All-East Bay baseball team - East Bay Prep Corner

Posted for discussion.

For stories/capsules/pictures etc. pick up a copy of the Saturday edition of your local paper. (Although I heard the Special Section might not have made it into the Tribune, Herald, Argus, Review on accident)

POY: J.R. Graham, Livermore

FIRST TEAM:

Catcher: Blaine Johnson, Northgate

Corner Infield: Troy Channing, Foothill; Ryan Walterhouse, O’Dowd

Middle Infield: Jordan Pries, Alameda; Graham

Pitcher: Alex Jack, Arroyo

Outfield: Brett Christopher, Livermore; Johnny Petros, Arroyo; Ryan Tella, Irvington

Utility: Matt Flemer

SECOND TEAM:

P: David Peterson, Las Lomas

C: Chad Combs, Freedom

CI: Matt Arruda, Clayton Valley; Drew Gagnon, Liberty

MI: Richard Johnson, Arroyo; Justin Serrao, Foothill

OF: Jack Cartwright, Northgate; Nana Yiadom, Albany; Jared Denham, Deer Valley

UTL: Jordan Remer, Piedmont

THIRD TEAM

P: Harmen Sidhu, College Park

C: Wesley Spittler, El Cerrito

CI: Jordan Bratton, Arroyo; Christian Jones, Monte Vista

MI: Joey Epperson, Miramonte; Nick Bartolone, Cal

OF: Daniel Richman, Skyline; Drew Helenihi, Granada; Allen Stiles, De La Salle

UTL: Ryan Palsha, San Ramon Valley

Tom Meyer

congrats Ryan Tella
guest

What a joke? a LITTLE bIASED DON’T YOU THINK???

BVAL POY doesn’t make the first team???
Have you looked at Chad Combs stats?

Drew Gagnon is drafted in the 10th round by the Pittsburg Pirates and has a scholarship to Long Beach but is on the second team???

Get REAL!!!
Ben Sausau

Congratulations Justin Serrao. Keep up the hard work.
Remember, “…..as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
KBonagura

Guest-

I wasn’t there for the selection meeting, but I can guarantee there is no bias that goes into picking these teams. And since when did being named to the second team in the whole East Bay become a bad thing?

Combs has good stats, but Johnson’s stats are good too (over .450) and he led his team to a much better season. All of that gets factored in.

As for Gagnon, he didn’t have as good a season as either Walterhouse or Channing. Walterhouse hit .515 with 6 HR, Channing hit .475 with 7 HR (and 25 BB and a 626 OPB). Gagnon hit .371.

That being said, it’s not like we don’t think Gagnon is a great player, it’s just that the other guys had better seasons this year.
guest

Congratulations Justin Serrao you are truly one of the best short stops in northern California. You hit 500 in league and 411 overall, while playing flawless at short in a tough league. Great Job!!
EBAL FAN

This is what happens when people pick teams that have no real clue about the sport. ANG people will have to get used to it as the Times staff will dictate all the selections, thus rendering the easily more knowledgable ANG staffers helpless.

You think I am kidding? How about the fact the ANG papers got the teams released one day later than the Times.

Get used to it people, this is the new age (disaster) of prep sports coverage.
ss396

My expectation level was high for the quality of the selections based on waiting 6 weeks after the season to see them.

In some cases, the selections look more like a lifetime acheivement award for seniors, but it also looked that way for a number of the Top 100 Athletes selections.

The layoffs/buyouts of the experienced writers and the consolidation of the two papers has taken us to this point.

In the end, it is a compromise process among the writers. I don’t doubt that the writers did the best they could, but, in some cases, they appeared to rely heavily on inflated stats piled up in weak leagues and against weak non-league competition. One writer may have seen a player play 2 or 3 times, and other writers, who also vote, may have never seen the player play. The winning teams got more coverage, but thin staffs, decimated by layoffs, could not cover the spring sports as in depth as they had in the past. Under those circumstances, it’s a very difficult job to select these all East Bay teams.
EBAL FAN

SS396 — it does take a lot of work to pick these teams — trust me, I was a vet of many battles — but it’s not tough if you are willing to look through your own little world and put away your rose colored glasses. Every writer is provincial about the kids he covers throughout the seaso. That is what makes prep sports great – you root for the kids you cover. But, what makes all-star teams successful is when you are open minded enough to recognize talent from other leagues. Right now, that’s not happening.
BSAL FAN

NOT ENOUGH BSAL LOVE HERE.
WHERE ARE SEMIEN AND SHIPLEY IN ALL OF THIS?!?!?
ADNEY ANYBODY?!?!

Kyle Bonagura