Garrett Frechette and Anthony Avalos split the co-MVP honor
When the boys’ soccer All-League awards for the Tri County
Athletic League were announced this week, it was no surprise that
Live Oak seniors Garrett Frechette and Anthony Avalos were named
co-MVPs of the league.
Garrett Frechette and Anthony Avalos split the co-MVP honor
When the boys’ soccer All-League awards for the Tri County Athletic League were announced this week, it was no surprise that Live Oak seniors Garrett Frechette and Anthony Avalos were named co-MVPs of the league.
During the regular season Frechette led the league in scoring with 22 goals while Avalos, whose main focus as the team’s attacking midfielder, was to set Frechette up. Yet, despite playing the more low profile position, Avalos, who won the MVP last year too, still scored 12 goals and had 12 assists. Frechette also had 9 assists.
Their stellar play on the field helped lead the Acorns to a league championship, a 15-2-4 record overall and a 9-1-2 record in league.
“They both had more goals and assists than anyone in the league,” said Live Oak Coach Tony Goble. “At the league meeting I said I wouldn’t be able to choose one over the other. Frechette wouldn’t have got the ball if it weren’t for Anthony. And Frechette took the pressure off Anthony in the middle. It took both of them to make them great players.”
Despite the Acorns success on the field this year, Live Oak, after getting a difficult draw in the Central Coast Section Division II playoffs lost 3-0 to Archbishop Mitty in the opening round of the tournament.
Mitty went on to win the CCS Division II championship.
In addition to getting the difficult first round game Live Oak also lost their starting center defensive back for the playoffs as a result of academic ineligibility, as well as Nick and Casey Mott, who both had to undergo knee surgery early in the season.
While Frechette and Avalos get all the attention, Live Oak’s Sheldon Steenhuis also earned First Team honors for his solid play in goal.
“He was basically our fifth defender,” said Goble. “He was our quarterback-our leader back there. He made some tremendous saves back there.”
During the season Live Oak’s Tim Kotyuk saw the bulk of his playing time at both the center defensive midfield slot and in the outside midfield position.
Although Kotyuk didn’t get much playing time last season, this year the senior got the attention of numerous coaches in the league via his toughness and tenacity on the field.
“He went up against our opponents best offensive players. He was like a gnat; you couldn’t get away from him,” said Goble.
Next year the Acorns will leave the TCAL for the Blossom Valley Athletic League, where they are expected to competed in that league’s A Division.
“If we get into the A League it’s going to be more competitive – no walk in the park,” said Goble. “In that league every game will be a tough game. But by playing in an A League we’ll have a better chance of making the playoffs. Four teams should get in, not just the league champion and the second-place finisher.
Gilroy High
Without a lot of experienced players on their squad this year, the Mustangs of Gilroy High finished third in league behind Live Oak and North Salinas, and missed the playoffs for the first time in four years.
But even with that said, Gilroy High had a number of players this year that were deserving of making the All League list.
One of them was sophomore standout Kevin Grove, who not only earned First Team honors but was also named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year.
“He really took charge out there,” said Gilroy coach Brian Hall of Grove, who was named the league’s top freshman a year earlier. “He’s one of three team captains. He anchored our defense.”
Grove started the season as the Mustangs’ outside defender and eventually moved to the more difficult sweeper position, where his team was better able to capitalize on his large stature on the field.
“Everybody who sees him thinks he’s a senior,” said Hall of his 6-foot athlete. “He’s a big solid kid. He plays baseball too. I’m kind of waiting for him to have four or five strikeouts for several games in a row so that he can tell us he only wants to play soccer. But it’s not happening. He’s a great athlete, tenacious, full of energy, and the model defender that college recruiters look for.”
Fortunately for Hall and company, Gilroy High will have Grove for two more seasons.
“By then, he’ll be a serious (college) prospect,” said Hall. “If he chooses soccer or finds a school that will let him pay both baseball and soccer, he’ll do well. He hasn’t decided yet what sport he wants to pursue but he’s good at both.”
Gilroy’s junior midfielder Humberto Pineda also made the league’s First Team list. During the season Pineda led his team in assists and was valuable wherever he was on the field.
He played sometimes in the outside midfielder slot and also at center mid.
“He took over the game for us,” said Hall. “He created opportunities for the team – and he plays both sides of the ball. He’d steal on offense and help us execute our attack and then he would sprint back on defense and help us out.”
He was so effective that in the second half of the season Pineda was fouled more than any other player in the league.
“It was the only way to slow him down or stop him on the attack,” said Hall. “When teams result to fouling a player it can be frustrating as a player, but there’s really no bigger compliment.”
Another athlete from Gilroy High that made the league’s best-of-the-best list was forward Jose Velasquez.
This season Velasquez led his team in scoring with six goals – after moving to the position for the final four games of the season.
“Those games were really critical for us,” said Hall. “We moved him to forward and he responded with five goals and two assists in four games. Had we not tied the last game against Sobrato we would have gone to the playoffs. He scored the only goal in that game and we tied. To show that you can come through under pressure is big time.”
Hall also made Velasquez one of the team captains and said that he was impressed by the junior’s work ethic and ability to absorb his new position “like a sponge.”
San Benito High
This season San Benito finished with a 4-10-1 record overall and was 3-8-1 in league play. Although the Balers weren’t thrilled with their fifth-place finish in league, two junior midfielders had enough prowess on the field to earn the title of First Team players this year.
They were Armando Espinoza and Christian Mercado. Espinoza was also named the team’s MVP.
“I wish the rest of the team played like him,” said Baler coach Juan Martinez. “He played 100 percent every game. He’d go after the ball and fight for it. He’d show up and be ready to play at every practice and every game. He was quite and he would do everything that I asked of him.”
A year ago Mercado played on defense for the Balers. And even though he didn’t score didn’t score any goals this season from the more forward midfielder position, he was a team leader on the field and was named captain by his coach.
“He played aggressive and was very physical,” said Martinez. “He would get mad at himself when he made a mistake.”
During games, Mercado’s main job was to push the ball up to the Baler forwards.
“He’d always come to games and practices early,” said Martinez.
Next year, Martinez believes that his team should make a dramatic turnaround on the league’s standing sheet.
“I think we’ll be fighting for first place,” he said. “This year I’m going to start conditioning them two months before the season starts. So that we’re 100 percent ready before the first game takes place. This year I wasted a lot of time just getting them in shape while the season was going on.”
Sobrato High
Without a single senior player on its roster, the Sobrato High Bulldogs were expected to struggle this season in the TCAL and did, winning just one non-league game the whole year and not once in the TCAL.
But that didn’t stop Sobrato’s top players like Murilo Almeida from getting noticed.
This year the junior forward led his team in scoring with 10 goals and was a huge presence on the field for the Bulldogs.
“His leadership and intensity on the field is what set him apart,” said Sobrato coach Ricardo Martinez. “He never gave up and had a positive attitude. He also worked well with his teammates.”
The other Sobrato player to make the league’s prestigious All-League list was junior defender Sam Stoner.
Stoner caught the eye of the coaches in the TCAL with his aggressive play in the Bulldogs backfield.
“He played with no fear,” said Martinez. “He was solid with the ball and probably won it 90 percent of the time. He broke up a ton of plays for us.”
Martinez went on to say that he’s very happy to know that both Almeida and Stoner will be back in the lineup next year when the Bulldogs compete in the San-Jose based BVAL next year.
“We’ll know soon but I think they’ll put us in the B division over there. Live Oak should go into the A. I hope we’ll go into the B Division there. Next year. We’ll have seniors for the first time at our school. I’m really excited about next year and I think we’ll do much better,” said Martinez.
All League Awards:
MVP: Anthony Avalos and Garrett Frechette of Live Oak HS were voted the league’s Co-MVPs.
Offensive Player of the Year: Jaime Castro, Senior, Forward, North Salinas HS
Defensive Player of the Year: Kevin Grove, sophomore, Defender, Gilroy HS
Senior of the Year: Luis Serrano, North Salinas HS
Co-Junior of the Year: Silvano Botta, Midfield, Palma High School and Humberto Pineda, Midfielder, Gilroy High School
Sophomore of the Year: Matt Altamirano, Defender, Live Oak High School
Freshman of the Year: Dylan Lee, Defender, Palma High School
Coach of the Year: Tony Goble, Live Oak High School
All-TCAL First Team
Live Oak
Anthony Avalos, Midfielder, Senior
Garrett Frechette, Forward, Senior
Tim Kotyuk, Midfielder, Senior
Sheldon Steenhuis, Keeper, Junior
Gilroy
Kevin Grove, Defender, Sophomore
Humberto Pineda, Midfielder, Junior
Jose Velasquez, Forward, Junior
San Benito
Armando Espinoza, Midfielder, Junior
Christian Mercado, Midfielder, Junior
Ann Sobrato
Murilo Almeida, Forward, Junior
Sam Stoner, Defender, Junior
North Salinas
Jaime Castro, Forward, Senior
Luis Serrano, Midfielder, Senior
Dagoberto Ramirez, Keeper, Senior
Salinas
Isaias Abonce, Midfielder, Freshman
Larry Pinto, Defender, Junior
Palma
Chris Paulo, Forward, Senior
Silvano Botta, Midfielder, Junior
All-TCAL Second Team
Live Oak
Matt Altamirano, Defender, Sophomore
Josh Smith, Defender, Senior
Baldomero Perez, Forward, Junior
Johan Christian Abordo, Midfielder, Freshman
Gilroy
Gabe Mendoza, Defender, Senior
Emmanuel Nava, Defender, Senior
Jose Pineda, Midfielder, Senior
San Benito
Jose Carlos Vasquez, Defender, Junior
Javier Nieto, Defender, Sophomore
Ann Sobrato
Shibin Tharayil, Defender, Sophomore
Trevor Newcomb, Keeper, Junior
North Salinas
Joel Amador, Forward, Junior
Armando Lucio, Midfielder, Forward
Gerardo Saucedo, Defender, Senior
Salinas
Edy Cruz, Midfielder, Senior
Francisco Mederos, Forward, Junior
Palma
Anthony Daoud, Midfielder, Senior
Dylan Lee, Defender, Freshman
