High stakes achievers make up CCCSIA April/May Athletes of the Month

Jeter Ybarra

Risa Akatsu

Ohlone College baseball phenom Jeter Ybarra and Santa Monica swimming sensation Risa Akatsu were named April's best while Saddleback track and field star Jolie Robinson and Folsom Lake golfer Giacomo Sorrentino were chosen May's CCCSIA State Athletes of the Month. The four were state leaders and record setters for their respective colleges.

As the April Men's AOTM, Ybarra batted .522 with one home run, nine doubles and 29 RBI in a perfect 12-0 month by Ohlone as the team won the Coast Conference South Division with also an unblemished 20-0 record. A freshman third baseman from Saint Francis High (Mountain View), Ybarra helped the Renegades to an amazing 36-game win streak during the regular season as the team then finished third at the CCCAA State Championships at Folsom Lake. Ybarra was named All-American First Team after leading the state in RBI (71), hits (92) and doubles (24). He was second overall in batting average at .444. Ybarra hit safely in 49 of the Renegades' 51 games.

He has just earned a scholarship to attend and play at NCAA Division I University of Washington. Ybarra is the first Ohlone athlete to win the AOTM since March, 2011 by another baseball player Ryan Tella and fifth Renegade to ever win the award.

April Women's AOTM Akatsu, an international student from Japan, was a dynamo for SMC at the Western State Conference Swim Championships April 21-23. She set two conference records in winning the 200-yard individual medley and 200 butterfly while also winning the 200 freestyle as WSC Swimmer of the Meet. Akatsu then at the early May CCCAA State Meet (held at East Los Angeles College's Swim Stadium) put on a show by winning gold medals in all three events and setting the state's fastest times--2:08.36 in the 200 IM, 2:07.76 in the 200 fly, and 1:52.84 in the 200 free. The Corsair was named the State Swimmer of the Meet and she is the college's first-ever winner of the AOTM award.

Like Akatsu in swimming, Robinson showed incredible versatility in track and field as the May Women's Athlete of the Month. Already the conference's Heptathlon champion, Robinson won a remarkable five events at the Orange Empire Conference Championships on April 30 including the long jump, triple jump, javelin and 100-meter hurdles titles. A woman of strong endurance, she also placed third in the high jump, fifth in the shot put, and even helped the Bobcats' two relay squads to a pair of second place finishes. On May 13 at the SoCal Championships, Robinson kept her momentum going with first place finishes in the long jump and javelin. That set up Robinson's tour de force at the CCCAA State Meet held at Mt. San Antonio College on May 19-20. A freshman from Mission Viejo's Capistrano Valley High, she set a school record in winning the state Heptathlon title with 4,651 points.

Robinson also caputured gold medals in the javelin (130-10 feet) and long jump (18-11.25) in helping Saddleback to its highest women's track finish in school history in third place. She was named Outstanding Women's Field Performer of the state meet. Robinson is the first AOTM from Saddleback since 2017 and sixth ever chosen. 

As the Men's May AOTM, Sorrentino saved his best for last at the CCCAA State Men's Golf Championship on May 16 at Soboba Springs Golf Course in San Jacinto. After transferring from American River because it couldn't field a team, Sorrentino was not the most standout golfer at first for the FLC. In fact, he did not finish in the top 12 at the NorCal Championships that had the individual medalist in teammate Hayden Herrick. But at state, Sorrentino shot an impressive 69, including four birdies, on the opening 18 to stay within a stroke of then leader Clayton Smith of Saddleback. In the second round, he stayed bogey-free, shot a 70 and his 139 total made him state individual champion.

Sorrentino, from Davis High, also became the first Folsom Lake state champion in any sport and is just the second ever AOTM chosen from the college (the first was women's soccer Samantha Madsen, October, 2013). 

Jolie Robinson

Giacomo Sorrentino

Release by Robert Lewis, for the CCCSIA