Four Gauchos named All-OEC

The Saddleback baseball season came to a close last weekend and with the end of the season comes time for the coaches to select the all-conference squad.  Riley Kasper, Ryan Thibert, Demitri Colacchio and Reed Beverly were all recognized by the coaches.

Kasper and Thibert were named First Team All-Orange Empire Conference while Colacchio and Beverly were named Second Team All-Orange Empire Conference on Saturday.  The four players were instrumental in Saddleback finishing with a 21-18 overall record and the No. 9 Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) in Southern California at the end of the season. 

Kasper (pictured far right) was a pillar of consistency all season, leading the team in eight different categories.  He batted .382 for the year, leading the team in average, doubles (12), triples (8), hits (58), bases-on-balls (26), on-base percentage (.470) slugging percentage (.586) and runs-scored (41).  Kasper had a hit in 15 straight games to end the season, and had a four-hit game against Compton College in February.

Thibert (pictured second right) was also a consistent threat on offense, batting .335 for the year. He was second on the team in both hits (54) and stolen bases (13) and batted .344 during the conference portion of the schedule.  Thibert had four hits against Irvine Valley College last week and had three hits in seven other games.  In addition, he had just one defensive error for the entire season in the field.    

Colacchio (pictured far left) batted .379 for the season, missing a handful of games during the middle part of the schedule.  Despite the missed games, he still finished fourth in hits (44) and fifth in RBI (21) with a stunning .973 fielding percentage at shortstop.  Colacchio had four hits on two occasions, finishing 9-for-15 in the final three games of the season as the Gauchos swept Irvine Valley.

Beverly (pictured second left) was another that had a big offensive season in 2019.  He batted .343 for the year and was second on the team in on-base percentage (.458), slugging percentage (.460) and home runs (2) while leading the squad with 16 stolen bases.  Beverly recorded a hit in 14 of the final 15 games, recording 15 multiple-hit games for the year.