Power surge on the Peninsula

Notre Dame, which had 12 homers last season, already has seven this season with about three weeks left in the regular season. Capuchino hit seven last year and the Mustangs enter the week with six. Hillsdale has eight this season, one off of last year’s total of nine. Mills’ six this season also leaves the Vikings one short of last year, as does the six Mercy has hit this season. San Mateo needs three more to reach last year’s total of 10.

Burlingame, which hit three last season, has already surpassed that mark this season with five, with Olivia Fleming and Keira Parker each having parked two each.

Last year, Half Moon Bay led the county with 13 home runs. This season, the Cougars have hit just three, with Mia Modena accounting for two-thirds of them.

***

Former Serra baseball standout, Nick Garcia, has found his way home — kinda.

After an ascending college career at Chapman University, Garcia was a third-round draft pick by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the truncated 2020 draft. Garcia is now a member of the San Francisco Giants organization and recently started pitching for the club’s Double-A team, the Richmond Flying Squirrels. In five innings, Garcia has already struck out nine batters.

It was roundabout trip to the Giants organization. Garcia didn’t pitch in 2020 as Major League Baseball shut down the minor league season in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Garcia put up decent numbers in two seasons in the Pirates organization, compiling a record of 9-8 with an ERA of 3.90 in 2021 and 2022. After being traded to the Colorado Rockies — for Giants’ 2019 Opening Day right fielder Connor Joe — Garcia struggled. Playing for the Rockies’ Double-A team, Garcia went 3-9 with a 7.35 ERA.

Garcia, then a minor league Rule 5 draft pick of the Giants in December, was assigned to the Sacramento River Cats, which then sent him to Richmond at the end of March.

***

The latest class for the Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame was announced for the induction ceremony scheduled June 27.

Six new members will be going in, four of which should be familiar names to fans of local high school sports: Frankie Ferrari, a 2014 graduate of Burlingame and the Daily Journal’s Basketball Player of Year, went on to play in Europe, along with stints in the NBA’s G League and Summer League. He recently wrapped up his first season as an assistant coach at University of San Francisco.

Terilyn Moe starred for the Terra Nova basketball team that won four straight PAL basketball tournaments before graduating in 2012 and going on to a standout career at UNLV.

Ben Burr-Kirven was the Daily Journal’s 2014 Football Player of the Year as he helped put Sacred Heart Prep football on the map as the Gators won three straight Central Coast Section championships, including the 2014 Open Division title, and helped SHP to the 2013 Division III state championship game. He later played for the Seattle Seahawks in the NFL.

Lindsay James DeAlba was a standout softball player for Sequoia High School, graduating in 2002 before going on to star at Cal. She played for Greece in the 2004 Olympics.

Brent Brennan is a Redwood City native who was a 1991 graduate of St. Francis. He led San Jose State football back to prominence over the last five seasons before taking over University of Arizona program this past winter. Brennan was an assistant coach at Woodside High School and was on the coaching staff of the Wildcats’ 1999 CCS co-championship team.

Sam Goldman taught journalism, specifically sports journalism, at Crestmoor High School and Skyline College before becoming the sports information director at San Francisco State University and later the West Coast Conference.

To purchase tickets to the event, go to www.historysmc.org/peninsula-sports-hall-of-fame-ceremony. For more information, call the San Mateo County History Museum at (650) 299-0104.

Nathan Mollat can be reached by email: nathan@smdailyjournal.com.