PACIFIC COAST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE / MAY 8, 2017
Men's AOTW honors go to Griffs' Burkey, Comets' Buck
Grossmont College baseball third baseman Justen Burkey and Palomar first baseman Grant Buck are the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference Men's Athletes of the Week.
Burkey, a sophomore from San Pasqual High School, slugged a grand-slam home run and a solo homer as the PCAC champion Griffins clubbed visiting Irvine Valley 13-3 to sweep the teams' first-round best-of-3 Southern California Regional series 2-0. Burkey drove in five of Grossmont's 13 runs in the game.
Burkey also doubled to drive in a run as the Griffins won the first game of the series 9-2. He's hitting .365 overall and batted .392 in conference games for Grossmont, which is seeded No. 2 in the Regionals.
Burkey has signed with the NAIA's Clarke University.
Buck, a sophomore out of Carlsbad High School who has signed with NCAA Division I Houston Baptist University, went 6-for-14 as the Comets dropped their first-round Southern California Regional playoff series to Los Angeles Mission 2 games to 1 to finish their season 32-10.
Buck slugged a two-run home run in the first game of the series.
Honorable mention selections were Palomar baseball player Gabe Willes, San Diego Mesa diver Jesse Vanderkolk and Cuyamaca track & field distance runner Steven Lepe.
Willes, the Comets' freshman second baseman from La Costa Canyon High who whose future plans are to return to Palomar after serving a Mormon mission, went 6-for-13 with two doubles in the series with L.A. Mission.
Vanderkolk, a sophomore out of Eisenhower High School in New Berlin, Wisconsin, placed fourth in the state meet in 1-meter diving for the Olympians, totaling 168.85 points.
Lepe, a Monte Vista High School product who originally competed for Southwestern, placed second in the Southern California Championships' 10,000-meter race at Cerritos College's Falcon Stadium. He was timed in 31:41.39 in the race, the only finals event in what otherwise were the Southern California Prelins. Lepe has signed with the NAIA's Missouri Valley College.
http://www.paccoastconf.com/index.htm