Spring has sprung and in some ways it's Livermore in the spotlight as we kick it off with two of the top players at their sport in Northern California. One is from the previously mentioned town in easternmost part of the Amador Valley, while the other recipient is from over the hill and the Central Valley but still has a connection to Livermore.

Our boys' honoree was nominated by Cal-Hi Sports Executive Editor Mark Tennis and is one of the top left-handed prospects in the nation. He already has the best possible college scholarship in the bag too!

The girl was nominated by San Francisco Chronicle prep editor Will McCulloch and although she doesn't have a D1 scholarship landed yet, she should. Maybe after some of the colleges hear about this little diamond jewel things will change.

Boys
Brett Mooneyham (Buhach Colony, Atwater)
The last time we can remember a tall high school left-hander who could bring it in the 90-plus MPH range coming out of these parts of Northern California; it was a guy who was a 1982 Livermore High graduate. His name was Randy Johnson and he earned a full scholarship to USC before embarking on a magnificent major-league career.

Brett Mooneyham may not be 6-foot-10 and he doesn't yet throw 98-100-MPH fastballs like Johnson, but he's 6-5, brings his best smoke at 92-94-MPH, and he's barely 18-years old.

Oh yea, by the way, he shares something else with the Big Unit. Mooneyham has earned a full ride to a Pac-10 school but unlike Johnson, he won't be going down south, but down to The Farm, at Stanford.

"Brett is a pretty special young man," Thunder coach Wayne Fitzgerald told NorCalPrepScores.com. "He's grounded with a professional attitude in everything going on around him - and he works his tail off. Not only is he getting it done on the field but in the classroom where he has a 4.0 GPA. That's a very rare combination."

It's no wonder they can hardly wait to see that left-handed fastball mowing down opposing batters of Stanford next year, unless Mooneyham realizes his childhood dream of becoming a major-league player a little early.

"He's definitely a possible first round pick," said Fitzgerald, who played in college for the previous Buhach Colony coach and now is the Business Department Head, teaches computer applications, and in his second year as varsity baseball coach at the Atwater school. "The Braves, Reds, Marlins, Angels, Yankees, Brewers; they've all been through here."

Although playing with a heavy heart due to the grave illness of his grandfather may have affected him in a relief loss this Thursday against Golden Valley of Merced, Mooneyham has been tearing up opponents both pitching and batting.

Through last week his numbers on the mound were a 0.52 ERA with 28 strikeouts in 13 1/3 innings. With aluminum in hand he was 12-for-24, batting .500 with 11 RBIs and two home runs.

"The young man is put together real good. Not only is he dominating on the mound his bat tends to run into the ball," Fitzgerald said jokingly. "With his wing span he can go anywhere with the ball."

It's not just in high school where Mooneyham is a top player. He missed the Area Code camp because his American Legion team qualified for the Regionals in Salt Lake City. He was also invited to the WWBA Fall Championship in Jupiter, Florida where he was one of the showcased pitchers on the top rated and champion Braves Scout team in an event that attracted 80 teams and about 80 of the nation's top 100 rising seniors among close to 2,000 players in attendance.

Even though he had just returned from the Southwest where he visited his ailing grandfather, Mooneyham was willing to be interviewed by NorCalPrepScores so he could be a role-model for other young boys and girls.

"Ever since I was real little my ultimate goal has been to be a big-leaguer," said Mooneyham, who plans on studying history at Stanford with hopes of becoming a history professor when baseball is finished. "I started to show promise right away but even then I knew that to really make it would take very hard work."

Part of that knowledge may come from the fact Brett's dad Bill, currently a middle school PE teacher in Merced, was the first round pick (10th player taken overall) of the California Angels in 1980 after starring and preceding Johnson as a top hurler from Livermore High. He went on to have a brief stint with the Oakland Athletics.

As for having a scholarship to Stanford in hand, and the prospect of being a first round pick, and possibly having to choose between the two. "I don't take it as pressure but I look at it as a win-win situation," said Mooneyham, who has a little brother and sister who are both "balls of energy and run around at lot," according to big brother.

Not very many people want to let a Stanford education slip through their hands. That is why unique deals are being worked out like the one Jack McGeary has with the Washington Nationals that has him attending Stanford as a student but shuttling between school and minor-league baseball. Part of the deal has the ball club paying the tuition. Obviously, Cardinal baseball fans are dismayed since he can't play on the team having turned professional.

Maybe some kind of deal like that is in Brett Mooneyham's future. Until then, the fans of the Thunder at Buhach Colony still have him to cheer for when he takes the field.

Girls
Kendall Beermann (Granada, Livermore)
The Livermore story continues only we're finished with the men and boys.
This story is about a young woman who's had to wait her turn behind some pretty big local softball pitching stars, most recently Val Arioto of Foothill (Pleasanton) who is now at Cal-Berkeley.

Going virtually unnoticed due to an injury that kept her out of action her entire sophomore season; then getting lost in the Val-craze that dominated East Bay Athletic League, NCS, and Bay Area softball in general, its taken until her senior season for Kendall Beermann to finally get recognized as one of the Bay Area's top pitcher's.

Not only did her coming out party put her in the spotlight, but according to her coach, Fran Dillard, it couldn't have happened to a more deserving or delightful young lady.

"She is so special, fun and exciting to be around - and a positive role model. She's perfect for this award. Rock solid in morals and character. Wait until you meet her, you'll love her," said Dillard, referring to our commitment to cover the Livermore Stampede next week.

There are a lot of tough teams in the Stampede including state No. 1 heir apparent Sheldon of Sacramento and defending CCS champion and last year's Bay Area No. 1 team Mitty of San Jose. However, after Beermann's performance in the Queen of the Mountain Tournament in Concord last week, the Matadors are definitely contenders. And with a home-town crowd who knows?

What Beermann did at Queen of the Mountain was single-handedly take down Foothill in the championship game. And she did it by almost throwing a perfect game. "Kendall was on and had control," Dillard told NorCalPrepScores.

With one out in the seventh inning and a 0-2 count on the second batter, Beermann gave up a single that eventually turned into an unearned run in a 3-1 Granada victory. Still, her line for the game against the defending NCS 3A East Bay champions was a one-hitter with eight strikeouts while facing only 23 batters.

The other four teams she's beaten on the season, Newark Memorial (Newark), Arroyo (San Lorenzo), Liberty (Brentwood) and Berkeley haven't fared much better than Foothill. All told Beermann's only given up 12 hits in 32 innings pitched with a 0.22 ERA. She has 40 strikeouts and only four walks.

What really amazed us in talking with Dillard is no D1 college has signed the crafty pitcher who can bring it in the mid-60's and has improved her off-speed pitches since last season. "Being injured her sophomore year set her back, so only some smaller schools have taken a good look at her," said Dillard, who you guessed it, graduated from Livermore High, then played at Ohlone College in Fremont before coming home across town from her alma mater and performing admirably in 10 years coaching softball while teaching PE at Granada.

That all may change at the Stampede where if Beermann has similar success, the scouts will be buzzing. She'll get her chance right away as Granada opens with Mitty in the first game on March 27.

"We really wanted to win Queen and beat Foothill since we haven't beaten them in six years," Beermann told NorCalPrepScores. "Now comes the Stampede and Mitty. I'm excited it's coming our way. We know there are teams out there that want us, so we have to play our best game every time we take the field."

Did you notice how Beermann answers the questions with "us, we and our," instead of "I or me?"

Beermann talks about the support she gets from, and pride she has in her family the same way she talks about the team. Unselfishly, even though she's the middle sister of an older and younger brother. Older brother Alton, who played football at Granada, is currently a student at San Diego State. Little brother Reid, a middle-schooler, is a great athlete according to big sis, and plays all sports but mostly football.

Dad Tom, a public relations director for Intel, was a water polo player at Las Lomas in Walnut Creek. Mom Leigh, a high school teacher in Pleasanton who also works with pregnant teens and their children, was a swimmer in high school in Southern California.

"Unless something breaks I'm going to go to Ohlone (just like her coach) for two years then try and get into a bigger school," said Beermann who carries a 3.25 GPA, and who also works off-campus in a regional occupation program that deals with child psychology and development issues that she feels will help her in her goal of becoming a teacher.

Somehow, we have an inkling that getting into a bigger college program right away may not be lost, especially if Beermann shines at the Stampede the way the locals out in Livermore are hoping she does.

Congratulations to Brett Mooneyham and Kendall Beermann from NorCalPrepScores.com and the U.S. Army.