Aquinas senior Eric Bitonti is SBLive's Southern California Athlete of the Week (May 8-15)
Eric Bitonti is a top baseball prospect in Southern California. In the nation, in fact.
The Aquinas-San Bernardino senior is ranked as the 57th best draft prospect in the nation by Prospects Live.
The 6-foot-5, 225-pound left-handed hitting shortstop hit .526 with eight home runs, 50 hits, 17 doubles and 41 RBI as a junior.
As a senior, the Oregon commit has had even a bigger year, leading Aquinas to a 25-5 record and a deep run in the Southern Section Division 1 playoffs.
Last week, he came in relief to help out on the mound and pitched 7.1 innings, allowing one hit and striking out 14. It put him on an SBLive top performance list and that's when his numbers really grew.
He recorded 64.34 percent of the votes to earn the SBLive Southern California Athlete of the Week (May 8-14), presented by Jersey Mike's Subs.
We are currently accepting Southern California Athlete of the Week nominations. If you would like to nominate an athlete, please email sblive-social@scorebooklive.com or message us on Twitter or Instagram at @sbliveca.
Here are the other 19 athletes who were nominated for the week of May 8-15.
Eva Hurtado, JSerra softball: Hurtado tossed a no-hitter for the second straight round, helping the Lions beat Canyon.
Bree Brennan, Village Christian softball: Brennan held Cantwell Sacred Heart to three hits, striking out 14 batters in last week's victory.
Leah Mosley, Village Christian softball: Mosley hit two home runs and drove in five runs during last week's 18-0 win over Cantwell Sacred Heart.
Savanna Arce, Mission Hills softball: Arce went 3-4 with a home run and four runs batted in during Tuesday's 12-1 win over Rancho Buena Vista.
Maddie Hulse, Rancho Bernardo softball: Hulse threw a four-hit shutout, striking out four batters against Torrey Pines on Tuesday.
Sophia Clark, Cathedral Catholic softball: Clark struck out 19 of the 24 batters she faced in Tuesday's 4-0 win against Patrick Henry.
Caleb Ortiz, Shadow Hills baseball: Ortiz threw a complete game shutout against Ontario, striking out eight batters while allowing one hit.
Cameron Leaney, Redlands East Valley baseball: Leaney went 2-3 with a triple and a run batted in during Tuesday's 5-0 win against Palm Desert.
Ty DePerno, West Ranch baseball: DePerno went 3-4 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored in Tuesday's win against Tesoro.
Noah Malone, South Hills baseball: Malone went 2-4 with a double and three runs batted in during Tuesday's 8-2 win over Charter Oak.
Jake Long, La Serna baseball: Long hit two home runs, driving in five runs in Tuesday's comeback win over Buena.
Derek Curiel, Orange Lutheran baseball: Curiel got on base five times and stole two bases last week and scored the only run of the game in a win over Harvard-Westlake.
Ethan Hill, Corona baseball: Hill hit a walk-off RBI double in Friday's 2-1 10 inning victory over Sherman Oaks Notre Dame.
Nico Libed, Eastlake baseball: Libed had six hits including two home last week while helping the Titans to a 3-0 week.
Kevin Takeuchi, Rancho Bernardo baseball: Takeuchi had two three-hit games last week, finishing with three doubles and a home run while extending his hitting streak to nine games.
Porter Rovin, Sage Creek baseball: Rovin struck out eight batters during Monday's two-hit shutout against Westview.
Jett Kenady, Carlsbad baseball: Kenady hit his sixth home run of the season in Monday's 1-0 win over Poway.
Alex Harrington, Cathedral Catholic baseball: Harrington had an inside the park home run, a double and scored five runs in last week's sweep of St. Augustine.
Brett Lawton, La Jolla Country Day baseball: Lawton had an .818 on-base percentage last week, hitting five doubles and a home run.
