PAG METER/2017 ALL VALLEY ALL STAR BASEBALL TEAM

This was the first time ever that all the No 1 seeds lost in the playoffs

Here is the recap

Valley Championship Division 1

Clovis Cougars 2 Buchanan Bears 1

WP Darby Tatum (13-2) 6 1/3 IP. Save Chet Allison. Mason Grotto RBI. Connor Jorgensen scored the winning run on a great read on a wild pitch in the 6th inning. The Cougars win their 8th Valley Championship.

Division 2

Mt Whitney Pioneers 2 Redwood Rangers 1

WP  Holden Powell, 10 K’s, 3 hitter. Jordan Rojas, RBI

Division 3

Highland Scots 8 Porterville Panthers 5

WP  Cade Sakamoto, (5 2/3 IP) Save Andres Garza (4K’s). Landn Kauk, 3-4, 2R, RBI. Cade Sakamoto, 2-3, 2R. Anthony Baldridge, 2-3, double, RBI. Joey Vidal, 2-4, RBI.

Division 4

Wasco Tigers 5 Firebaugh Eagles 4

WP Dominic Martinez.  Lalo Barraza 3 run double and game winner in the 7th inning. The biggest hit in school history!

Division 5

Sierra Pacific Golden Bears 3 CVC Cavaliers 0

WP Will Springer, 3-hit shutout. James Lowe 2-4, 2 RBI’s. Dean Perez 1-3, RBI. Eloy Garcia 2-3.

Division 6

Fresno Christian 5 Sierra Chieftains 3 (8 innings)

Aaron Lacroix with the game winning 2 run double in the 8th inning

 

PAG METER/CO-TEAMS OF THE YEAR

Highland Scots and the Wasco Tigers

• Both teams each won 27 games and each won a section title. Both teams each played steadily from day one. Job well done.
• Highland won their first section championship in school history and Wasco won the Championship for the first time since 1990.

PAG METER PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Zach Presno, senior, Buchanan Bears

Zach played most of the 2nd half with a bad back. The last week of the year he couldn’t even take batting because he was in so much pain but somehow he turned it on. Zach was the team leader and captain for the Bears. Zach brought in his football mentality to the baseball stadium and that was huge. In the semifinals vs Clovis West, he crushed a huge home run but fell short at Rawhide to Clovis.  Zach also was a Pag Meter All Star at Linebacker who hit .338, 29 RBI’s and hit 6 HR’s. The future Bulldog helped the Bears go 87-9 and leaves with 2 valley championship rings in his outstanding career and a huge reason why the Bears were a national power.  

PAG METER CO-PITCHERS OF THE YEAR

Darby Tatum, senior, Clovis Cougars

Dardy took the baseball at Rawhide and pitched his best game of the year for the valley champions. The Bears bats were shut down after he fired a 4 hitter, going 6 ⅓ innings. Darby went 13-2 with a 1.56 ERA in 89.2 innings with 68 strikeouts.  Darby was a gamer!

Carson Olson, senior, Buchanan Bears

He was the Ace of the staff and finished at 12-0 with a 1.46 ERA and will play at Cal next year. One thing that he has is a big time curve ball to go along with his upper 80’s fastball. Carson was flat out dominating and he will go down as one of the top pitchers at Buchanan with his 12-0 record and that is saying a lot if you know the history of Buchanan baseball.

PAG METER OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Sean Mullen, junior, Stockdale Mustangs

A leader in the clubhouse for Pag Meter Player of the Year in 2018. He hit .470, with 7 home runs and scored 39 runs.  On the mound, he was 9-1 with a 3.48 ERA, striking out 61 batters in 54-1/3 innings. With Sean back for his senior year, the Mustangs could be playing at Rawhide and in the Valley championship game.

PAG METER UNDERCLASSMEN OF THE YEAR

Brady Hormel, sophomore, Buchanan Bears

What a year the Bears 2nd basemen had hitting .434, scored 29 runs with 12 doubles. He came up in so many big situations and never played like a young sophomore. You would have thought this kid was a senior. The 1st team all State Hormel will be up for 2018 Pag Meter player of the year.

PAG METER COACH OF THE YEAR

James Patrick, Clovis Cougars

Was there any doubt that James Patrick would be Pag Meter’s coach of the year?! James and his coaching staff got the Cougars fired up playing in the Valley championship game and beat No 1 Buchanan 2-1. The Bottom line at Rawhide, the Cougars were hungrier than the Bears. James also becomes the winningest coach in Valley history now with 720 and wins his 8th Valley championship.

• A big shout out goes to long time assistant coach George Chandler. George of the jungle has been coaching with James Patrick for 30 years and also has 8 Valley championship rings. That’s outstanding!