2012 All-SCV Baseball Player of the Year J.C. Cloney: Much respect due

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	2012 All-SCV Baseball Player of the Year J.C. Cloney: Much respect due Cloney’s prowess as both a pitcher and hitter kept doubters at bay this season


	Posted: June 21, 2012 1:55 a.m. Updated: June 21, 2012 1:55 a.m.

By Cary Osborne Signal Sports Editor


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	West Ranch’s J.C. Cloney was an all-around great player, contributing heavily as a pitcher, a hitter and a fielder. He was undefeated as a pitching in Foothill League play.


	Related Content All-SCV Baseball First Team Cody Bennett • West Ranch • Junior Bennett may have been West Ranch's No. 2 starter, but could have very well been the No. 1 at most Foothill schools. His hard-to-read delivery and command on a three-pitch mix made him one of the valley's best pitchers. He went 6-4 with three saves and a 2.47 ERA. In 68 innings, he struck out 53 batters. Chris Devery • Saugus • Junior The junior third baseman batted .361 on the season and belted three home runs, including two in the postseason. He also knocked in 20 runs and scored 16 times, getting on base at a .430 clip. Justin Donatella • Saugus • Senior The Foothill League's Pitcher of the Year, Donatella was a bit of a surprise going from good to stellar from 2011 to 2012. This season, he was 9-3 with a 2.14 ERA with two saves and was by most accounts the main reason why the Centurions stayed in the league title race until the end and made a run to the Division I quarterfinals. At the plate, he batted .303 with 19 RBIs. Billy Fredrick • Golden Valley • Junior Quietly, Fredrick had a stupendous season for the Grizzlies. Consider first that he had little protection in the Grizzlies' lineup, yet he still led the Foothill League with a .468 batting average. The junior infielder/outfielder hit three home runs and knocked in 19 runs. He also scored 25 runs and had a .607 on-base percentage as, at times, teams refused to pitch to him. Brian Mundell • Valencia • Senior The league's premier power hitter in 2012 belted nine home runs to go along with a league-high 32 RBIs. The slugger batted .390 with nine home runs and 32 RBIs and got on base at a .505 clip. On top of that, he was a rock behind the plate both blocking balls and throwing out runners. Jagger Rusconi • West Ranch • Freshman Rusconi had one of the best all-time seasons for a West Ranch hitter and he was only a freshman. He batted .415 with a team-high 27 RBIs to go along with three home runs, 34 runs and 44 hits. Against nation No. 1 Orange Lutheran, he hit a two-run double in the sixth inning that ended up being the game-winning hit. Austin Rodriguez • Saugus • Senior The Centurions' hit leader in 2012 with 36 batted .356 with two home runs, 19 RBIs and 22 runs scored. The senior first baseman either scored a run or had an RBI in Saugus' first 11 Foothill League games. In three postseason games, he went 3-for-8 with a home run, three RBIs and three runs scored. Baggio Saldivar • Hart • Junior A dependable and clutch player for the Indians all season long, the three-year varsity veteran took a step forward this season by combining great defense behind the plate with great hitting at the plate. He batted .349 (.409 in the Foothill League) with 21 RBIs and 15 runs with a .451 on-base percentage. Trey Williams • Valencia• Senior The sweet-swinging senior finished off his stellar prep career with a .378 batting average, five home runs and 24 RBIs. His 24 walks, 31 hits and five times hit by a pitch put his on-base percentage at a team-high .541 as pitchers consistently stayed away from his strike zone. All-SCV Second Team Dylan Freyre • Saugus • Junior The Saugus shortstop batted .293 with two home runs and 12 RBIs, scoring 21 runs this season. At one point this season, he had a 10-game hitting streak and hit safely in 12 of 13 games. Chris Gimenez • Valencia • Senior Gimenez was the valley's best relief pitcher in 2012 and the Vikings' most consistent arm. He appeared in 14 games, going 4-0 with a 0.42 ERA in 33 2/3 innings of work. Josh Heinz • West Ranch • Senior Heinz moved behind the plate in 2012 and was a great defender who also produced at the plate. Heinz batted .326 and had a .414 on-base percentage with 15 RBIs and 31 hits. Keston Hiura • Valencia • Sophomore Hiura was so good in 2012 that he moved into the No. 2 spot in the lineup early in Foothill League play, breaking up the dynamic trio of Trey Williams, A.J. Balta and Brian Mundell at the top of the order. Hiura batted .327 with a home run and 16 RBIs with a team-high 10 doubles. Justin Hovis • West Ranch • Senior The emotional leader for West Ranch played an in-your-face style of baseball in the field and at the plate. The senior shortstop batted .320 with 15 RBIs and 26 runs scored to go along with 31 hits. Chris Serrano • Canyon • Junior Canyon's leading hitter and one of its top pitchers, Serrano batted .371 with 17 RBIs. On the mound, he was 2-6 with a 4.23 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 44 2/3 innings. Max Weinstein • Canyon • Junior The Cowboys' top pitcher in 2012 went 3-5 with a 2.74 ERA with 46 strikeouts in 53 2/3 innings. His best performance came in a 4-3 win over league champion West Ranch, in which he tossed a complete game, allowing just two earned runs. C.J. Witkowski • Hart • Junior The Hart first baseman batted .415 with three home runs and 17 RBIs despite missing the last six games of the season with an injury. The Indians' leading hitter went on a tear from March 6 to April 25 in which he went 21-for-45 at the plate. Tyler Woldanski • West Ranch • Junior Woldanski really turned it on in the second half of the baseball season. He batted .265 overall, but had an eight-game hitting streak leading into the Wildcats' final game of the season, going 10-for-22 with a home run and six RBIs. He ended the season with 19 RBIs and the one homer. Honorable Mentions Cole Mears • Canyon • Sophomore Adrian Carballo • Golden Valley • Senior Luke Persico • Hart • Junior Nick Warren • Saugus • Junior Ryan Fullarton • SCCS • Senior Dakota Prochnow • Trinity • Junior A.J. Balta • Valencia • Junior Tony Slauson • West Ranch • Junior

Before the season began, West Ranch pitcher J.C. Cloney got his respect.

All the coaches in the Foothill League chose him as the Santa Clarita Valley’s top pitcher in a preseason poll.

But one could still get the feeling that Cloney hadn’t earned everyone’s respect.

Take the hitters for one.

Or at least one opposing Foothill League hitter, who before the season, was asked about Cloney.

In typical youthful arrogance, the hitter declared that Cloney was not all that good.

Then the season played out and this hitter’s team had exactly four hits against Cloney in two games — both victories for the senior left-hander.

Prior to the year, Cloney committed to Long Beach State, but as the season went on and Cloney kept throwing strikes and winning games, he was mostly ignored by Major League Baseball scouts.

It turns out that a guy who throws consistently in the mid-80s, who can get up in the upper 80s, isn’t worth the scouts’ attention.

It’s eerily similar to seven years ago.

A kid with the same body-type, who threw left-handed and pumped strikes, who was also his team’s best hitter, was mostly ignored by people beyond the Santa Clarita Valley.

It’s because he threw in the mid-80s, sometimes in the upper 80s.

That kid was the 2005 All-Santa Clarita Valley Baseball Player of the Year.

He’s now pitching in the starting rotation for the Oakland A’s — Saugus graduate Tommy Milone.

Cloney never saw Milone pitch in high school, but the two have met briefly.

Their senior years are very comparable to each other, without going into numbers.

They were each the valley’s dominant pitcher, both were power hitters and both led their teams to Foothill League titles.

Cloney went 8-1 on the mound with a 1.84 ERA, striking out 100 batters in 72 1/3 innings.

In Foothill League play, he was 5-0 with a 1.66 ERA.

At the plate, he batted .378 with three home runs and 19 RBIs with 31 hits and 17 runs scored.

He was regularly avoided, even being intentionally walked in the CIF-Southern Section Division I semifinal, which translated to a .471 on-base percentage.

Cloney was even stellar in the field. He may have been the best fielding pitcher in the Foothill League and at first base, he was steady.

It was pretty clear that the best player on the best team in the valley, the kid who helped lead his team to its first-ever Foothill League title and its first appearance in a division semifinal, was J.C. Cloney.

For all of those reasons and more, Cloney gets our respect as the 2012 All-SCV Baseball Player of the Year.

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2012 All-SCV Baseball Player of the Year J.C. Cloney: Much respect due

Cloney’s prowess as both a pitcher and hitter kept doubters at bay this season

West Ranch’s J.C. Cloney was an all-around great player, contributing heavily as a pitcher, a hitter and a fielder. He was undefeated as a pitching in Foothill League play.

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