After a roller-coaster season that culminated in a four-game
regular-season winning streak, a second-place finish in league and
a Central Coast Section playoff berth, the Live Oak High baseball
team was rewarded with a host of postseason awards. Led by
Tri-County Athletic League Pitcher of the Year Eric Abbott, the
Acorns placed four players on the all-TCAL first team, and added
six more on the all-league second team and all-league honorable
mention.
After a roller-coaster season that culminated in a four-game regular-season winning streak, a second-place finish in league and a Central Coast Section playoff berth, the Live Oak High baseball team was rewarded with a host of postseason awards.
Led by Tri-County Athletic League Pitcher of the Year Eric Abbott, the Acorns placed four players on the all-TCAL first team, and added six more on the all-league second team and all-league honorable mention.
Senior shortstop Dave Newton, junior second baseman Andrew Cummins and junior third baseman Doug Porras made the all-TCAL first team.
Senior outfielder Daniel Salinas, senior catcher Chase Perez and junior outfielder Bryce Wilson were named to the all-TCAL second team.
And, senior first baseman Steve Conner, senior outfielder Jared Kwock and sophomore pitcher Kyle Mosbrucker received all-league honorable mention.
In addition, senior outfielder-designated hitter Nick Larice was named to the TCAL’s all-sportsmanship team.
The TCAL’s co-MVPs were Gilroy’s Ben Hemeon and Palma’s Danny Romero, while Palma’s Phil Giammanco was named Coach of the Year.
According to Live Oak coach Mark Cummins, Abbott earned the TCAL Pitcher of the Year distinction by going 5-1 with one save in league play, beating every TCAL opponent except Gilroy — against whom he earned a key save to preserve a wild victory that secured second place for the Acorns.
“He kept us in games and he threw strikes,” Cummins said. “He was very effective. He really improved from last year and emerged as the staff ace.”
Cummins said Abbott’s work in the fall with Live Oak pitching coach Eric Wagle helped him make major strides this season.
Two-time all-league first-teamer Dave Newton led the team in hitting from the cleanup spot, batting .442 with 19 RBIs in league.
“He had a lot of big hits and drove in a lot of key runs for us this season,” Cummins said.
Cummins son, Andrew, also repeated as an all-league first-team selection. The left-handed hitter was contstantly on base for the Acorns, providing a spark for the Live Oak offense, and scored a team-high 21 runs. Cummins also had 14 RBIs and 11 doubles in league play. His 16 doubles for the season were the most since his father arrived to coach the Live Oak program.
Porras, who took over the third base job after arriving late from a lengthy basketball season, hit .408 in his first varsity season.
Cummins and Porras, along with second-teamer Wilson, were at the heart of a late-season shift in the batting order that jump-started the Acorn offense.
After Porras moved into the leadoff spot, Wilson moved into the second slot and Cummins started hitting third, Live Oak went on a roll, scoring more than 60 runs in its last five games and winning four straight to cap the season.
According to Coach Cummins, the speedy Wilson “caught fire” at the end of the season.
“It seemed like he was always getting two or three hits in those (late season) games),” Cummins said.
All three will return for their senior seasons next year.
Second-teamer Perez, a three-year varsity starter, overcame an early-season thumb injury to provide stability behind the plate.
“He saved many games by blocking the plate and he did a good job handling our pitchers,” Cummins said.
And, second-team pick Salinas played his first season of varsity baseball after competing in track last year, and contributed a fine bat and excellent defense in centerfield.
