Roberts selected League Player of Year
Ramona High School had 12 baseball players on the Valley League’s all-league teams including League Player of the Year Todd Roberts.
“It’s neat to get that recognition,” coach Dean Welch said. “None of them play for their stats or their glory as an individual. It’s a very unselfish group.”
The combined individual performances allowed Ramona to obtain the Valley League championship with a 13-2 record in league competition. The Bulldogs’ overall record of 17-13 includes a loss to Patrick Henry in Ramona’s only CIF playoff game.
Roberts received player of the year recognition while Russell Grant of Oceanside was the pitcher of the year. Roberts was a first baseman and a pitcher for the Bulldogs.
“It’s just a tremendous achievement for a great kid. He really did deserve that recognition. He was just an offensive beast, came through time and time again,” Welch said.
Roberts batted .387 with 41 hits in 106 at-bats. He scored 23 runs and drove in 28. Roberts and Dejan Lee matched the team record of 17 doubles in a season set by Jackson Willeford in 2011 and tied by Zach Sherman in 2015. Lee now holds the school record with 18 doubles while Roberts ended the season with 17 two-baggers.
Roberts was joined on the first team by Lee, Dylan Spacke and Adrian Collazo.
“I think it speaks to the individual success that culminated with the collective success of the team,” Welch said.
Roberts, Lee and Spacke were seniors. Collazo was a junior. Spacke was a pitcher and outfielder who compiled a 7-1 mound record with a 1.63 earned run average and batted .321 with 24 runs scored, 34 runs batted in and nine home runs. Lee’s 18 doubles were among his 35 hits, and he had a .389 batting average with 39 runs scored, 20 runs driven in, and eight stolen bases. He played second base when the Bulldogs were in the field.
Collazo is an outfielder who led the team with a .439 batting average and 47 hits — 13 were doubles and four were triples — while scoring 34 runs and driving in 19.
Ramona players on the Valley League second team were senior pitchers Matt Abruzzo and Travis Marinshaw and junior shortstop Cameron Rowles. Five Bulldogs received honorable mention recognition: senior outfielders Carl Bunday and Sherman, senior pitcher Tyler Dick, junior catcher Noah Hirsh, and sophomore pitcher and outfielder Bryce Roe.