up getting another machine with a changeup and that’s the reason I was able to get to some pitchers’ changeups.”
Her work on the pitching mound was never in much doubt. Batters had just a .116 on-base percentage against Silva. As a lefty she already has a little advantage over hitters. Buck says Silva has a lethal combination of both speed and spin to keep hitters off-balance.
“She hardly ever misses a pitch, that’s what I like most about her,” Buck said.
With Silva on the mound for most of the innings, Elk Grove started the season 12-0. The Herd stopped a 49-game win streak from Sutter High. They beat Sierra Foothill League teams Rocklin, Whitney and Del Oro.
But the young Elk Grove team just couldn’t get past Sheldon or St. Francis. Sheldon won a pair of regular season games over Elk Grove en route to winning the Delta League and went on to win the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I tournament. St. Francis won two regular season games and then knocked Elk Grove out of the Sac-Joaquin Section’s Division II semifinals.
There’s unfinished business ahead for Silva and Buck. Both player and coach credit Silva’s family with fostering her competitive spirit.
“I’m super competitive. It runs in my family. We’re super competitive when we do anything,” Silva said. “As the phrase says, you play the way you practice. If you’re not working hard in practice, it’s going to show during the game. It’s not going to help my teammates if I’m not going 100% on something.”
Silva obviously likes her team’s chances next season. Sure, Elk Grove only hit one home run this season. But time is still on their side.
“Everyone’s gonna grow a little more, get a little stronger, have a great summer and I think we’re going to come back next year and hopefully try to get a ring again,” she said.
That pitching machine in the batting cage will be waiting for all of them.
Coach of the Year: Stefanie Danna, Sutter High School
For the second year in a row, Danna earns a coach of the year nod. Sutter steamrolled most of the Northern Section competition. Then, in the first Northern California region tournament, the Huskies beat Central 2-1 to win the region’s only NorCal title.
It helps when you have a stud pitcher like Riley Wickum on the mound. The Cal State Northridge-bound senior threw seven no-hitters en route to amassing a 0.41 ERA and striking out 303 batters. She hit .470 at the plate and drove in 35 RBIs.
Emma Jolley hit .500 with 11 home runs to power the offense; twin sister Avery Jolley hit .441 and scored 21 runs.
In all, Sutter had 11 players who hit better than .300, and Danna’s coaching had more than a little to do with their approach to the game. It was a season for the record books.
All-Metro team
This is our pared-down, post-COVID-19 All-Metro Softball Team. Our formula is based in part on stats, taking into consideration strength of schedule, all-league lists, defensive play, team success and personal observation. We have 15-player first and second teams.
First Team
Player of the Year: Aissa Silva, Jr., P, Elk Grove
Tayler Biehl, Sr., SS, Vista del Lago
Emma Falen, Sr., P, Folsom
Hazyl Gray, Sr., P, Vanden
Caroline Grimes, Sr., P, Del Oro
Remmington Hewitt, Sr., SS, East Nicolaus
Hope Jenkins, Sr., P, St. Francis
Grace Jenkins, Sr., C, St. Francis
Malaya Johnson, Sr., P, Roseville
Dakota Kennedy, Sr., OF, Sheldon
Meika Lauppe, Sr., P East Nicolaus
Shaylen McDowell, Sr., SS, Roseville
Olivia Robison, Sr., C, Del Oro
Mia Santos, Sr., OF, Vanden
Riley Wickum, Sr., P, Sutter
Reina Zermeno, Sr., Util, Sheldon.
Second Team
Jenna Birch, Sr., 2B, Del Oro
Jenissa Conway, Jr., OF, Marysville
Ava Domenici, Sr., P, Lincoln
Haylee Englebright, Sr., SS, Del Oro
Diana Hull, Sr., C, River Valley
Brianna Humpheries, Sr., SS, Dixon
Ella Jolly, Sr., SS, Sutter
Kealani Nitta, Jr., OF, Franklin
Jaylee Oja, Sr., 1B/P, Sheldon
Bree Romero, Sr., P, Sheldon
Sammi Smith, Sr., C, Vista del Lago
Zereniti Souza, Jr., C, Wheatland
Ava Tingey, Sr., OF, Lincoln
Maddie Ullensvang, Jr., OF, Rio Americano
Brielle Wright, Sr., P, Rocklin
Honorable Mentions
Serena Abar, Sr., McClatchy; Amy Auberg, Sr., St. Francis; Syd Barker, So., Rocklin; Mo Berner, Sr., Elk Grove; Jerzie Brown, Jr., East Nicolaus; Charlize Cai, So.,Vista del Lago; Gracie Carpenter, Jr., Folsom; Hailey Castanon, Sr., Taylor Fitsgerald, So., Elk Grove; Hailey Castanon, Sr., OF, Woodland Christian; Alyssa Flindt, Fr., Whitney; Bella Garcia, Sr., Rocklin; Audrey Graham, So., Dixon; Alex Hooper, Sr., Colfax; Mariah Hopkins, Jr., Cordova; Madeline Lawson, Fr., Pleasant Grove; Kayla Macias, Jr., River City; Kendal Manley, Sr., Del Oro; Grace Matej, Sr., Capital Christian; Morgan McMillan, Sr., Woodcreek; Soly Morin, McClatchy; Whitney Montoya, Jr., Ponderosa; Chase Mueller, So., Ponderosa; Sydney Murphy, So., Cordova; Kylie Nelson, Sr., Granite Bay; Savanna Newman, Fr, Pleasant Grove; Makayla Newsom, Sr., Roseville; Granite Bay; Ana Niles, Jr., Ponderosa; Avery Seva, Jr., Granite Bay; Samantha Ream, Ponderosa; Hailey Scott, Sr., Folsom; Mia Reyes, Sr., Laguna Creek; Samantha Stoll, Jr., Inderkum; Morgan Sweet, Jr., Vista del Lago; Rylie Trujillo, Jr., Center.