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ALL-AREA BASEBALL TEAM
all-area baseball player of the year sterling koerner
All-Area First Team
First Team continued RICHIE FURLINE
Treasure Coast senior shortstop/outfielder Statistics: Batted .447 with 16 stolen bases, struck out five times, .509 on-base percentage
ADAM HOCKENSMITH Tyler Anshaw
Jensen Beach senior pitcher/first baseman Statistics: 7-0 with a 0.83 ERA, 54 strikeouts, 5 walks over 42¥ innings; batted .346 with 7 doubles
John Baiada
RYAN KAHL
Sebastian River senior catcher Statistics: Batted .370 with three home runs Taylor Blatch
JARRETT O’LEARY
Pete Crocitto
John Carroll sophomore catcher/first baseman Statistics: Batted .462 with 23 RBIs
JASON POPOVICH
Alex Dermody
South Fork senior pitcher/ outfielder Statistics: 9-2, 1.42 ERA with 10 complete games, 56 strikeouts over 69.0 innings; batted .414 with 7 doubles, 11 stolen bases
Enrique Esquivel
SHAWN RAMSEY
Vero Beach junior outfielder Statistics: Batted .361 with 2 home runs, 20 runs scored, 20 RBIs
MATT REARDON
Richie Furline
Martin County junior shortstop Statistics: Batted .390 with 14 RBIs, 19 runs scored, 5 doubles, 4 triples
Adam Hockensmith
JAMES TOUHEY
Sebastian River senior pitcher/infielder/ outfielder Statistics: 6-3 with a 1.63 ERA, 86 strikeouts over 60.0 innings; batted .330
JEREMY VASQUEZ Ryan Kahl
Martin County junior first baseman Statistics: Batted .333 with a .505 on-base percentage, 23 walks, 9 doubles
Jarrett O’Leary
OWEN VON ESSLINGER
Martin County freshman catcher/third baseman Statistics: Batted .405 with 6 doubles, 13 RBIs ALEX BOERNER/TREASURE COAST NEWSPAPERS
Jason Popovich
Matt Reardon
Shawn Ramsey
Big-game hunter
Rams’ Sterling Koerner was 12-0 and played his best against the best
James Touhey
didn’t try to do too much,” Koerner Player of the Year said. “I wasn’t pressing to do more
By Laurel Pfahler laurel.pfahler@scripps.com 772-978-2282
Jeremy Vasquez
Owen Von Esslinger
TYLER ANSHAW
Port St. Lucie sophomore pitcher/third baseman Statistics: Batted .402 with 22 RBIs, 7 doubles; went 6-0 on the mound with a 1.47 ERA, 33 strikeouts and 9 walks over 38.0 innings
JOHN BAIADA
St. Lucie West Centennial senior catcher Statistics: Batted .400 with 20 RBIs, 7 doubles
TAYLOR BLATCH
Jensen Beach senior pitcher/outfielder Statistics: 5-2 with a 2.93 ERA, 86 strikeouts over 57¥ innings; batted .393 with 6 doubles, 2 triples, 2 home runs, 15 RBIs, 18 runs scored
PETE CROCITTO
South Fork junior first baseman Statistics: Batted .392 with 13 RBIs, 4 doubles
ALEX DERMODY
Vero Beach senior pitcher Stats: 6-2, 1.20 ERA, 26 hits surrendered over 52¥ innings
ENRIQUE ESQUIVEL
Honorable Mention
John Carroll High School’s Sterling Koerner is the Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers 2013 All-Area Baseball Player of the Year.
Port St. Lucie junior shortstop Statistics: Batted .328 with 17 RBIs, 8 doubles, 1 triple, 1 home run, 6 stolen bases and 18 runs scored
FORT PIERCE — Sterling Koerner felt the confidence building as the wins piled up and opponents struggled to score runs against him. Midway through the season, the John Carroll Catholic High School senior right-hander started to believe he could beat any team he faced. Koerner did just that, going 12-0 overall with a 0.84 ERA and 88 strikeouts over 75.0 innings, pitching 12 complete games and coming in for saves in two other outings. He also produced at the plate, batting .403 with 18 RBIs, nine doubles and two home runs during the regular season, and played solid defense at shortstop when he wasn’t on the mound to help John Carroll finish 22-5 overall. For his performance, Koerner is the Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers All-Area Baseball Player of the Year. “Last year, we didn’t even finish .500, so to come out and do that this year was a lot of fun,” Koerner said. “Halfway through the season, knowing I was on top of my game, I felt I could go out and beat anyone I faced. ... Once I got to 7-0, 8-0, I started thinking I could finish undefeated. It was pretty nerve-wracking, but it kept me focused.” Koerner was 4-5 last year with a 1.67 ERA and batted only .260. Though John Carroll helped him this year on the mound by scoring more runs, teams couldn’t figure him out, as opponents batted just .183 against him. The Florida Gulf Coast University signee said he didn’t do anything different to prepare for this season. “I just stayed within myself, and I
Coach of the Year
MIKE COBB
STERLING KOERNER
John Carroll, second year of second stint This season: Guided the Golden Rams to a 22-5-1 finish for their 23rd 20-win season — coming off a 12-13 record in 2012. John Carroll won the District 6-3A championship over eventual Class 3A champion Melbourne Central Catholic, but fell short of the Hustlers in a rematch during the regional semifinals Quotable : “We were very young last year, and we lost more than we won, but we worked hard this year and you’ve got to give credit to the players and the guys coaching with me. The difference was everyone was a year older, and we added some new players who made a big impact. We just took it one game at a time and focused on each individual opponent. Winning 22 games and only losing five was a big accomplishment for our team.”
John Carroll senior pitcher/ shortstop Statistics: Koerner went 12-0 on the mound with a 0.84 ERA and 88 strikeouts over 75.0 innings, pitching 12 complete games and coming in for saves in two other outings. He also produced at the plate, batting .403 with 18 RBIs, 9 doubles and 2 home runs during the regular season John Carroll coach Mike Cobb: “He has the best change-up I’ve seen in a high school pitcher since I’ve been coaching. The fact he has a change-up like he does, it makes his (mid-80s) fastball look faster, and he has a good breaking ball, too. He throws strikes, he’s consistent, he’s compact with his mechanics and he doesn’t have a lot of flaws in his motion. He’s a decent hitter, too. He did a great job as our No. 3 hitter in the lineup, and he’s an excellent shortstop as well.”
than I had to. That’s when I do my best.” John Carroll coach Mike Cobb said he’s never seen a change-up as good as Koerner’s at the high school level, and the change-up was so tough to hit this year it actually made his fastball even better. Koerner was the only pitcher this season to shut out Class 3A champion Melbourne Central Catholic — and he did it twice. He beat District 8-8A champion St. Lucie West Centennial 3-1, threw a perfect game against first-year Oxbridge Academy and beat Orangewood Christian in the regional quarterfinals, striking out 10 batters in a 4-3 win. “He pitched well in the big games,” Cobb said.
Improving his batting average 143 points from 2012, Koerner’s best offensive games came when he hit two home runs against Oxbridge and an RBI-single he hit in a 1-0 eight-inning victory against MCC for the district championship. “When you are pitching as often as he did this year, you expect the hitting to fall off a little, but it didn’t,” Cobb said. “He hit much better than he did as a junior. He did everything well this year. He was just a dominant player.”
DANNY AYALA Port St. Lucie senior pitcher/first baseman ANDREW CALDERONE South Fork senior outfielder KEVIN CAPEN Martin County junior third baseman NICK CINCOTTA South Fork senior designated hitter/pitcher JOHN CORSO Vero Beach senior first baseman BOBBY DODD Port St. Lucie senior outfielder/pitcher BILLY EGNEZZO St. Edward’s junior third baseman/pitcher REECE GREEN Vero Beach senior pitcher JONATHAN HERNDON Master’s sophomore pitcher/first baseman SCOTT HUSNANDER Martin County junior catcher/designated hitter KENNY ISAACS SLW Centennial senior pitcher CHRIS KAZEN Vero Beach senior shortstop MYLES KRUPA Community Christian senior pitcher JUSTUS LABIGANG Fort Pierce Westwood senior outfielder MATT LEWIS Treasure Coast senior infielder DALTON MURRAY Okeechobee senior catcher DAVID MARTINEZ Treasure Coast sophomore catcher TYLER PARKER Jensen Beach senior shortstop/pitcher ANDERSON PROCTOR St. Edward’s senior first baseman/shortstop/pitcher JOE REH Sebastian River senior pitcher/outfielder MATTHEW SCHAEFFER John Carroll senior first baseman/pitcher MASON SMITH Master’s junior third baseman DEREK SCHWIMER Lincoln Park freshman outfielder JEFFREY STABE Master’s senior shortstop JOE TESORIERO SLW Centennial junior second baseman JAKE WASHINGTON Fort Pierce Central senior infielder/outfielder CHRISTIAN WILLIAMS Vero Beach senior second baseman SAM VAUGHN Fort Pierce Central junior shortstop/pitcher
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