No team in the Redwood Empire portion of the CIF North Coast Section had more contributing underclass players than the San Marin Mustangs. In fact, all the leaders in the offensive statistical categories were underclassmen.

Two of those budding stars were sophomore catcher Cole Chamberlain and sophomore third baseman Anthony Scheppler.

We tried to separate the two and choose one of the left-handed hitters as the honoree, but even some coaches and sources in the Marin County Athletic League had a hard time saying who was the better overall player. In the final analysis their numbers were so close that Chamberlain and Scheppler are both being honored as the 2022 Prep2Prep Baseball Sophomores of the Year.

“It’s an incredible honor to be recognized for this and it’s even better that I get to share it with my teammate,” Scheppler said. “Cole and I are great friends on and off the field and I couldn’t be more proud of him. We’ve been chasing each other in the weight room and in the cage.”

“Thank you so much. I really appreciate it,” Chamberlain said when told he was sharing the award with Scheppler. “It feels amazing to be named Prep2Prep NCS co-Sophomores of the Year and it's even a better feeling to be able to share this accomplishment with one of my closest friends. I can’t wait to get back to work with him next season.”

For batting average Scheppler was slightly higher than Chamberlain at .405 to .366, respectively. That was second and third on the Mustangs for full-time players behind the .500 of junior Josh Martin, who according to San Marin head coach Jamie Vattuone, is a mentor to the duo.

They both hit five home runs, and not only was that second on the team to Martin, it tied for the top reported mark for sophomores in the NCS. Chamberlain led the team with 30 RBIs and the 27 RBIs of Scheppler was third on the team. Those marks were also No. 2 and No. 4 in the NCS for sophomores. Scheppler had 28 runs scored and Chamberlain had 27 with both among the team leaders and also were No. 3 a nd No. 5 in the NCS, respectively.

Catchers aren’t know as base stealers and Chamberlain had three steals while Scheppler was second on the Mustangs with 10 thefts. Defensively behind the plate Chamberlain had a .982 fielding percentage with only three errors in 166 total chances. Playing the hot corner at third Scheppler was respectable with an .887 fielding percentage with eight errors in 71 total chances.

“Cole and Anthony are two of our younger stars that have worked very hard their first two years of high school ball during and after season,” Vattuone said. “They’ve soaked up all the experiences and continue to work toward their goal of winning a championship at San Marin and moving on to the next level. They have a passion for the game that makes it easy and enjoyable to be their coach.”

Individually their coach had praise for each of his sophomore stars.

“Cole is a force defensively behind the dish and athletic enough he could play any position on the field if needed,” Vattuone said. “And he has that sweet, natural lefty swing.”

“Anthony has been versatile and played defensively where the team needs him,” Vattuone continued. “His power lefty swing is something he’s worked hard on and over time has developed a great approach at the plate to be a very dangerous threat.”

With Chamberlain and Scheppler still having two years of high school baseball remaining, the best could be yet to come.

“It will be fun to watch the next two years as they grow stronger physically and mentally in the game,” Vattuone said in conclusion.

Congratulations to Cole Chamberlain and Anthony Scheppler for being honored as the Prep2Prep NCS Sophomores of the Year.

Other players considered for this award include St. Vincent de Paul's Nico Antonini and Berkeley's Manny Seles.

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 NCS baseball.