PLAYER OF THE YEAR

QUARTZ HILL — Some teams in the region had great pitchers. Other teams had standout batters.

Only one team had Jodie Cox, and that’s why Quartz Hill High was the only major-division school in the region to win a Southern Section championship.

Cox, a junior left-hander and The Times’ Valley player of the year, could just as easily beat a team with her bat as with her arm.

She was 24-3 with an 0.32 earned-run average and struck out 247 batters in 196 innings. She batted .455 with nine home runs and 31 runs batted in.

“There’s only one way I can describe her--awesome,” a teammate said.

Cox saved some of her best performances for the playoffs, when unseeded Quartz Hill (24-3-2) upset three of the four seeded teams to win the Division II title, the school’s first section championship.

In one stretch, Cox hurled 54 consecutive scoreless innings. She hit a home run against Cerritos in the Division II championship game.

In the quarterfinals, the three-time Golden League most valuable player delivered a two-run triple in the top of the 14th inning to spark a 2-0 victory over Righetti and all-state pitcher Jocelyn Forest.

“To do what we did, you need an outstanding pitcher and good hitting,” Quartz Hill co-coach Ben Meyer said. “It was a bonus for us that Jodie was both.”

For the Rebels, the true bonus is that Cox was only a junior. She’ll be back.