Medeiros named as MVP for TCAL
It was an amazing season for the San Benito High baseball team.
In addition to sharing the league title with Gilroy High, the 2007
Balers advanced to the championship game in the Central Coast
Section playoffs before losing to Valley Christian High School.
Medeiros named as MVP for TCAL
It was an amazing season for the San Benito High baseball team. In addition to sharing the league title with Gilroy High, the 2007 Balers advanced to the championship game in the Central Coast Section playoffs before losing to Valley Christian High School.
Although that loss in the title game was difficult the Balers had solace in knowing they had advanced farther in the tournament than any other team from a public school in the section.
Last week several players on the Baler roster also learned that their solid effort on the diamond this past season earned them enough recognition to earn a spot on the Tri-County Athletic League’s All-League team.
Topping the list was Baler senior Kevin Medeiros, who was named the MVP of the league.
“He brought a lot of leadership to our team,” San Benito High coach Michael Luna said. “He really carried the team during the 12 league-game stretch.”
Medeiros, who pitched, played in left field and was a designated hitter, wound up the season with a .533 batting average. He also had 5 doubles, 2 homeruns and 17 RBIs to finish second on the team in each category.
During his 11 innings of work on the mound, he allowed 8 hits, gave up no walks and got 12 strikeouts.
He went into the last week of the season batting .610 before going 2-for-4 in the second-to-last-game to drop his average.
“I joked with him after that game about how hitting .500 that day hurt his average,” Luna said.
Part of the reason for Medeiros’ success this season was that he batted in the No. 4 hole in the lineup behind junior second baseman Brian Haggett – another Baler to make the prestigious list.
“A lot of teams would not pitch to Haggett, which I think was a big mistake because then Medeiros would get up next with runners on base,” Luna said.
The reason that so many teams were pitching around Haggett was because of his skills with the bat. This season Haggett, who played first base for the Balers the previous year, wound up batting .419 in league. He also led the team in homeruns with 6, RBIs with 37, walks and doubles (16).
He had an overall on-base percentage of .610.
“He was a threat to put the ball out of the park almost every single at bat,” Luna said. “He had such great patience and discipline up there. He only made six errors all year. He wasn’t a very flashy or fancy player just very, very solid.”
The team’s leadoff hitter Justin Andrade also made the league’s First Team squad. In addition to batting .500, he had an on-base percentage of .650.
“He set the table for us,” Luna said. “It seemed like every time he came up he would either get a hit, a walk or he’d get hit by a pitch, but he was always getting on. He had speed on the bases as well.”
During the season he saw the bulk of his playing time at both shortstop and third base.
Andrade would play shortstop during the games when junior Zach Canez, the Balers top pitcher, was on the mound.
Canez made the league’s First Team but a case could have been made for naming him the league’s Most Valuable Pitcher, an award that was given to Salinas’ James Coon.
“He had better stats than Coon,” Luna said. “When he was on the mound all of the other players thought we would win, including myself, because of the number of zeros that he could put up. He had a presence about him that the players would feed off of.”
For the season, Coon posted an ERA of 2.02; he had 41 strikeouts and allowed 13 walks. He also had a record of 3-0, and batted .350.
In comparison Canez was 4-0 in league, 7-2 overall, posted an ERA of 1.34 in league play and had a 2.01 ERA overall. He also batted .354 to edge past Coon in every category.
“He’s the type of player who wants the ball all of the time in big game situations,” Luna said.
Sophomore catcher Kyle Zozaya was the last Baler player that was named to the 2007 First Team squad.
Zozaya started the season with the intention of playing the “hot corner” but moved from third base to catcher to fill a void at the position. According to Luna, it was the best move he ever made.
“I asked him if he could go behind the plate in February. He had never played the position, and he got better every single game,” Luna said. “He could have arguably been our MVP. He got balls in the dirt, he could handle the pitchers and he routinely threw runners out at second.”
In addition to his defensive prowess, Zozaya could also swing the bat. He wound up the season with a .484 batting average, just one hit at bat shy of .500.
Two Baler players were also named to the All-League Second Team squad. They were: Senior centerfielder Kolton Klauer and junior infielder Ronnie Fhurong.
“All of these players overachieved,” Luna said. “That’s what you need to have a season like we did. All seven of them played above and beyond what I expected of them. The biggest compliment to this team was the competitiveness that we brought to the park every single game.”
