Allen, Valdez named co-MVPs as Giants dominate All-CVC team
By Nick Giannandrea
COS ATHLETICS
After running away with the championship, College of the Sequoias' baseball team cleaned up the majority of the Central Valley Conference's postseason awards.
The Giants' Payton Allen (Golden West High) and Andrew Valdez (El Diamante) were selected the Co-Most Valuable Players, Anthony Torres (Exeter) the Co-Pitcher of the Year, Davis Beavers (Redwood) the Gold Glove MVP and Jody Allen the Coach of the Year in voting of the conference's coaches.
"When you did what our team did offensively, and even defensively, a lot of the coaches recognized the years those guys had," Jody Allen said.
In all, Sequoias had nine players selected to the All-CVC's first-team, second-team or to the Gold Glove team.
Riley Creech (El Diamante), James Freisen (Immanuel-Reedley), Elijah Cortez (Central-Fresno), Donte Valdez (Redwood) and Mike McKernan (Mt. Whitney) were named to the first-team.
Jaylen Rodriguez (Redwood), Beavers, Flavio Perez Jr. (Hanford) and Nate Gilson (El Diamante) were chosen to the second-team.
Gold Glove team honors went to Freisen, Beavers, Allen, Perez and McKernan.
"All eight of our position players were either first-team, second-team or the league MVPs," Jody Allen said. "That's pretty amazing. It speaks to the hard work the guys put in, the hard work of the coaching staff and what a special group this was."
Payton Allen, the Giants' shortstop and Jody's son, hit a team-best .440 in 24 CVC games with two home runs, 25 RBIs, 31 runs and six steals.
Andrew Valdez, who played second base, hit .388 with eight homers, 28 RBIs, 33 runs and six steals in conference action.
Torres went 6-0 with a save while sporting a 1.39 earned-run average over 32 1/3 conference innings.
Jody Allen led the Giants to a 20-4 conference record, six games ahead of second-place Merced.
The Giants' first-team selections and their conference performances:
* Creech, a right-hander, went 3-0 with a save and a 2.03 ERA in 44 1/3 innings.
* Freisen, a right-hander, went 1-1 with seven saves and a 3.66 ERA in 19 2/3 innings.
* Cortez, a first baseman, hit .356 with three homers, eight doubles, 24 RBIs and 14 runs.
* Donte Valdez, an outfielder, hit .423 with six homers, 13 doubles, 26 RBIs and 31 runs.
* McKernan, an outfielder, hit. .314 with a homer, nine doubles, 21 RBIs and 19 runs.
Second-team selections by the numbers:
* Rodriguez, a right-hander, went 2-2 with a 7.00 ERA in 27 innings.
* Beavers, a catcher, hit .237 with 16 RBIs and 13 runs.
* Perez Jr., a third baseman, hit .330 with two homers, 11 doubles, 21 RBIs and 24 runs.
* Gilson, an outfielder, hit .291 with a homer, seven doubles, 15 RBIs and 23 runs.
And the Gold Glovers:
* Freisen had a 1.000 fielding percentage in six chances.
* Beavers had a .993 fielding percentage in 137 chances while throwing out six of 13 runners attempting to steal.
* Payton Allen had a .926 fielding percentage in 122 chances while helping turn 10 double plays.
* Perez had a .966 fielding percentage in 88 chances while helping turn eight double plays.
* McKernan had a 1.000 fielding percentage in 84 chances.
Sequoias (23-5 overall) finished tied with Butte for the most wins in the state and third in the state in winning percentage (.821) among the 52 California Community College baseball programs that elected to play in a season delayed and shortened by Covid-19 precautions.
The Giants wrapped up the season by sweeping Cerro Coso in a two-game series.
Sequoias won 12-6 on May 28 behind a three-hit, four-RBI performance by Perez Jr. Cortez added a three-run homer and Andrew Valdez had four of the Giants' 17 hits.
Andrew Valdez and McKernan hit homers -- Valdez a two-run shot in the first and McKernan a two-run blast in the sixth -- as Sequoias won its season finale 7-4 over Cerro Coso on May 29. Torres was the winning pitcher after tossing two scoreless innings of relief.
Sequoias closed CVC play by splitting two games against Merced.
The Blue Devils won 14-12 on May 25 despite a 16-hit effort by the Giants that included four from Payton Allen (including a double and two RBIs) and three from Andrew Valdez (along with a homer and five RBIs).
The Giants rolled to a 9-0 win over Merced in the final CVC game May 26 as Creech (four innings), Torres (three innings) and Freisen (two innings) combined on a seven-hitter. McKernan paced the offense with three hits, including a double and two RBIs.
Jody Allen expects several members of this year's team to move on to four-year universities.
Donte Valdez recently committed to Fresno Pacific.
Beavers is going to The Masters, an NAIA program in Santa Clarita, while right-handed pitcher Chase Watson (El Diamante) is headed to York College, an NCAA Division III program in York, Pa.
Jody Allen said that Rodriguez is likely headed to Fresno Pacific, and Andrew Valdez and Payton Allen are in talks with Fresno State.
McCorvey recently went on a visit to Sonoma State, and Torres has interest from a couple schools but hasn't signed yet.
