Drew selected to all-CIF first team

The panel of coaches and media members who selected the all-CIF softball teams placed Fallbrook High School senior Hailey Drew on the all-section first team.

“I’m really happy, and it’s an honor to be recognized,” Drew said. “It’s a great way to end my high school career.”

Drew batted .467 for the season, including .593 against Avocado West League competition. Her 10 walks gave her a .533 on-base percentage. Drew’s 43 hits in 92 at-bats included seven doubles, two triples, and three home runs to give her a slugging percentage of .685. She scored 35 times while driving in 11 runs, and she stole 20 bases. Her shortstop activity included a .925 fielding percentage and participation in 11 double plays.

“I think she earned it. She’s a leader on the field, and she contributes both offensively and defensively,” said Patti Drew, who is Fallbrook’s co-coach as well as Hailey Drew’s mother. “Hailey had a great season, and I consider her to be one of the best shortstops in San Diego County. I think a lot of coaches do.”

“Just really happy that she was honored,” said Fallbrook co-coach Shannon Koran. “She’s really been the backbone of our team for the last four years.”

Drew was also selected by the Avocado West League coaches as the league’s player of the year for the 2014 softball season. The first-team league honors were her fourth; Fallbrook was in the Avocado East League in 2011 and 2012 when Drew was on that league’s first team both years, and she was a first-team selection of the 2013 Avocado West League coaches.

During Drew’s first three high school seasons the all-CIF selection panel placed her on the second team. In 2011 and 2012, the softball coaches had all-division teams, and Drew was on the Division I first team both years.

Drew’s teammates voted her as the Warriors’ Most Valuable Player in 2011. The 2012 awards banquet did not have an MVP honor, but Drew was given Best Defensive Player recognition. The MVP selection was reinstated in 2013, and Drew received that award. In 2014, the banquet had no MVP award, and Drew was the Most Valuable Offensive Player recipient.

The U-T San Diego all-academic teams are limited to juniors and seniors, so Drew did not receive all-academic honors until 2013, when her 3.97 grade point average ranked second among upperclassmen on the varsity softball team. This year her 3.78 grade point average ranked fourth among eligible Warriors, behind three newly-eligible juniors, but still gave Drew a berth on the county’s all-academic team.

Hailey Drew is a lifelong Fallbrook resident whose parents were also Fallbrook High School athletes. John Drew played football and baseball for the Warriors before graduating in 1978. Patti Drew was Patti Pearson when she played volleyball, football, and softball for the Warriors and followed her 1988 Fallbrook High School graduation with four softball seasons at Cal State University Northridge. Hailey Drew is the younger of the two Drew children; Fallbrook High School 2012 graduate Kaylie Drew played basketball and softball for the Warriors and is now on the University of Hawaii softball team.

Hailey Drew attended Frazier Elementary School, La Paloma Elementary School, and Potter Junior High School prior to her four Fallbrook High School years. She played basketball and soccer as well as softball prior to high school. Drew dropped soccer once she began high school but made the Warriors’ varsity basketball team as a freshman and played four years on Fallbrook’s varsity as a point guard.

Drew began playing softball at the age of eight with the Fallbrook Girls Softball League. She began travel ball with the Ozone club based in Oceanside and also played for the San Diego Breakers and the San Diego Rebels.

During her Fallbrook High School freshman season in 2011 Drew set school single-season records with 55 hits and a .597 batting average. Her hits included six doubles, a triple, and a home run. She scored 40 times while driving in 20 runs and stealing 22 bases. Opposing coaches and players made adjustments to Drew after her freshman year, but her 2012 sophomore season included a .402 average, a .496 on-base percentage, a .674 slugging percentage, 48 hits, 46 runs scored, 20 runs batted in, 12 doubles, four triples, two home runs, 18 walks drawn, and 19 stolen bases.

Her 2013 offensive statistics included a .439 average, 36 hits, 32 runs scored, 17 runs batted in, four doubles, three triples, six home runs, 17 walks drawn, 15 stolen bases, a .535 on-base percentage, and a .780 slugging percentage, and as a shortstop she had a .908 fielding percentage.

On Nov. 13, Drew signed a letter of intent to play softball at McNeese State University, which is in the western Louisiana town of Lake Charles. She plans to major in criminal justice and is contemplating a law enforcement career in the military (Drew’s paternal grandfather was a World War II veteran).

“I’m just really excited to start college and my collegiate career,” Hailey Drew said.