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Athlete of the Week Baseball Basketball Long Beach Poly Long Beach State Millikan Soccer Softball St. Anthony Tennis

The562.org’s Athletes of the Week

Congratulations to our winners and thanks to Naples Rib Company for their sponsorship.

HIGH SCHOOL

Kenny Barnabee, Long Beach Poly Baseball/Soccer

It was a big week for Poly’s Kenny Barnabee, who led the Jackrabbits to wins in two sports. He scored a goal in the school’s first-round CIF soccer playoff win then went ⅔ with 2 RBIs in Poly’s baseball win over Millikan, scoring the game-tying run on a triple.

George Ashley, St. Anthony Basketball

George Ashley led the Saints with 16 points in a win over Serra, allowing St. Anthony to stay atop the standings in the Del Rey League heading into a big showdown with St. Bernard.

Andy Nguyen, Millikan Tennis

Millikan’s Andy Nguyen became the fourth sibling in his family to win a Moore League championship last week, defeating Nolan Alvarez 6-0, 6-2 in the singles championship.

Hannah Marshall, Millikan Soccer

Hannah Marshall had a huge game for Millikan in a 6-0 blowout of JSerra in the first round of the playoffs last week. Marshall scored two goals in the first 15 minutes of the game to give the Rams the lead, and they never looked back.

Victoria Byrum, Millikan Softball

Millikan softball pitcher Victoria Byrum came up huge for the Rams last week in a thrilling 2-0 win over Wilson. Byrum had a complete-game three-hit shutout to lead Millikan to victory, striking out seven batters.

Bella Alonso, Long Beach Poly Softball

Poly beat Lakewood on the diamond last week for the first time in 15 years, and it was a total team effort with clutch pitching and hitting. Bella Alonso was the standout in the circle allowing six hits and three runs in the win, walking no batters and striking out five.

COLLEGE

Jason Smith, Long Beach State Track

Long Beach State’s Jason Smith was named Athlete of the Meet at the Big West championship last weekend, after individual wins in the high jump and long jump. He’s just the second Big West athlete ever to double in those events.

Kellie White, Long Beach State Softball

Needing a sweep against previously unbeaten Cal State Fullerton, senior Kellie White pitched all 21 innings in three wins including a complete-game shutout with eight strikeouts to win the Big West title in a 1-0 victory on Saturday.

 

Mike Guardabascio
An LBC native, Mike Guardabascio has been covering Long Beach sports professionally for 13 years, with his work published in dozens of Southern California magazines and newspapers. He's won numerous awards for his writing as well as the CIF Southern Section’s Champion For Character Award, and is the author of three books about Long Beach history.
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