The Vikings came as close as you can come to winning the CCS Division I championship after a 1-0 eight-inning loss to Saint Francis in the title game. They fell short of advancing past the first round of the CIF NorCal Division I playoffs, but It was a banner year for the Palo Alto baseball team, and in actuality one of the greatest seasons in school history.

There was a ton of senior talent on Paly last season, but they had some very gifted underclass players as well, and 6-1, 165-pound Charlie Bates was among the best. Now, the Stanford-committed second-sacker has been named the Prep2Prep Central Coast Section Sophomore of the Year for baseball to go along with a Cal-Hi Sports all-state second-team Underclass selection and local San Francisco Bay Area metro honors.

“Thank you for this award,” Bates responded in a direct message on Twitter when informed he was being honored. “It’s an incredible feeling.”

Bates played on varsity as a freshman last season, but despite not putting up big numbers, Stanford saw his potential on the diamond and in the classroom and made him an offer he accepted last September.

“Stanford was always the dream school and I was fortunate enough to receive interest so early,” said Bates, who carries a 4.2 GPA. “Stanford is special because you can receive a top-tier education while competing in one of the (top) college conferences.”

This season Bates was second on the Vikings with a .394 average and it would have certainly been over .400 had he not run into some bad luck at the end of the season for the 26-7 Vikings, who also won the SCVAL-De Anza Division title with a 13-1 record.

The left-handed hitting Bates only stroked one home run, and that came against Serra in non-league action, but his four triples and his 11 doubles were both tops on the team. He also had 32 RBIs and 28 runs scored and they were third on the Vikings. Bates was also a pretty decent fielder with a .919 fielding percentage on 99 total chances.

His best game of the season came in the game right after he hit the round-tripper when he was 3-for-3 with a double, five RBIs and a run scored in a blowout of Burlingame. Bates did his part in the one game Palo Alto lost in league by going 4-for-4 with two doubles and run scored against Mountain View. In an 11-10 slugfest victory over Carlmont in the opening round of the CCS D1 playoffs, Bates had a double and four RBIs with a run scored.

Congratulations to Bates on a well-deserved honor as the Prep2Prep Central Coast Section Sophomore of the Year.



Other players considered for this award include Bellarmine's Rowan Kelly, Los Gatos' Carter Johnstone.

NOTE: We would like to thank our media partners, coaches, parents, players and fans for contributing photos for our all-section features. We salute all of the players that have made this a wonderful season of CCS baseball.