Churchill is WSC Pitcher of the Year; Walker shares Coach of the Year
SBCC sophomore Ian Churchill was selected Pitcher of the Year for WSC North baseball and Jeff Walker was the co-Coach of the Year.
SBCC sophomore Ian Churchill was selected Pitcher of the Year for WSC North baseball and Jeff Walker was the co-Coach of the Year.
Eleven Vaqueros made the elite All-WSC squad after they won their last eight conference games to finish in a first-place tie with Ventura at 13-7.
2019 All-WSC North team
Catcher Alonzo Rubalcaba, infielder Tommy Holguin, outfielder Patrick Caulfield and pitchers Churchill and Conner Roberts were first-team choices.
Churchill, a left-hander from San Marcos High, dominated the WSC batters, ranking second in wins (5-1) and strikeouts (55) and fourth in ERA (2.08). Roberts was 4-2 with a 2.66 ERA and led the WSC North in strikeouts with 68 in 44.0 innings.
Caulfield, a sophomore from Burlingame, Calif., was fourth in the conference in hitting (.395 in 20 games), second in stolen bases (14), fourth in slugging percentage (.539) and sixth in RBIs (15). Rubalcaba was 12th in batting (.300) and also received the Gold Glove award at catcher, making just 1 error in 156 chances for a .994 fielding percentage.
Holguin, a freshman from Santa Barbara High, hit .294 and played second and third base.
Freshman first baseman Jacob Bravo, sophomore Nicholas Prainito (.291 avg.) and sophomore left-hander Jack Aldrich (2-2, 3.65 ERA) made the second team.
The Vaqueros had three honorable mentions – outfielder Nicholas Trifiletti, shortstop Logan Pollack and reliever Jake McBride (1-0, 1 save, 0.82 ERA in 11.0 innings).
The Vaqueros have won five of the last nine WSC titles and are making their ninth straight trip to the Southern Cal Regional, the longest active streak of any Southern California school.
SBCC (23-13) is seeded 13th for the Regional playoffs and will open a best-of-3 series at No. 4 Glendale (26-14) on Friday at 2:30 p.m.