POWER RANKINGS: Why Mandy Pongs is #1

Choy’s Mt. SAC Power Rankings
By James Choy
The following is a bi-monthly list of the top 10 current Mt. SAC athletes during the winter-spring season effective till Feb. 4.


10 Aiona Key / M Basketball / Mesa Verde --- His vertical leap is jaw-dropping but his body control and intelligence is something to see.

9 Keyshawn Ross / M Basketball / El Camino Real --- His low-post presence is vital to the team but his ability to rebound and score is an asset without another big man to help him.

8 Richie Escalera / Baseball / South Hills --- He led the team in home runs and RBI’s last year and will be every bit as important in leading the team not with his talent but with his overall makeup.

7 Versia Hodges / M Basketball / Don Lugo --- Hodges is a leader and the true facilitator of the Mountie offense. His adept ability to bob and weave allows him to be one of the quickest but also one of the deadliest guards in the conference.

6 Liz Javier / Softball / Warren --- Javier had a eight-for-11 outing in a two-day doubleheader this past weekend. She’s already making a name for herself as a freshman phenom.

5 Kadie Baldwin / Softball / Santiago --- Coach Kelly Ford shouldn’t think of ever taking Kadie out of the number one slot. She’s 10-for-12 right now and is leading the team in batting average. She and Javier are killing the baseball right now.

4 Carmen Deal / W Basketball / Desert Pines --- Deal recently was injured and possibly might affect the team tremendously. Her 16.0 point avg. 8.9 rebounds a game may hurt if no one fills her shoes.

3 Gregg Winger / Baseball / Canyon --- The past weekend had Winger batting .450 with three RBI’s and three runs scored. His hitting is impressive as of late.

2 Jazlyn Davis / W Basketball / E.L. Bowsher --- Davis has a 51.1% field-goal pct. averaging 17.8 points a game. She’s undoubtedly the MVP of the league right now.

1 Mandy Pongs / Softball / Ayala --- Three games of outstanding pitching in two days plus an astounding batting performance has her as the #1 player right now in Mt. SAC undoubtedly.

ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN:
Gary McNellys
Chris Carrico
Francesca Gonzales
Sahfiya Brown
Matt Morse
Shelair Rowell

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The argument of who is #1 between two athletes, Mandy Pongs and Jazlyn Davis can easily be decided on amount of play alone.

Davis is already 20+ games into the season having already produced stats good enough to be noted as the obvious #1 player.

So why does Pongs get the #1 ranking?

Both the basketball and the softball team are coming into the season as defending state champs. Davis has become the go-to player in the times when the Mounties are looking for a leader. However, Pongs is also a leader in her own right taking the mound a number of times--recently pitching three straight games and striking out 17 batters already early in the season with only four games played. But also including the post-season last year--Pongs was awarded All-Tournament MVP not just from pitching alone but also her ability to hit the ball as well. Pongs' batting average currently is at .417 having already hit a home run and 4 RBI's. Only Francesca Gonzales, Kadie Baldwin and Liz Javier is higher. Pongs' performance has continued to carry over from last season into this season and pretty much seems to remain consistent.

Mandy's pitching aside from teammate Shelair Rowell is at the top. She ranks #2 currently in the conference in pitching in all categories and is on pace to possibly being a two-time MVP considering if all goes perfect for the Mounties---but that's premature for now.

Davis was a factor in last season's run to a championship however with her company, she's had the presence of Chari Smith and Tay Hester who were the primary go-to players during the season. Davis provided a backup role in which her presence became significant to maintaining the Mounties' stability during games that were close. The numbers for Davis are much higher this year but not so high from last year obviously from not being the first option player.

The impact from last season carries weight to declare Pongs as the #1 player currently. However within the two weeks that surpasses, anything can happen and could happen resulting in a much different outcome.


OTHER INFORMATION ON OTHER PLAYERS:

Carmen Deal's MCL sprain is sought to be not serious and is on crutches for precautionary reasons. Basketball coach Laura Beeman has specified that Deal is fine and is just taking necessary steps in recovering progressively.

Baldwin and Javier are producing well amongst both of them when combining team stats with the rest. Both together are 16-for-23 in at-bats and are showing early signs of power and production for the team.

Surprisingly, Gonzales is coming through but in a more gradual sense. I was looking to see an instantaneous start from her with a combination of longballing and power-hitting. Despite that in 12 at-bats, she's come through with 5 hits, one RBI, one run scored thus far. She'll definitely be looked at as the games go on.

On the men's side, Gregg Winger has had a great past weekend producing hits and runs scored and is bringing his hitting ability into the limelight.

Alike Gonzales, Richie Escalera is gradually making his production known from the past weekend. Despite the 0-for-4 day against Riverside, Escalera has had a great freshman season and very likely will bring it through as the season goes on for him.

One name to really look at is Corwin Kim a freshman left-fielder, who currently has brought some lift in his hitting and is a name not mentioned in the rankings but is one to look at as weeks go by.

In men's basketball, Versia Hodges, Keyshawn Ross, Gary McNellys and Aiona Key all are showing promise as their team slowly begins to develop through each game. Despite a 9-13 record, the vibe amongst the teammates is growing postively and under the watch of Coach Criss Freeman, in due time you may see two of these four climb in rankings as well. All eyes will be on them.


For comments, questions --- send emails to James909@gmail.com.