Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Baseball/Softball Players of the Year, Anyone?

The baseball and softball seasons are almost over, and the Templeton girls are the only ones still alive — again.

I figure it's the perfect time to poll the masses. Who in your mind deserves to be County Players of the Year?

As usual, weigh in on the online poll over to the right, but reason things out in the comment section.

I'll give a few contenders to get the ball rolling.

In baseball, you've got a few nominees, each with at least a small hole in his resume.

Mission Prep's Alex Detz batted .507, with just one more strikeout 6 than he had home runs 5, but the Royals did not play a great schedule.

Nipomo catcher Manny Reyes led the County with a .514 batting average and had good RBI totals, but his team fared poorly in PAC 7 play. Arroyo Grande catcher Lucas Kephart slugged six home runs, but was outdone by Reyes in a few other categories.

The All-County Team catcher spots will be interesting, especially considering San Luis Obispo catcher Darren Mullen — another POY candidate — had stats that looked like this at season's end: .479 BA, 4 HRs, county-leading 43 RBI.

But Mullen and the Tigers finished behind Paso Robles by 0.028 in percentage points for first place in the PAC 7.

The Bearcats' nominee has got to be pitcher John Brehm. The left-hander went 9-0 with five complete games, three shutouts and two saves. His ERA going into the playoffs was a microscopic 0.73. But he wasn't a heart-stopping power pitcher, and he didn't contribute a ton at the plate.

If Brehm ends up being the pick, it could be a Paso sweep.

Softball pitcher/shortstop Michelle Moses slugged 11 home runs, four more than the next closest county player. No one else in the PAC 7 had more than one.

Moses also led the league with 187 strikeouts despite being the only pitcher among the league leaders to have pitched fewer than 100 innings.

But Moses isn't all alone. Templeton's Kat Hicks, the 2006 Player of the Year, bested her with 193 strikeouts and was second in the county to Moses with a 0.52 ERA at the end of the regular season.

Both won league titles, but Hicks' team is still playing in the playoffs.

You make the call.

55 comments:

Anonymous said...

mission prep went 5-1 against the Los Padres leauge this year... if any of the pac-7 wasn't scared enough, they would have played them too.. but the pac-7 sure was strong this year.... 0-3 in the playoffs!

Anonymous said...

who are people thinking with all of these votes for "other"?

Anonymous said...

Mission Prep athletes seem to get passed over a lot for the "small school" excuse. How do you account for those Los Padres League wins?

It's interesting that the Trib had a big article about Mullen and Dan Howell hitting home runs this year. Dan's 6 HRs were made to be a big deal.
Last year, MCP Pitcher, Wilson Stewart had 7 HRs, a batting ave. better than most of the SLO high team, and pitched against some of Mission's toughest opponents. - No working the stats going on there. He led SLO County in HRs, and yet he wasn't on All County 1st or 2nd team! This year, he's matured as a pitcher and is a county leader in ERA. Will the Senior finally get the recognition he deserves??

Detz deserves all county POY. His defensive play is even stronger than his bat. Don't be surprised when he's playing D-I ball in college.

Anonymous said...

Michelle Moses was completely dominant. I watched some of their games and it seemed like she was a women among children. She will surely keep it going at Fresno St. next season. I think before she leaves the Tribune should give her an award she will never forget. The County Player of the Year.

Anonymous said...

Do any of the baseball players have D-I scholarships locked up?

Anonymous said...

Robbie Nadalsky from San Luis Obispo has a scholarship to Cal St. Northridge (in the same conference as Cal Poly). I know Louis Coppo out of Atascadero has a scholarship for Cal Lutheron, but that is not D-I. Bob Mott has been invited to play at USF next year as a walk-on. Other than that, I do not know of any D-1 offers..

Anonymous said...

Two of the "LPL wins" were over santa maria (2-22), and Mission lost to Templeton (which lost five of six going into the game with Mission).

Like Scroggins said, bad schedule.

Anonymous said...

D-III schools (like Cal Lutheran) aren't allowed to give athletic scholarships. But with a $40K+ per year tuition/room & board, they give out a lot of "academic" scholarships and "need based" scolarships. Just about everyone meets some need requirement with those rates.

Anonymous said...

as someone else said..who are these "other" players getting all of these votes. I am very curious if anyone has an answer

Anonymous said...

Any local guys going to the draft?

Anonymous said...

If you were at the Templeton game vs. Mission it was ridiculous. The umpiring was a disgrace which ultimately resulted in a loss for MP. As for the top dogs the LPL, Santa Ynez, St. Joe's, and MB lost to Mission. I say that's a good schedule with bad umpiring.

Anonymous said...

Maybe those voting for others are sending a message to Scroggins. There are other deserving kids out there. Maybe he should look at the stats and get more involved if hes going to be making a decision.

Anonymous said...

Why does every blog seemingly turn into a Mission Prep is the single greatest athletic department on the planet? Yes, MP does have a very solid department across the board. However, it gets tiresome to always read how Mission teams or players are constantly "slighted" due to the school's small size.

If Mission Prep wants to be on the level as the other county teams, then why don't they try and join one of the two larger leagues? Obviously, the school doesn't have the numbers to support a full athletic department and field teams in all the different sports. But I wonder if they could join as a limited member.

While that suggestion is highly unlikely, I think it would benefit the school to somehow get out of the CIF Central Section. Having the basketball teams in particular play in CIF-CS is a joke. The girls team may win 100 straight titles in that section. I think it would be in the best interest of the program to move up a level or two or three and actually challenge itself.

Anyway, I digress. Simply, I applaud Mission Prep's accomplishments. However, it would be nice to read one of these things without having some Mission Prep parent or booster get all bent out of shape because Josh Scroggin didn't nominate a Royal for some post season award!

Anonymous said...

He did mention a MP player. Detz. Thats cool. I think those voting for other are wanting him to look at stats and see what really went on with all the players at all the high schools before making a decision. Seems fair to me.

Joshua D. Scroggin said...

For those of you voting other: Post a comment who the other should be. I'd love to read some recommendations.

This blog entry was only me getting the ball rolling on the debate. Certainly, there are others. Nathan Raubinger from AG. Bryce Cherry from Atascadero. Dan Howell and Robbie Nadalsky from SLO. Bob Mott at Mission and Nik Kwasny at Coast. I'm sure there are plenty more in the discussion.

You voted other. Tell me who "other" is.

Anonymous said...

Nathan Raubinger and Bob Mott are definitely two of the best "two-way" players in the county, in that they both hit and pitch well. They may be receiving many of the other votes. Mason Spearkos from Nipomo and Davey Schultz from SLO are other players who are good at the plate and on the hill. Maybe having the ability to help the team in these two aspects is what leads many people to think of these players as being county player of the year.

Anonymous said...

I think one of the others should be Arroyo Grandes Nathan Raubinger

Anonymous said...

i think the best candidates for the other is Mott and Raubinger because of their two way ability. The others mentioned above by scroggen did not put up great numbers this year, Kwansy good on the hill but not strong hitting and fielding. As for mission trying to switch sections, it has been tried for years by the coach. MP would become such a stronger program with switching to the southern section.

Anonymous said...

I voted for Reyes, he is as good all around ballplayer as anybody, regardless of the team he was on. Remember, this year is the 1st year Nipomo got ANY the wins in the PAC-7. The MP boosters might think about that. Re: other, one could consider Bryce Cherry in Atascadero. He put up some strong numbers: .479 avg,.729 slg,. 513 obp, etc. In PAC-7 League play, against common pitching(the best comparsion), he led the League with a .563 avg, 27 hits & 2 HRs in 16 games. For perspective, that League avg. is .200+ points better than a guy like Howell's. Reyes was the only one close.
More MP: there is no doubt they have a weak sched. 5-1 against the LPL doesn't mean much when the LPL got bombed by the PAC-7 in preseason. Detz would not have near those numbers in PAC-7. That said, he is the real deal, and a very good player. Player of the Year? Not until MP moves into another league in baseball.

Anonymous said...

First off, the County Player of the Year doesn't lead his team to a 4-14 League record. That being said, the author of that "Mission Prep needs to stop whining" harangue needs to do a little research before he or she ejaculates that an actual deserving athlete from Mission Prep getting overlooked is something that shouldn't contested. Take the pitching from the PAC-7, for example. Save a few scattered quality pitchers, the mound did not pose much of a threat to opposing teams. The two pitchers that lead the league in strikeouts played for Nipomo, which won all of four games in league.
To refocus, it's time to examine the deserving athlete from Mission Prep, Alex Detz. To say that Detz would have performed worse in either the PAC=7 or LPL is absurd. Anyone with baseball knowledge can watch his swing in the cages or during his at-bats and deduce his legitimacy. Detz has consistently put up numbers for three years, and he is only getting better. What kind of numbers, might you ask? Let's try just the offensive ones. His line would read .506/.638/.899/32/43/5. Now what are these numbers? The .506 Batting Average and 5 home runs are second in the county, while his .638 On Base Percentage, .899 Slugging Percentage, 43 runs scored are tops. And the 32 R.B.I's were ranked fourth, not bad for someone who hits second one a team that needs a little magic to get anyone past the five-hitter on base.
Detz's offensive numbers speak volumes, but that wasn't the only impact he had on the field. Alex made only one error playing absolutely stellar defense at second base and shortstop. His .989 fielding percentage was tops for anyone that didn't catch or play first.
Surely that should be enough, but Detz was even able to strut another facet of his game on the hill. In just 9.1 IP, Alex struck out 18, and surrendered only three hits and no runs. Detz could have seen more action on the bump if his defense wasn't desperately needed gluing together the middle of Mission's infield.
For all you Mission critics out there, it only takes watching a couple of innings at the field on the corner of Palm and Nipomo to witness a player that truly dominated his competition, and earned the County Player of the Year Award.

Anonymous said...

SCROG,
It was obviously a great year for baseball on the Central Coast with alot of good players.
As you said, your original 5 nominees all had "holes in their resume". That's because they were all one-way players and that's why we're all interested in OTHERS.
Check out the two-way players previously mentioned: Raubinger, Sperakos, Schultz & Mott (pitching 9 innings doesn't make you a two-way player): compare the stats and Schultz stands out above all the others.
He led the county in hits and the Pac-7 in hits and runs, all by a wide margin. He was lead-off hitter for the most explosive offense in the league and batted .446.
He was 5-0 on the mound with an ERA of 1.925 and the Tigers won every game he appeared in. Also, only 4 walks in 40 innings!
Alot of great players but on one else hasthese two-way stats.
OTHER: Davey Schultz

Anonymous said...

in davey schultz's nine apperances, slo averaged 11.78 runs a game.... he better win every game he pitches in with that run support!

Anonymous said...

I think it is good thing there is so many great things to say about all the players in the County mentioned here for POY. I tend to support the PAC-7 guys, like Mullen & Reyes. I think any of the players discussed would be deserving. Last time I saw a baseball game catchers were 2 way players - not just guys who pitched. These guys are outstanding catchers, and real prospects.
I also think the Mission cheerleader needs to pull up. I have been to the corner of Palm and Nipomo. The field is a sandbox. Playing 1/2 of your games there is not the same as playing at Sinsheimer, Nipomo, Paso or anywhere else. As for a Mission Prep's player's stat line being comprable to the PAC -7, that just doesn't wash. Just look at the schedule. Drew(9-16)? Kings Christian(3-11)? Valley Christian(4-13)? Two games against the LPL's Santa Maria (2-22)? And don't forget two games against North County Christian. One can't compare that kind of competion to the PAC-7. It is a different brand of baseball. There a quite a few Mission transfers who will tell you that.I think any unbiased person must take a candidate's numbers from the school with a grain of salt.

Anonymous said...

You do have some correct things to say, and there are some extreme points of view from the previous "pro-mission" that might not be 100% correct. Obviously some of the mission stats are a little swayed from playing some easy opponents, but they also played some pretty decent competition, and held their ground. And if mission was such a sandbox, how come Santa Ynez and Morro Bay scored similar run outputs against mission as they did against, arroyo grande, paso, and slo? Arent all those bigger parks? In fact, Chase Yost, who hit 2 HR at Sinsheimer against SLO, went 0-3 with 3 k's against mission. interesting. Once again, point being that yes, maybe a couple home runs here and there would have been doubles in other parks, but its no coors field. Arroyo Grande has similar dimensions, and everyone knows that Nipomo is a terrible park for homeruns, being 340 down the line.

Anonymous said...

Yost hit 2 hr's in a game they LOST 26 to 5. So who cares?

Anonymous said...

So sick of the MP bs that goes on this blog.

Anonymous said...

so sick of people thinking that the pac-7 is some supreme league...its nothing to any league down south or up in the bay...

Anonymous said...

MP bs? wow what a stupid comment.

Anonymous said...

Reyes has my vote. His numbers are amazing when you look at his supporting cast. He would have led in every catagory if he had played in a field like AG or Mission. Additionally, he is by far the best defensive catcher- no one even comes close

Anonymous said...

In response to the comment about seven above mine with the quote "There a quite a few Mission transfers who will tell you that.I think any unbiased person must take a candidate's numbers from the school with a grain of salt."
...how about you look at those transfers' stats from their time at mission and compare them to "great competition" they faced this year. Over 60 strike outs from two of those transfers combined in one year. That's pretty hard to do. Sure they have improved since, but seems to me MP's competition isn't that much of a joke, just ask those transfers.

Anonymous said...

Come on guys, cut the Mission boys some slack. Just because they play small schools, in a small yard and thier dads have small...never mind.
You might have an inferiority complex too about your baseball stats. You might even come up with some weird argument about strikeouts to convince people Mission stats are up to par with the LPL and the MLB. But hey, at least they haven't started to recruit Dominicam kids to play baseball there yet. Memo to Mission Prep from the CIF SS: PAC-7 is Div.2, LPL is Div. 4, Freelance League is Div. 7. Nuff said. Can't wait for the Mission argument against this so we can all have a good laugh!

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Pac-7 may be dII, but they certainly didnt prove that they belong in that division when it came time for the playoffs. Why was everyone in the pac-7 scared to play MP this year? afraid they would lose that "advantage" that pac-7 competition brings to the table. ha.

Anonymous said...

It's obvious to me and anyone who actually knows something about baseball that you idiots have no clue. The catcher from Nipomo was the best player in the Pac-7 this year and he's a real prospect, along with Mullen being the second best catcher. Detz had a great year, but he's not D-1 caliber now and probably won't be when he graduates next year unless he grows some more. Gentlemen, the quality of opponents that Mission faces is simply not up to the total caliber that the Pac-7 see's! As for DAVEY SHULTZ being the POY, can someone please get his dad off these blogs. I saw him pitch and that 78 MPH heater isn't going to get many outs in college.

Anonymous said...

we're talking about who played the best in the county high schools this year, not who is going to be the best next year

Anonymous said...

its ok guys nathan raubinger already won it for AG so calm down there. and be on the look out for his little brother kyle. Wysong is a terrible coach. Kyle was probably in the top 5 players at AG and he wouldnt bring him up because he is a freshmen. He dominated the JV level and next year will be an absolute stud.

Anonymous said...

All I know, not talking about competition or any of that right now, is Detz's stats are flawless. Between hitting, baserunning, and fielding..most solid year. Don't necessarily have to be a full two-way player.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for finally paying some attention to softball! All of the teams in the county had great years and had many, many athletes that deserved some recognition.
County Player of the Year.... Wow you have a few to pick from this year. Michelle Moses and Kat Hicks were definetly stand outs this year. Both girls have worked very hard in season and in the off season. They both are very deserving of the scholarships they have been awarded. Templeton also has the obvious Jill McClelland. Also in the lineup First baseman Kristina Barkley. Stacy Salzar is also in my opinion a great ball player from Paso. Kim Dauer out of Morro Bay is a great hard working pitcher. San Luis has girls who deserve recognition. Atascadero had several stand outs. Arroyo Grande and Nipomo had some talented girls as well. We are also seeing Shandon and North County Christian and Coast Union coming up with girls that are making them more competitive in their leagues, while they might not be as strong as Pac 7 or Los Padres league schools the girls still have talent. Remember it is player of the year not team! Unfortunately I can't remember names of every girl but I saw a lot of games! Hopefully someone out there can throw some of these names out! Point being we have a lot of talented girls all over the county! Good luck with picking player of the year!!!
I can see how Josh would only come up with 2 nominees since the tribunes softball coverage has been so limited this season. I highly suggest calling some local coaches and getting some stats and opinions.

Anonymous said...

I just want to say congratulations to all the baseball/softball players on the central coast for great seasons.

I agree with the last comment on how there has been little press coverage with softball. If you are choosing solely on stats, that is wrong. The players need to be "seen" in action, which I know many of the teams have not been. Players and parents generally keep stats, which can be grossly skewed.

The LPL definitely had the more difficult schedule. I agree with the above comment as well on the topic of getting coaches opinions. Some players were plagued with injuries, grade issues, etc.

The comment about the Paso sweep leads the reader to believe you have already made your choice.....? Moses is a very good ball player, but there are many very good ball players out there.

Anonymous said...

Speaking of being seen, I saw a Blues game on Monday. They had one high school player on thier team. His name is Bryce Cherry from Atascadero. He was the DH in the 2nd game and had a sac bunt and a single. Sophmore? Cool for him.
POY could easily be Raubinger. He was MVP of the PAC-7 chosen by the coaches. That says a lot. They also chose Brehm as best pitcher. Where would Paso be without him? He beat everybody, shut out SLO, and had Paso within 2 outs of beating Cypress in the CIF playoff opener. It went extras and they lost, but Cypress won 4 straight playoff games and just finally lost. So much for the PAC-7 not being a legit D-II. Check the PAC-7records in the spring tourneys, they did well, and SLO won thier tourney with a lot of good D-II teams in it like Foothill.

Anonymous said...

Wow - you are very nasty
this is HIGH SCHOOL Baseball for Gosh Sakes - I hate to say it but none of these kids are going any further.... Yeah some may play some ball in College...but you are all taking this way to serious. Comments:
1) Any HRs at AG are a Joke! Little League down the RF line, what is is 230ft? (thats why they all bat LHed). Sorry Kephart
2)PR winning league because of a tie..despite losing to SLO twice!
3)No league title should be decided by a tie (like kissing your sister), especially if seeding is dependent upon the result.
4)Paso Parents nice "Class" with the Sound system...remember these are just kids....having fun...yet you have "music-comments" when one strikes out---you have to be kidding.
5)SLO had to travel 5 hours to play a 1st round game...don't get on them (MP)for losing first round. I am very familar with all the MP and SLO players....SLO would win...very easily. (sorry)
6)Go Alex...great player....great kid!

Thanks

Anonymous said...

Thank you for bringing this craziness back to earth. This discussion should be about the accomplishments of the area's best players - not tearing them down. A number of kids, especially those mentioned for POY, will play in college at some level. Comparing these players is a difficult thing. They are all good in thier own right. Final thought, Paso's antics with the P.A. at thier field are mean spirited and lack class in a H.S. sports setting. That is on Coach Stroud and the A.D. whoever he/she is. It's thier program. They should ditch that unsportsmanlike stuff.

Anonymous said...

To 10:57 anonymous,

Sounds like you're a SLO fan/parent based on your comments about Paso, AG and your bus ride to the playoffs. I thought someone above told DAVEY SHULTZ dad to get off the comment blog anyway. Scroggins - how does it feel to have a grown man with his nose up your butt? As far as class goes, I seem to recall a couple low class and loud mouthed dad's from SLO that can't keep their mouths closed. Most of the SLO seem great, but a few are class-LESS. Keep your mouths shut and watch the boys play. It doesn't last that long for a far majority of them.

Anonymous said...

just to let you know... San Luis did try and schedule a game with mission but they denied us. Instead they played our jv team and lost.

Anonymous said...

That's a lie

Anonymous said...

no we definitely tried to get a game with mission and they refused and mission did lose to our jv team

Anonymous said...

mission did not deny anything from san luis high. and jv's do not matter...

Anonymous said...

for the guy that said two of missions LPL wins were against santa maria is correct. The game against templeton was extremely close and went into extra innings when the umpire made a horific call to shift all momenteum into templetons favor and they won. Alex detz led the nation in batting average for a week. no one is aware of that. he has a great glove, he's a good hitter, a good leader, and he does it all while maintaing the pressure of academics at mission, which is more difficult then any other school in the central coast. My pick for POY is alex detz

Anonymous said...

It is so very obvious by reading some of these posts that a lot of the dads of high school athletes are living vicariously through their sons' accomplishments. You had your time to shine; it didn't come together for you. You should really quit with the blatant attempts to push your kids to the top of the heap. Let them get there on their own merit.

Anonymous said...

brehm was the wrong choice hopefully you get it rite next year and watch out for alex detz. Saw him play a few games and he has quite the potential as does little raubinger from ag

Anonymous said...

brehm was a ONE-WAY player batting .275 with 11 rbi's. thats embarassing to see that he was chosen player of the year

Anonymous said...

mission lost to fowler by two in their season finale. only 3 teams can hold up with fowler in the county. Paso if brehm pitches. Coast if kwasny pitches. and IImission if mott pitches. No other team would stand a chance so yes mission can compete with these teams in higher divisions. Mission lost 3 games to team within their division five. Both to fowler. They only lost five games to teams in d II,III,and IV. dont tell me why thats not impressive

Anonymous said...

thats not impressive

Anonymous said...

neither is your moms ass.

Anonymous said...

Where is everyone getting stats? Do the coaches hand them out?? The tribune to my knowledge gets them off max preps and most of the parents I assume are too.. From a coach to you most Max Prep stats are made from parents who are keeping books behind the backstop and entering the information. And others are being kept by kids in the dugout doing stats and some are being kept by players. Very few head coaches have the time during a game to keep a book or pitch chart or put out chart. And none of us have a large enough coaching staff to put an assistant coach on the book. You guys are getting worked up about things that may not even be factual, at bats, hits, stolen bases etc. Are they really how they game played out? It would be interesting to hear what these coaches have to say. Praise these kids for season well played. They all work hard to get on the field. Why bash them when it's over. How would your kid feel reading about themseleves in this thing. Leave the kids alone.