Brad Degnan Pioneer-San Jose – Baseball

Degnan made nationwide headline news when he bashed three home runs not just in one game but in one inning. He helped the Wildcats tattoo Westmoor 24-6 on April 18 as they batted around twice for Degnan to make history. He’s the only HS baseball player to accomplish this feat. Needless to say, he was a unanimous choice for this week’s top honor. 

Degnan made nationwide headline news when he bashed three home runs not just in one game but in one inning. He helped the Wildcats tattoo Westmoor 24-6 on April 18 as they batted around twice for Degnan to make history. He’s the only HS baseball player to accomplish this feat. Needless to say, he was a unanimous choice for this week’s top honor. 

SportStars Magazine: Describe the craziness of that three-homer inning.

Brad Degnan: The first one: the leadoff man got on, then the next guy. I’m up third. I saw two pitches and I poked it down the line. Second at-bat, there’s only one runner on and I got a belt-high fastball. I got it all. Third at-bat, there were two runners on, first pitch was a low fastball and I hit a low line drive and it got over the fence. … Usually, I don’t show any emotion but I had a smile on my third one.

SSM: What’s your general approach at the plate?

BD: Generally I pull the ball. Whenever we’re up and there’s a good situation, I kinda just go with the pitch. 

SSM: How have your classmates received you?

BD: I got a couple congratulations and the Monday we got back to school I got a lot of congratulations from friends. People saw the articles on Facebook and on the news on Yahoo!

BRAD’S QUICK HITS

Favorite athlete(s): Curtis Granderson, Robinson Cano

Favorite baseball team: Giants

Favorite class: History

Favorite Starbucks item: Caramel Frappuccino with a maple scone

Honorable Mention

Frank Kurtz — The Heritage junior set a meet record at the Sacramento Meet of Champions with a 400 time of 47.03 seconds.

Nate Moore — With a triple jump distance of 49 feet, 10 inches, the Castro Valley senior set a meet record at the Sacramento Meet of Champions on April 27.

Kirsten Mork — The Granada junior cleared 5 feet, 8 inches at the Sacramento Meet of Champions, good for first place and sixth overall in the state.