Yoshizu earns prestigious honor

A month before her softball season begins, Bloomfield (N.J.) senior Angie Yoshizu was given a prestigious award by the school.

The 2010 University High alumna was named the Bloomfield College Woman of the Year for the 2013-14 school year. She was honored at a ceremony on Sunday at Seton Hall University as part of the National Girls and Women in Sports Day.

"It was a great honor being named Bloomfield’s Woman of the Year," Yoshizu said in a press release. "There were so many accomplished women who were honored and it was great to be recognized among them."

Yoshizu, a three-year starter for the Deacons, was the Central Athletic Collegiate Conference rookie of the year as a freshman and made the all-conference first team each of the last two years.

She’s also been named an NFCA Academic All-American three consecutive years.

Yoshizu will begin her senior season with 187 career hits, which is already third-most in school history. She hit .449 last year, with seven doubles, 25 RBIs, 32 runs scored and 15 stolen bases.

Successful home swing for Sataraka

UCLA’s Mysha Sataraka began her sophomore season at the same place her high school career ended.

The Punahou alumna, who homered at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium in her final high school game, returned home with the Bruins, who won the Oceanic Time Warner Cable Paradise Classic on Saturday.

Sataraka was named to the all-tournament team after hitting .385 (5-for-13) with two doubles, two homers, four runs and a team-high 10 RBIs in five UCLA wins.

"I’m excited for the future. I think we’re fortunate to have an athlete like Mysha," UCLA coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said on Saturday. "She works harder than most, she has great work ethic and it comes from her foundation here in the islands. And the most impressive part about her is she’s backed it up with her academics."

Starting at third for the Bruins, Sataraka was named to the All-Pac-12 freshman team last season after hitting .276 with nine homers, 20 runs and 29 RBIs in 42 games.

She earned a silver medal last summer with the USA Softball junior women’s national team at the ISF Junior Women’s World Championship in Canada. She started all nine games for Team USA and hit .455 (10-for-22) with three homers, four doubles and 16 RBIs.

Shigezawa named to watch list

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps senior Bradley Shigezawa, the reigning NCAA Division III national golf champion, was named to the Ben Hogan Award watch list last Wednesday.

Shigezawa is the only Division III competitor among the 30 men’s collegiate golfers selected as a potential winner for the award, given to the nation’s best golfer.

As a junior with the Stags, Shigezawa won five times and finished second twice in nine total events, winning the SCIAC conference title and the national championship.

He was featured in the June 10, 2013, issue of Sports Illustrated in its "Faces in the Crowd" section.

The Ben Hogan Award is presented annually to the top men’s college golfer, taking into account all collegiate and amateur competitions during the past 12-month period. A list of 10 semifinalists will be announced April 16.