Bobcats get double-digits on All-OEC Team
The Saddleback baseball team opens the playoffs at home on Friday and after finishing in first place in the Orange Empire Conference (OEC). As a result, the Bobcats garnered the top seed in Southern California for the playoffs and, with it, a ton of recognition from the OEC.
Saddleback had 10 players and a coach named to the All-Orange Empire Conference Team on Monday after the coaches convened to select a squad. The Bobcats had seven players named to the first team, three to the second and head coach Sommer McCartney was named the OEC Coach-of-the-Year.
Connor Wilford, Joshua Meekins, Ryan Farmer, Cole Koniarsky, Luc Stuka, Jordan Dissin and Lance Gardiner were named to the first team while Michael Davinni, Zachary Schwartzberg and Jacob Naso were named to the second team.
Wilford, Meekins and Farmer represented the pitching staff for Saddleback on the first team and the Bobcats would have likely had another in Arthur Liu if it hadn't been for a lack of innings from Liu (8.2) in conference play. Wilford (9-2), Farmer (7-2) and Meekins (3-0) are a combined 19-4 with a 3.09 ERA in 160 innings of work.
Koniarsky, Stuka, Dissin and Gardiner were also first team selections. Koniarsky leads the team in home runs (6) and RBI (57). Stuka leads the team in doubles (13) and is tied for the team lead in hits (55). Dissin leads the team in runs-scored (48) and is tied for the team lead in hits (55) and second in bases-on-balls (28). Gardiner is second in doubles (12) and batting .362 after a torrid hot streak to end the regular season.
Second team selections include Davinni, Schwartzberg and Naso. Davinni was a guy that had some attention for conference MVP but he missed nearly half of the conference schedule, limiting his ability for votes. Davinni led the team in batting average (.440), slugging percentage (.607) and on-base percentage (.520). Schwartzberg became a full-time starter in the second week of the conference schedule and quickly became a threat both as a hitter and fielder, batting .368 in conference play with some fancy glove work at second base. Naso led the team in bases-on-balls (29) while batting .385 in conference play.
McCartney (pictured below) took home the Orange Empire Conference John Altobelli Coach-of-the-Year honors for the second time in his career (2016). McCartney's Bobcats tied program records with 17 wins in conference play and 11 straight wins in conference play. Saddleback never lost a three-game series throughout the entire Orange Empire Conference schedule and now heads to the playoffs as the No. 1 seed in the CCCAA Southern California Regional Playoffs.
Saddleback will open the playoffs on Friday and Saturday when it hosts Los Angeles Valley College in a three-game series. Friday's game is scheduled for 2:00 PM while Saturday's schedule includes an 11:00 AM start to be followed by a third game, if necessary.
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