When we put together all-area baseball teams, we usually select 2-3 pitchers, four infielders, three outfielders and a catcher. This could mean three shortstops and a first baseman, two center fielders, etc, etc. We do this in an effort to recognize the best-of-the-best, because sometimes your two or three best players in the Valley might play the same position. What I’m curious to know is who bloggers DO think are the best at each position? If this were a major league all-star game and you were voting by the actual position they were playing, how would you fill in the blanks for a starting pitcher, first, second, third and shortstop, along with a left fielder, right fielder, center fielder and catcher.
I don’t know everyone but I would go with this …
Pitcher: Paul Paez, Bishop Amat
Catcher: Jerry McClanahan, Bishop Amat
Shortstop: Rio Ruiz Bishop Amat
First Base: Kenny Mathews, Diamond Bar
Third Base: Jacob Cage, Glendora
Second Base: Joseph Woodward, Glendora
Left Field: Chester Pak, Diamond Bar
Center Field: Not sure
Right Field: Not Sure
My top 3 pitchers would be Paez, Matthews and Plutko in that order. Matthews out duled Plutko Friday but was the victim of errors.
Catcher- Joseph winterburn he is having an amazing year
right field- Matt gelalich he I think has best batting average in the valley almost .600
LHP Paez, Mathews
RHP Plutko, McNitt
OF Smigelski
OF Gelalich
OF Andreson
C Doyle
1B Highley
2B Mier
3B Bridgewater
SS Ruiz
The entire Amat team!!
I believe Mr. Pedroza over at Northview has earned the right to represent the SS position in this field? No? Why all the love to Ruiz for one-year of playing the position? I’ve seen Pedroza do some amazing things at the SS position? Is there something I’m missing or did he graduate or leave NV or is he hurt???What?
You’re thinking of Richie Pedroza, who has graduated. Eddie Pedroza is a pitcher and first baseman.
KH, give us your take. if you list any bonita guys, give us your backup player as well.
Agree with the list. With the exception of Mc Nitt. Now come on he is not that good pick me. Been to see Amat several times. He can barely get through average teams. Sorry Pick Me.
Pitchers: Paez, Plutko, Matthews
Catcher: McClanahan or Goodwin
Infield: Ruiz, Bridgewater, Ybarra and ?
OF: Anderson, Gelalich, Pak and ?
Utl: Huerta
A LOT OF GOOD BASEBALL PLAYERS OUT THERE,,,HERE ARE SOME THAT SHOULD BE ON THE LIST:
LHP: PEDROZA (NORTHVIEW)
PAEZ (BISHOP AMAT)
CHAVIRA (WALNUT)
RHP: PLUTKO (GLENDORA)
MUNOZ (LOS ALTOS)
1ST: MATTHEWS (DIAMOND BAR)
2ND: MATSUNE (WALNUT)
MEIR (BONITA)
SS: RUIZ (BISHOP AMAT)
BONILLA (WALNUT)
3RD: BRIDGEWATER (DIAMOND RANCH)
CATCHER: GOODWIN (DIAMOND RANCH)
OUTFIELD: HARRISON (WALNUT)
BALTIERRA (WILSON)
FELIX (NOGALES)
CROWE (DIAMOND BAR)
THERE ARE PROBABLY A FEW MORE PLAYERS OUT THERE THAT SHOULD BE ON THIS LIST,,,
P. Paul Paez Amat, Plutko, Glendora
C. Jerry McClanahan, Amat
S.S. Rio Ruiz, Amat
1.B. Kenny Mathews, Diamond Bar
2.B. Joseph Woodward, Glendora
3.B. Jake Shirley South Hills, Bridgewater, D.R.
L.F. ?
C.F. Jeff Crowe, Diamond Bar
R.F. ?
H.S. BASEBALL FAN,
Where did MUNOZ (LOS ALTOS) come from. This kid is third or fouth on his team in stats. A matter of fact his ERA is .5 over the average on his team at .341.
Dad’s please staff off the blog.
HS BASEBALL FAN??? Hitting the bottle lately? Bonilla of Walnut next to Rio Ruiz? Are you off your rocker? Boniia could not carry this Man chld Ruiz Jock. You are a Walnut Fan I can see by your picks and none of them you have there are even close to playing along side these Players from Amat Glendora Diamond Bar. There is no comparison when you name Walnut players against the best in the SGV. Walnut what was your record last year..one and done to El. Rancho??? Same Results this year. Your a Homer be real man. Harrison???Geeze this guy could not his way out of a paper bag. Dorkazoid player there.
Mr. so cal baseball and take a shot,
Joseph Woodward at 2nd?? he doesn’t even start at 2nd 75% of the time on his own team… Glendora only has 2 guys worthy of consideration at this time; Plutko(P) and Winterburn(C).
Woodward shouldn’t be on any list. Only Pulko and Smigeksi off the Glendora team.
I have seen a lot of High school baseball in the valley this year. Here is my opinion just watching from the stands.
P – Paez, Matthews & Plutko
C- McClanahan (Great Leader )
1B – Ty France (Sophmore and a Beast)
2B – ?
SS – Rio Ruiz (Legit!)
3B – Bridgewater (Best Hitter in the Valley)
OF – Jay Anderson,Pak,Gelalich
I did not realize that Sergio Santos made the majors as a relief pitcher for the white sox. Santos played his freshman year at Los Altos before transferring to Mater Dei. Santos was a SS at MDHS and 1st round draft choice. After failing to make it as a position player he was asked to pitch with his 97mph fastball and thus far has 6 innings pitched with 9K’s and 2 walks.
Santos may have been better off staying at Los Altos where he could have pitched along with playing ss.
? A solid list. I think Lewis from Damien at 2nd warrants consideration. To prefer McClanahan over Winterburn he must be a great leader!Haven’t seen enough from him to judge.
I see some great ball players on these lists but I don’t see three Spartans that absolutely belong. Bobby Oatman (OF) Eric Lewis (2B) & Nick Amrhein (LHP). These three have the stats to run with anybody that has been recommended.
Anyone know why Nick A didn’t pitch last year? seems to have rebounded well but heard he had some self inflicted issues that played into his absence on the mound. How’s Leyva working out for Damien? Hear nothing but good things coming out their lower level programs. Could this be the year Damien Baseball wins a league title? Are there any players to look for in the coming years? So many questions but Friday will go down as a barn burner!!! Glendora fans have historically been a vocal group but this year with so much on the line expect both camps to try and shout down the other. Fred will you be there for the best match between these two teams in a decade!
what about the second baseman from northview…he didnt have a bad game againt glendora, 1-2 with a monster shot homerun off of cage. and made a great play on a slow roller in the late 6th. wouldnt be a bad canidate to look at …towards the end of CIF.
What about the second baseman from northview?
he had above average game against glendora! a monster blast off cage to start the game. and a great defensive play late in the game. isnt a bad canidate.
Tyler Grijalva is the Northview 2nd baseman and he’s been a huge part of their success. He’s at least average defensively, a very strong baserunner, a really great lead-off hitter and team leader. Add it all up and he deserves some recognition. He’s only a junior.
From all the blogging taking place, articles written or just general comments being made about top pitchers, all star players and top teams it appears that South Hills High School has fallen off the map?
Have they? No!
While their individual stats are not posted on Max Preps or box scores listed in the Trib – ever! They are a dam good team that should not be underestimated.
Just a few stats that I have heard:
record 14 wins 3 losses including the national classic where they went 2 & 2.
Pitching staff ERA .78 using 6 different pitchers
Team batting average just over .500 year not just league. Don’t know much about individual stats but if these are true the rest really don’t matter much.
This is a team in every sense of the word playing for each other, kids playing out of position because that’s what the team needs, no what about me hot dogs searching for the spotlite just a bunch of kids playing for each other having fun.
They hit, they run, they pitch, they field, they bunt, they take pitches, they run hard 90’s all the time safe or out and are fundamentally as sound as any team I have watched this year. Yes Diamond Bar is seamingly unstoppable behind Matthews, Glendora behind Plutko, Amat behind Paez put the SHHS team behind any one of their 6 pitchers go into a best of three series – SHHS has the edge.
It looks like Paez will pitch against SHHS as their rotation sets up this way. SHHS is better against hurlers, throw McNitt keep them off balance, spot’em up we could have an interesting game. Hopefully a gem like Glendora / Daimond Bar or Damien / Glendora
Pitchers: Paez, Plutko, Matthews
Catcher: Winterburn, McClanahan, Doyle
3B: Shirley, Bridgewater, Cruz
SS: Ruiz, Ibarra
2B: Mier?
1B: France, Matthews
OF: Pak, Crowe, Gelalich, Anderson?
The northview kid isnt bad!
he plays the game with respect too….after a khaotic play bewteen him and woodward from Glendora, the ball short hopped him and he tried to square up on the ball to keep it infront and what appeared to the umprire woodward LOWERED his shoulder and was ejected. after the comotion and the inning was over. the 2nd baseman grijalva went over to the glendora dougout and asked for woodward and shook his hand &told em “keep playing the game, no blood no foul. clean play man.” thats what the coach from glendora said. But the kid has some talent fred!
Damien S
Would have to agree with Oatman with the bat, but his defense really knocks him out! He allows runners to advance on him due to lack of arm strength. His defensive skills need big time imoprovement.
Here are top players in the area, forget all the emotional favorites. These are the ranking the scouts use, watch and verify. Broken down by class the first number before each name as State ranking the second National Rankings by graduation class.
Don’t think about positions think about players, all but two are committed to D-1 schools.
Class of 2010
13 60 Adam Plutko RHP OF 6-3 180 R R Glendora UCLA
20 83 Scott Frazier RHP OF 6-6 205 R R Upland Pepperdine
37 161 Frankie Christian OF LHP 6-0 180 L L Upland USC
45 220 Paul Paez LHP 5-9 175 R L Bishop Amat San Diego
48 244 Chris Wilson RHP-1B 6-5 225 L R ST. Paul – West Covina Wake Forest
Jake Shirley 3B SS 5-11 185 R R South Hills UCLA
98 422 Derek Goodwin C P 3B 5-11 200 R R Daimond Ranch Sacramento State
Class of 2011
5 21 Wallace Gonzalez OF 1B/3B 6-5 230 R R Bishop Amat USD
31 233 Manny Argomaniz SS RHP 6-1 160 R R Claremont
34 247 Kenny Mathews LHP 1B/OF 6-3 200 L L Diamond Bar Cal State Fullerton
Class 2012
2 6 Rio Ruiz 3B RHP 6-2 190 L R Bishop Amat Southern Cal
7 29 Ty France 3B SS 1B 5-11 200 R R South Hills San Diego State
13 61 CJ Saylor C RHP/UT 5-10 170 R R South Hills San Diego State
17 85 Henry Omana RHP 6-3 200 R R Diamond Bar
Diamond Bar Dad- The name says it all- Whose the homer- Fricking loser- Too much time on your hands – Stay off the blogs dad- Give your uneducated opinions somewhere else-
Baseball Wire,
Don’t know where you got those numbers from but I see that the D1 schools don’t pay much attention to them either. Henry Omana is a good kid but not even close to a top player class of 2012. As a batter he is sporting a .300 batting average a large number of teams have a higher batting average than him. As a pitcher he has an ERA of 3.0. Where are the numbers, I don’t see them.
Since your talking 2012 class
Chris Corona (LA) batting .458 era of 2.69 IP 26
Joe Munoz (LA) batting .410 with a era of 3.41 IP 26.2
Henry Omana (DB) batting .300 with a era of 3.00 IP 30.1
Where do you put Joe and Chris by the numbers?
Just for the record I am not an LA supporter, far from it. But like you said numbers don’t lie.
I did this the old fashioned way, I looked up the stats on Maxpreps. Yes, I know some of you believe the stats are made up but it is interesting how closely the Maxpreps information follows exactly along with most of selections by my fellow bloggers. My valley ALL-Star team:
Pitchers-
Paez- BA – 8-0, 0.28 ERA, 49.1 IP, 82 K, 10 BB
Plutko- G – 5-1, 0.95 ERA, 44 IP, 66K, 10 BB
Matthews- DB – 5-1, 1.11 ERA, 44 IP, 56 K, 9 BB
3B- Bridgewater DR- .629 BA, 39 H, 33 RBI, 8 HR’s
SS- Ruiz BA- .482 BA, 27 H, 21 RBI, 3 HR’s
2B- Mier B- .434 BA, 23 H, 21 RBI, 5 HR’s
1B- Matthews DB- .419 BA, 26 H, 12 RBI, 1 HR’s
France SH- NO MAXPREPS STATS
C- Goodwin DR- .429 BA, 27 H, 16 RBI, 2 HR’s
McClanahan BA- .333 BA, 16 H, 16 RBI, 0 HR’s
Outfield
Gelalich B- .564 BA, 22 H, 12 RBI, 3 HR’s
Pak DB- .429 BA, 21 H, 12 RBI, 2 HR’s
Crowe DB- .485 BA, 33 H, 15 RBI, 1 HR
Oatman D- .490 BA, 24 H, 8 RBI, 1 HR
Anderson – NO MAXPREPS STATS
Just because you are on a bad team does not mean you are not a good player. In fact I feel it is harder because you have no one else in the lineup to help protect you as a batter. I said it earlier in the year – Why have we not heard anything about this Diamond Ranch 3B Bridgewater –
.629 with 8 bombs are you kidding me. If he was at Bishop Amat he would be proclaimed President by now.
As college baseball enters it final month of the regular season here’s how our local freshmen are doing.
RJ Arnold (Northview/UNLV) .317 AVG, 40-126, 30 RBI, 6 HR
Evan Brock (Ayala/UC Irvine) 2.78 ERA, 3-2 W/L, 22.2 IP, 23 K’s
Mark Garcia (Damien/UC Riverside) 7.71 ERA, 2.1 IP, 4 K’s
Jeff Gelalich (Bonita/UCLA) .333 AVG, 7-21, 4 RBI
Phil Holinsworth (Chino Hills/UC Riverside) .143 AVG, 1-7
Joel Licon (Diamond Ranch/Loyola Marymount) .220 AVG, 11-50, 7 RBI
Matt Lowenstein (Chino Hills/Loyola Marymount) .329 AVG, 25-76, 13 RBI
Ethan Miller (Ayala/San Diego St.) 4.05, 0-1 W/L, 26.2 IP, 19 K’s
Richie Pedroza (Northview/Cal StateFullerton) .154 AVG, 2-13
Cody Regis (GLendora/UCLA) .316, 24-76, 22 RBI, 12 2B
Matt Whitehouse (Damien/UC Irvine) 6.23 ERA, 4.1 IP 8 K’s
Brady Zuniga (Amat/UNLV) 3.23 ERA, 4-0 W/L, 2 SV, 30.2 IP, 22 K’s
Great job boys. Continue to make the SGV proud.
Jay Anderson-Bishop Amat
Batting Avg 397
23 HITS
16 RBI
4 HR
No Errors.
Pick your team based on maxpreps, and baseball wire, which is outsider rating (good info), based on your pickings I will publish the names after, trying to be objective. (stats as of 4-22) These are actuals just using ghost names and will provide real names later. List the names in your answer and see how you do when I post the names later. fun huh. (try not to match stats up with info already provided just pick based on what you value as a stat, rbis, power, avg etc.)
OUTFIELD
name gp avg ab h rbi 2b 3b HR
mays 17 512 43 22 12 4 1 3
dimaggio 17 490 49 24 8 4 1 0
yastremski 18 484 68 33 15 11 2 1
griffey 14 429 49 21 12 5 1 2
ichiro 19 397 58 23 16 3 1 4
pucket 18 358 53 18 18 2 1 3
clemente 18 339 62 21 14 4 1 4
williams no stats (local high school)
CATCHERS
name gp avg ab h rbi 2b 3b HR
pudge 16 458 59 27 16 5 0 2
mauer 17 440 50 22 12 5 0 2
posada 18 302 43 13 14 3 0 0
molina no stats (local high school)
PITCHERS
NO BRAINERS HERE, no need to to get stats,
pick em, koufax, johnson, ryan, carlton and(local no stats)
INFIELD
name gp avg ab h rbi 2b 3b HR
jeter 20 482 56 27 21 6 0 3
utley 17 436 55 24 22 5 0 5
schmidt 16 621 58 36 32 7 4 7
morgan 17 429 49 29 12 2 1 0
smith 17 358 53 19 11 4 1 1
kenrick 17 255 55 14 8 5 1 0
furcal 16 373 51 19 11 5 1 0
glaus 18 267 30 8 6 1 0 1
howard 18 419 62 26 12 9 0 1
real numbers,
you asked so here goes,
(thank you baseball wire for the scouts inside info rankings, they are accurate as a couple of guys have moved up to replace the media and coach hyped favorite guys.)
munoz is legit ss but has tons of upside as ss more than p think gio mier. But he does not project like Omana as P. Omana is #2 for DB and does a great job against tough competition. So try not bagging on him when he tops out at 88 mph as soph (maybe the next plutko). your 2 guys will get their due.
Corona can hit hit hit, hes a legit guy too.
Here are what I see in the valley as top 2012 guys (the 2012 guys listed by baseball wire have attended a scout showcase and thats how they got a ranking.)
(not in any favorite order, *extra special)
ruiz ss amat
henry 1b charter oak
santiago p charter oak
france if so hills
saylor c p so hills
omana p diamond bar
munoz ss los altos
corona of los altos
goodwin c diamond ranch
chapman p claremont
ingram of claremont
castro if bonita
garza if p bonita
kennedy of san dimas
romo if walnut
camberos of c los altos
I will give this a try, hope I get it right(in order of my picks):
outfield;
Yaz hi avg, power, rbis
mays hi avg and power
ichiro, power and rbis
then if get 2 more griffey, dimaggio
catcher;
pudge hi avg power rbis
then if get another pick mauer
infield;
schmidt are those stats real POWER & AVG & RBIS
jeter hi AVG, POWER, RBIS,
utley hi avg power and rbis
then if get 2 more howard, morgan
pitchers; since no stats I will pick
Paez (sabathia), mathews (johnson), and plutko (ryan)
honorable mention; santiago, amrhein, local no stats lefty,
2 position impact players: who are they
lets see:
PITCHERS; KOUFAX-paez, RYAN-plutko, JOHNSON-mathews
CATCHER; PUDGE
OUTFIELD; YAZ, MAYS, DIMAGGIO
INFIELD; SCHMIDT, JETER, UTLEY, HOWARD
These choices are based on stats by maxpreps from as I see it, the rankings from baseball wire, and Robledo saying coaches that do not post stats does not allow for proper evaluation for all area.
p-paez, plutko, mathews
c-goodwin,
1b-mathews
2b-mier,
3b-bridgewater
ss-ruiz
of-gelalich
of-crowe
of-anderson
——————–
honorable mention: p-pedroza (no stats), santiago, amrhein
c-winterburn
1b-alexander
2b-lewis
3b-shirley (nostats though)
ss-ibarra (no stats though)
of-oatman, pak, smigelski, layton
“list said”… going to the AMAT game today. Hope so. Maybe you change you mind. on your picks….
These in my mind are the Best players in the valley.
1.Paez
2.Plutko
3.Matthews
4.Pedroza
5.Jerry Mclanhanan
6. Jay Anderson
7.Bridgewater
8.Dj Wallace
9.Goodwin
10.Huerta
11.France
12.Shirley
13.Saylor
14.Doyle
15.Ibarra
16.Rio Ruiz
17.Mcnitt
Players of the Future to look forward to……
Omana,Munoz,Corona,Camberos,Mier,Gelalich,Baltierra,Young Goodwin,Felix,Rollice Future all area players
two allstars left off your joke team ,
from bonita are left fielder a=ram
pitcher j=yep
two players who want the ball and come thru in games that count,
not games 18 -0 and hit 220 ft hr
a-ram smokes balls when it counts ,carried bonita with his bat last year and this year again.
j-yep gets the job donr look up his stats
This Dads a Clown. No clue
U must be from Diamond Ranch….Agree
Joke Team….
Im sorry kh here you go Kc Huth is the best player at Bonita and in the valley are you happy now?
if its not about amat,its not worth crap.
sgv best of.
what did u read a amat blog and pick your team.
that first 17 guys you picked couldnt beat bonita starting line up.no desrespect to any players.but bonita team is as good as your whole all paper all star team jerk.
k.c. and i could give a rats ass about another patch on the varsity jacket.he as over 40 medals from wrestling plus league champs,team goals are what we strave for jerk.he hitting 363 now and on the rise every game.inless we win league and cif the season means crap,just another baseball game and season,thats all.we are visiting some div 1 schools this week my friend,put that on your all star team list of goodies.stop talking about things you have zero control over.work on your fat gutt.control that.why dont you go to the big game tomorrow night and lets here what we missed .maybe i will give k.c. time off from the books and we can come sit with you and watch the game together,give us your name sgv best,before you talk crap about a young man maybe you should meet him then make you choice of words about us.k.c. is a pretty cool kid,formost hes a team player.minor awards are for minor people.we want the big award cif ring then college ticket.
kh,
you are an idiot — get off the blog, you babble bull$hit that doesn’t make any sense…quit embarrassing your kid dude, he wants to get his head out of the sand — ken please spare him and all of us!
kh,
All im saying is anything that doesnt involve Bonita or your son is a crappy comment, I give Bonita respect they are a good team in a whole but there are no standouts on that team maybe thats what makes them better…….what about last year when u had all those superstars in Mier and Plowman and Nico and Gelalich and which everybody thought CIF championship was yours and couldnt get it,,, heck u guys lost to Wilson… im just saying maybe a bunch of scrappy players is better than a team of superstars
kh,
All im saying is anything that doesnt involve Bonita or your son is a crappy comment, I give Bonita respect they are a good team in a whole but there are no standouts on that team maybe thats what makes them better…….what about last year when u had all those superstars in Mier and Plowman and Nico and Gelalich and which everybody thought CIF championship was yours and couldnt get it,,, heck u guys lost to Wilson… im just saying maybe a bunch of scrappy players is better than a team of superstars
kh,
All im saying is anything that doesnt involve Bonita or your son is a crappy comment, I give Bonita respect they are a good team in a whole but there are no standouts on that team maybe thats what makes them better…….what about last year when u had all those superstars in Mier and Plowman and Nico and Gelalich and which everybody thought CIF championship was yours and couldnt get it,,, heck u guys lost to Wilson… im just saying maybe a bunch of scrappy players is better than a team of superstars
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