Monte Vista High

Jason Hill, class of 1995, was a three year varsity baseball player hitting .444 with 9 home runs, 37 RBI and a .857 slugging percentage his senior year.  Jason earned team MVP his junior and senior year while being named to the All Nor-Cal team and First Team All-League.  He earned First Team All-State and Mizuno All –America honors his final year.  In 1993 he helped take home the silver in the Junior Olympics and was highlighted in the Area Code games in 1994.  To close out his Mustang career, Jason was selected in the MLB professional draft by the Oakland A’s in June 1995.

 

Deciding to hold off on the pros, he continued his baseball career at the University of California Berkeley where he started as a true freshman and was a three-year varsity letterman. After his first season, he played for team USA in 1997, hitting two home runs against Australia in the 8th inning for a memorable come from behind victory.   As a pre-season All-American his junior year, he hit .347 with 12 home runs and 54 RBI.  This earned him First Team All-Pac 10 honors and he was selected in the 8th round by the Anaheim Angels.

 

Jason played 10 seasons as a professional baseball player, six seasons with the Angels and one each with the Reds, Marlins, Padres and his last year with the Phillies.  During his minor league career, he played in seven minor league All-Star games and was named the Reading Phillies Player of the Year in 2007.  In 2002, Jason was invited to the Rookie Career Development Program sponsored by MLB and finished with seven major league spring training invites before retiring in 2008 and finishing his degree from Cal in 2009.