Half Moon Bay: A shortstop hotbed

And yet, it is baseball that is churning out college prospects, as the town of Half Moon Bay is quickly becoming a hotbed for hotshot shortstops.

Current Half Moon Bay High School shortstop Riley Jackson, a junior who helped the Cougars to the section title and has them in the CIF Northern California Division IV semifinals at noon Thursday, is just the latest in a trio of shortstops who will continue his career in college.

Over the last seven years, the city of Half Moon Bay has produced a pair of Division I college players, with Jackson set to follow in their footsteps.

Jared Mettam was a four-year starter who manned the shortstop position for the Cougars from 2019 to 2022, earning a scholarship to Saint Mary’s College in Moraga.

Mettam was a stud his senior year with the Cougars, earning the San Mateo Daily Journal’s Baseball Player of the Year honors. During his four-year career, Mettam put up monster numbers. He slashed .335/.473/.602, with a career OPS of 1.075. He scored 75 runs, drove in 41, had 15 doubles, nine triples and six homers.

Four years later, Mettam is a four-year starting shortstop for the Gaels, who helped lead them to a 36-win season in 2025 and a spot in the Western Region final this year.

Half Moon Bay manager Brian Anderson coached Mettam and Jackson. He doesn’t like to compare the two because they really are two different types of players. Mettam was a more traditional, leadoff-type of player — get on base, create havoc on the basepaths.

Jackson, on the other hand, is more of the power type of middle infielder.

“Defensively, Jared was a little more smooth and polished,” Anderson said. “But Riley has gotten so much better defensively, especially this year. But Riley is so far ahead of him offensively (at the same age).”

Ben Cleary also had a stellar high school career playing shortstop. He helped lead the Half Moon Bay Little League All-Star team to the 2018 District 52 and Section 3 titles and a spot in the Northern California tournament.

Cleary then took his talents to Serra, where during a two-year varsity career, 2023 and 2024, he slashed .321/.408/.440. He scored 37 runs, had 35 RBIs, 13 doubles and three home runs during his varsity career.

But his real talent was putting the ball in play. He walked 25 times during those two seasons with the Padres, while striking out 24 times. He parlayed his game to Santa Clara University, where he played the last two seasons. He reportedly entered the transfer portal and his bat and plate discipline has him linked to LSU.

Jackson’s rise most closely resembles Cleary’s career, not only because of his Little League success, but because he is already verbally committed to Santa Clara.

Jackson was part of a Half Moon Bay Little League Juniors squad that captured the 2022 District 52 championship. He is now in his third season as the Cougars’ starting shortstop and he is on track to be the best of them all.

Jackson put up MVP-caliber numbers this season, batting .406, but he had just 28 hits in 69 official at-bats. But his on-base percentage this year was an eye-popping .620 due to the fact he walked 36 times this season, against just three strikeouts. He has an insane OPS of 1.316 this season.

For his three-year career, Jackson is slashing .358/.536/.585, with a whopping 75 walks and just 18 strikeouts. In three years, Jackson’s seven career home runs — including a solo shot in Tuesday’ 3-0 win over Sonoma Valley in the Nor Cal opener — has already surpassed Mettam’s career total of six. With 60 runs scored already, he should surpass Mettam’s 75 next year. Jackson also already has 47 RBIS, 15 doubles and six triples.

“He’s been ready since Day 1 (of his freshman year),” Anderson said. “But he’s worked his butt off and it’s great when your best player is also your hardest worker. [The rest of the team knows] he’s not taking a play off.”

And Jackson’s defense is as good as his offense. After the Cougars had taken a 1-0 lead in the top of the eighth inning, Jackson squashed any hope of a San Mateo rally as he made a spectacular diving grab of a Michael Lackey shot for the first out in the bottom of the frame that shut down any potential game-tying rally by the Bearcats. Tuesday, he made a diving stop in the top of the fourth inning to keep the ball on the infield as the Cougars nursed a 2-0 lead at the time.

But Jackson, who had scored in the first inning to put Half Moon Bay up 1-0 and drilled a homer in the third for a 2-0 lead, drove in an insurance run in the bottom of the fourth on the way to a 3-0 win over Sonoma Valley.

So who’s next up for the Cougars after Jackson graduates? Anderson isn’t sure, but he said the seventh and eighth-grade classes at Cunha Middle School are reportedly stocked with some good athletes.

“Let’s hope the next (elite-level shortstop) is training to be out there,” Anderson said.