Prep notes: Vander Molen will play baseball for 8-time NAIA champ

Ripon Christian High School senior Travis Vander Molen will play baseball at Westmont College, currently No. 7 in the NAIA rankings.

Vander Molen made his commitment official Monday with a Signing Day party attended by family, coaches and school administrators.

Vander Molen said he received a scholarship package based on his athletic and academic merits.

“It felt like a good fit,” he said of the private university in Santa Barbara. “It was one of my target schools.

“I had a couple of other schools talking to me – schools that said they had scholarships. But after visiting Westmont and seeing the program and how they run things, that was a big part of what I wanted. Westmont has great academics, and that’s what I was looking for, first and foremost.”

The three-sport athlete has been a fixture on the mound and in the middle of the Knights’ lineup for three years. He missed his junior season because of a torn ACL that left his recruitment in jeopardy.

A student-athlete’s junior season is widely regarded as the most important in the recruitment process. Vander Molen spent his in physical therapy, pinning his hopes on a breakout senior campaign.

“After I got hurt in the winter (of 2014) and sat out my entire junior year, no schools were talking to me,” he said. “I fell off everybody’s radar.”

Look at him now. Ripon Christian coach John DeVisser said he was almost moved to tears the day Vander Molen, a longtime family friend, returned to the diamond.

Since then, Vander Molen – who has never specialized in one sport – has put several program records in his sights.

“I don’t think in my wildest dreams I could have expected him to come back this quickly and this good,” said DeVisser, who played at Modesto Junior College and South Alabama. “He’s one of the most phenomenal talents in this area, in my opinion.”

The 6-foot-2 Vander Molen is a career .488 hitter with serious thump. He has four triples, five home runs and 24 doubles in 54 games.

This season, Vander Molen is hitting a career-best .600 with three homers, 24 RBIs and 18 runs in 16 games for Ripon Christian (12-5, 5-1 Southern League), ranked No. 5 in The Bee’s Small-Schools poll.

“They’ll go down as some of the best offensive numbers this school has had,” DeVisser said. “They’re almost video game numbers. He’s not hitting a cheap .600, either. He’s getting a lot of barrels and hard-hit balls.”

Vander Molen joins a program that has won four Golden State Athletic Conference championships and is on the cusp of another. The Warriors are 35-7 overall and 20-4 in conference play.

Westmont had three players chosen in the Major League Baseball draft last year and one in 2014. Westmont also is the destination for three-time Bee Girls Tennis Player of the Year Symone Jacques of Beyer.

“To get to sign with a university like Westmont, that’s a heck of a baseball program,” DeVisser said. “Those guys do a heck of a job, and it fits with all of his priorities. It’s not about being just a student-athlete. It’s also about the faith aspect of his life and how that fits in.”

Saucedo signs with U. of Mary – Central Valley wrestler Luis Saucedo signed a letter of intent Wednesday to wrestle at the University of Mary in Bismarck, N.D.

In February, Saucedo placed sixth in the 113-pound division at the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Masters meet in Stockton. He qualified for the state meet and went 0-2.

Dale Lacky/CSEA Scholarship winners – On Tuesday, the Sac-Joaquin Section will recognize 48 recipients of the Dale Lacky/CSEA Scholarship during a breakfast banquet at Hutchins Street Square in Lodi.

The scholarship committee selected four male and four female student-athletes to receive the $1,000 scholarship, which was named after former CIF State and section president A. Dale Lacky. The remaining 40 nominees will receive $500 scholarships.

In total, the section will award $30,000 in scholarships. More than $25,000 of that fund was generated by the Foundation Games in volleyball and boys and girls basketball.

The Stanislaus District will be well represented at the ceremony. Three of the eight $1,000 recipients are district standouts, including Stanislaus District Girls Basketball Player of the Year Stephanie Moore of Golden Valley (UC San Diego), also ranked No. 1 in her class.

Escalon setter Taylor Laugero (Santa Clara) and Central Catholic quarterback Hunter Petlansky (Columbia) also will receive $1,000 scholarships.

Honored with $500 scholarships were Katie Dillon of Enochs, Candice Lao of Sierra, Alexis Louters of Stone Ridge Christian, Alexandra Marquez of Los Banos, Anna Medema of Mariposa, Donato Cipponeri of Modesto, Daniel Hannink of Ripon Christian, Hunter Helfgott of Buhach Colony and Onyebuchi Ogbuli of Patterson.

Hilmar’s Willis wins Coover Scholarship – Hilmar three-sport athlete Jarrod Willis will receive the section’s top scholarship. Willis is one of two recipients of the Clark Coover Scholarship Award, valued at $1,500. The award is named after former section commissioner Clark Coover.

Willis is a four-year member of the football, basketball and baseball programs. In football, he was a two-time all-Trans-Valley League selection and the team MVP as a senior. On the diamond, he’s a former all-league player with a Best Offensive Player award to his credit.

Scholastically, Willis is ranked No. 11 in a class of 144 with a 4.06 GPA and is involved in the California Scholastic Federation and FFA. He has completed more than 300 hours of community service as a tutor, youth basketball coach and support staff member with Love Hilmar, Trunk or Treat, FFA Breakfast and Relay for Life.

Willis will attend Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in the fall.

This story was originally published April 18, 2016 at 2:27 PM with the headline "Prep notes: Vander Molen will play baseball for 8-time NAIA champ."