PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Eliyah Flores, Senior, Grand Terrace
Having long since committed to the University of Oklahoma and having already won a CIF Southern Section title, Grand Terrace senior third baseman Eliyah Flores could have relaxed for her senior season.
But for the fourth straight season, she batted over .450 while helping lead the Titans to the CIF-SS Division 1 semifinals, and she earned all-Sun Player of the Year honors for 2017. She’s the second straight Sun Player of the Year to be from Grand Terrace and going to Oklahoma, joining Melanie Olmos.
Her coach, Bobby Flores (no relation), has high praise for Eliyah Flores and was impressed with her senior season beyond the statistics.
“The thing with Eliyah, when she started, everything (was hit to the) left side. Over time, she started learning to slow down and go right side,” Bobby Flores said. “Now, she’s a combination of Frank Thomas and Tony Gwynn in one. She’s on a roll now. If she needs to get a run across, she can punch the ball to the right side. She’s the best pure hitter I’ve ever coached in 20 years of coaching.”
For her senior season, she batted .494 with 11 doubles, three triples, eight home runs, 31 RBIs and 43 runs. She led the team in runs and extra-base hits. Along the way, she realized opponents were being much more careful in pitching to her. She was hit nine times and walked seven.
“I got walked and hit a lot,” she said.
She also was a clutch hitter more often than not. As Grand Terrace advanced all the way to the CIF-SS semifinals, Flores batted .563 in the playoffs (9 of 16), while scoring 10 runs and driving in six. She ended the season on a 10-game hitting streak and went 4 for 4 in a quarterfinal win over Mission Viejo.
It was enough to earn her a spot on the Mexico Junior National Team, for whom she will compete this summer, and she’s already has a highlight which happened when she got a call-up to Mexico’s Senior National team, and in a 14-2 loss to the U.S., she hit a home run off former UCLA star pitcher Ally Carda.
“My goal was always to play in the Olympics. That was pretty cool to be able to do that,” she said of hitting the home run.
While she always enjoyed softball, it wasn’t her only sport at a young age. She also played basketball, soccer, and participated in cheer-leading and gymnastics.
Now that her career is over, she hopes she has left her mark.
“It was definitely an amazing experience with the team this year,” she said. “We didn’t have the players we had last year and it was a challenge this year.
“I want people to say that every time they saw me go out on the field, it looked like I played every game like it was my last and that I gave it my all and I played with my heart.”
Oklahoma is the two-time defending NCAA champion, so there’s no guarantee how much Flores will play next season. But you can bet, one way or another, she will make her mark in the next four years.