After more than two months of regular season baseball, there was reason for growing optimism about the playoff chances for Yuma-area schools. Sure, the 4A entrants from last season (Gila Ridge and Yuma) were absent, but Kofa, San Luis and Cibola were all in the top 16 of 6A and seemingly had an opportunity to reach the double-elimination round.
Over the course of three days, though, all three teams were eliminated. By the end of the first Saturday of the playoffs, the season for Yuma-area schools was over. It was like a car cruising along an open highway to only suddenly encounter an obstruction and slam grill-first into it.
The way things ended was unfortunate for a group of teams with a bevy of senior contributors and stars. However, they do make for a stellar, and hard-to-make, All-Area team.
Here are the selections:
Note: Players were selected based on position with a “tiebreaker” being their contributions on the mound.
Right-handed pitcher: Gabriel Ponce, San Luis
A year ago, Ponce became the first player in San Luis High baseball history to earn a Division I scholarship. He lived up to it as a senior, posting a 9-0 record. He struck out 85 hitters over 60 innings and allowed five earned runs and a meager one extra base hit in 224 batters faced.
The last outing of Ponce’s high school career, in a way, was quite similar to his final outing of his junior year. Faced with high postseason stakes, he struck out 10-plus hitters, allowed a scant number of base runners, and gave up a single earned run. Both outings, though, resulted in losses for San Luis, including the stunning, 4-2, defeat to Boulder Creek in 13 innings.
Overall, Ponce’s career, including starting as a JV player in 2014, starring in varsity basketball, and becoming a standout in the classroom, will be remembered for more than just his output on the field.
“He was the best kid, hardest-working kid, I’ve ever coached,” San Luis basketball coach and pitching coach Tim Morrison said in January.
Left-handed pitcher: Damien Rinehart, Kofa
The expectations for Rinehart grew every year after he had a superb debut as a varsity freshman in 2014. The experience raised the bar for the lefty, and as his head coach Richy Leon said in March, "he's seen it all." In effect, there was no situation that would stagger the senior. He was unflappable. By most accounts, the final year of Rinehart's Kofa career was a bit underwhelming. He hit .200 and was back to hitting ninth in a batting order that likely needed his baserunning near the top of it. Still, on the mound, he remained consistent, someone the Kings could count on from February to May, even in elimination.
Rinehart threw a team-high 31 innings, going 2-3 with a 2.26 ERA. His 29 strikeouts were a team best and he opened the season with a mercy-rule no-hitter against Yuma High. Oddly enough, he only won once more all season.
Catcher: Ramces Urias, Gila Ridge
The person most likely to take this spot in the preseason was Hernan Yanez of San Luis, but an ankle injury that cost him most of the season opened the door for other candidates. Kofa's Allen Andrade had a nice season defensively and David Mota, Yanez's replacement, was effective at the plate. But neither of them were as well-rounded as Urias. The junior, who was forced into a designated hitter role for a brief stint with a facial injury, hit .381 with eight extra base hits. He also led the Hawks in RBIs with 20 and struck out just six times in 69 plate appearances.
First base: Danny Urbieta, Kofa
Kofa's hulking first baseman was a bit of an unknown coming into the year. As a matter of proving the point, he didn't even have his jersey number listed on MaxPreps. Still, he added another power threat in the middle of the Kings' order and drove in 11 runs, including five RBIs against Yuma on March 10.
Middle infielder: Ramon Miranda, San Luis
The end of Miranda’s high school career was sort of the most un-Miranda game he’d had all season at the plate. He went hitless in 13 innings against a Boulder Creek staff that had their ace unavailable. He struck out for just the fourth time all season and was unable to deliver on three occasions with runners aboard and the game in the balance.
Still, the senior shortstop and pitcher was a pillar of San Luis baseball for four seasons. He finished 2017 hitting .531, tops in the 6A Conference, with 51 hits and 31 runs scored. He was also, arguably, one of the state’s most agile and rangy shortstops and concluded a stellar career on the mound with an sub 1.00 ERA and two complete game victories among his six overall.
Middle infielder: Kevin Avila, Kofa
The lefty swinging shortstop would have likely played second base if he were in the same infield with Miranda, so for the sake of argument that's where we will place him here. Early in the season, when Kofa's offense was really humming, Avila was a main cog, and it stayed that way until the final day of the season. Avila drove in a run in the comeback victory over Alhambra in the play-in round and was full of key hits over the course of his career. He finished 2017 batting .373 with 19 runs and a .507 OBP.
Third base: Jesus Pulido, San Luis
Affectionately called “Chuy” by the raucous cheering section at San Luis High home games, Pulido was often termed the “best hitter in the area” by opposing coaches. Boulder Creek’s Joe McDonald knew better than to throw many hittable pitches Pulido’s way, walking him twice in the Jaguars’ postseason victory. With the bases loaded, and the Jaguars forced to pitch to him, he crushed a single to tie the game in extra innings.
That was Pulido’s existence for the last two seasons: get pitched around until a team couldn’t any longer. To get a sense of what the left-handed slugger was capable of you need only look at the 2016 postseason, when in the first four games teams were either ignorant or unaware. Pulido promptly went 14-for-16 to start the tournament. Flash forward and Pulido was doing similar things in the regular season. He hit .481 with a dozen doubles and a team-best 38 RBIs.
Outfield: Alex Guerra, Yuma
In a season in which Yuma High had trouble gaining much traction, Guerra, the team's centerfielder, was one of the lone bright spots. He hit a team-high .358 with three home runs and 11 extra base hits overall. He led the teams in runs (23), tied for the lead in RBIs (16) and stole eight bases.
"It's too bad we didn't have eight other Alex Guerra's in our lineup," Yuma head coach Nick Johnson said. "He set an example every day."
While many of his teammates would likely joke that Guerra was one of the "luckiest" hitters around due to a penchant for singles that dropped in front of outfielders, one of Guerra's long balls was driven into the football bleachers behind right-center field in a last-inning rally attempt against Cibola. So, the power was there as well. Guerra also solidified Yuma's outfield with range and an arm (he doubled as the Criminals' quarterback) that produced five outfield assists.
Outfield: J.J. Martinez, Cibola
After the Raiders opened the season with five-straight losses they turned things around and wound up hosting a play-in game in the postseason. Martinez was a big part of that. He led the team with a .414 average and also led Cibola in runs (21), hits (29), and triples (2). Throw in the fact that the speedy outfielder only struck out four times and was among the team's leaders as a junior and he certainly was deserving of an All-Area spot.
Outfield: Connor Young, Gila Ridge
Young, a senior, batted .431 in 22 games and had a team-leading eight doubles. He also put together two hitting streaks of at least five games, including an early-March stretch where he tallied 10 hits in three days, and helped solidify an outfield defense that struggled at times a year earlier.
Utility: Gerardo Hernandez, San Luis
In some cases choosing a utility player is just a cop out for finding a spot for someone who didn't earn one elsewhere but still deserved to be recognized. Not in the case of Hernandez. San Luis head coach Cesar Castillo used Hernandez all over the field. He was the centerfielder some days, second baseman others, left fielder in still others. During an offseason workout in front of a Kansas City Royals scout, Hernandez shone in right field throwing a one-hop rocket from near the right field fence to the plate. He was arguably the fastest player in the county and truly made the Sidewinders' lineup diverse sandwiched between Miranda and Pulido at the top of the order. For the season, Hernandez batted .427 (third on the team), hit six doubles and three triples, stole a team-high 15 bases, and was one of just three guys with at least 20 runs and 20 RBIs.
