2021 ALL-EAST COUNTY BASEBALL TEAM

By Nick Pellegrino
ECS staff writer

EL CAJON —- As a hotbed for high school baseball, East County has generated more than its share of standout ballplayers, many of who reached Major League Baseball — already this season local products Cody Poteet (Christian) and Jake Reed (Helix) have reached the MLB spotlight.Could Grossmont High catcher Isaiah Gomez be next?

Gomez, a senior, came close to many significant East County records. Although he just fell short, the combination of success in so many categories — home runs, doubles, RBI, team victories — makes Gomez a runaway choice as the 2021 East County Player of the Year.

The combination of achieving double figures in both home runs (14) and doubles (11) by Gomez is a rare feat; this season, only teammate Caleb Hommel — another first-team honoree — reached such a double-double.

Meanwhile, Foothillers teammate Evan Vasiliou was awarded the East County Pitcher of the Year.

Vasiliou, another senior, carried a perfect 11-0 record into the CIF San Diego Section Open Division championship game. Although the ballclub lost to Eastlake, he earned two earlier victories for the Titans.

Vasiliou, who has a scholarship to UC Irvine in his pocket, was also one of a record six East County pitchers to register more than 100 strikeouts on the season. He recorded 101 whiffs (against just 20 walks) in 80 1/3 innings, helping Grossmont advanced to the CIF Southern California regional.

With five Hillers on the All-East County first team — the others were pitcher Jaden Wilcox and left fielder Noah Barnes — Grossmont captured 29 victories, allowing head coach Jared Abruzzo to gain the Coach of the Year laurel.

For Abruzzo, it’s his third East County citation over four seasons (2017-18) since moving over from El Capitan.

The East County Newcomer (Rookie) of the Year is Christian pitcher Vaughn Major. The sophomore carried the Patriots to the CIF San Diego Section Division III championship. He also pitched the C-Pats to the CIF Southern California regional finale, where Major (9-1) lost his first game of the season despite not allowing an earned run.

The Bill Dickens’ Inspirational Player Award went to catcher Jake Entrekin of Steele Canyon. Entrekin rated among the league leaders in both power and average all season, keeping the Cougars in the Grossmont Hills League pennant race until the final days of the regular season.

Entrekin was also considered like a coach on the field to molding an underrated Steele Canyon pitching staff.

The Unsung Hero Award went to a player who doesn’t rank among the leaders in any category, yet always seems to be involved in game-deciging rallies. This year, it’s Spencer Davis of Granite Hills.

Davis batted .278, yet rated No. 1 in RBI among ballplayers not named to the all-East County team. He also was responsible for important innings, helping the Eagles equal the school record for victories, helping the ballclub win the CIF Southern California regional championship.

Granite Hills saw four players tabbed to the All-east County first team. The others are third baseman Grant MacArthur, ace pitcher Noa Ponciano, and left-fielder-pitcher Austin Smith, who fired a no-hitter against West Hills this season.

The All-East County Team began in the late 1970s by The Daily Californian newspaper. When the paper folded in January 2000, the sports-writing staff began this website — this is our 21st annual team (over 22 years because of last season’s season cancellation).

EAST COUNTY PREP BASEBALL 2021 ALL-EAST COUNTY, ALL-LEAGUE TEAMS

EAST COUNTY ‘SUPER 50’ 2021 ALL-EAST COUNTY TEAMPLAYER OF THE YEAR Isaiah Gomez, Grossmont PITCHER OF THE YEAR Evan Vasiliou, Grossmont FIREMAN OF THE YEAR none selected NEWCOMERS OF THE YEAR Vaughn Major, Christian MOST IMPROVED PLAYER Jason Gonzalez, Santana UNSUNG HERO AWARD Spencer Davis, Granite Hills BILL DICKENS’ INSPIRATIONAL PLAYER Jake Entrekin, Steele Canyon COACH OF THE YEAR Jordan Abruzzo, Grossmont

FIRST TEAM        POS.   NAME SCHOOL              YR. P 2B LF C-1B   Kota Alto Shane Bailey Noah Barnes Jake Entrekin Santana Christian Grossmont Steele Canyon 11 10 11 12 P-1B C P-SS3B Ryan Ellis Isaiah Gomez Sebastian Granados Caleb Hommel Patrick Henry Grossmont Steele CanyonGrossmont 11 12 1212 P-LF 3B P-SS P Dean Landers Grant MacArthur Vaughn Major Noa Ponciano Santana Granite Hills Christian Granite Hills 12 11 10 12 IF-OF CF-L P-CF P   Braeden Ross Austin Smith Evan Vasiliou Jaden Wilcox Christian Granite Hills Grossmont Grossmont 12 12 12 12 SECOND TEAM        POS. NAME SCHOOL              YR. INF-P 1B P-INF LHP-1B   Ernie Arambula Justin Brown Andy Canedo Taylor Casey Monte Vista Grossmont Monte Vista Foothills Christian 12 12 12 11 LF-SS P-DH P LF Weston Clark Kyle Dobyns Dylan Dyresen Cole Contreras Steele Canyon West Hills Patrick Henry Santana 11 12 11 12 CF OF 1B CF Connor Evans Andrew Guana Calen Harris Will James West Hills Patrick Henry Santana Steele Canyon 11 12 11 10 DH 3B-P P-3B SS Ethan McNish-Heider Josh Meekins Thomas Ringer Camden Sos Granite Hills Christian Mount Miguel Granite Hills 11 12 12 10 THIRD TEAM        POS. NAME SCHOOL              YR. RF C-1B CF OF-LHP   Tyler Begg Jake Bergherm Max Cadwalader Connor Crist Santana El Capitan Grossmont El Capitan 11 12 12 12 C-P OF CF-P DH-P Kip Famolaro Alex Gibaud Tyler Glowacki Ben Haar Foothills Christian Granite Hills Santana Helix 12 11 12 11 UTL P 2B C Colby Johnson Vencel Kalasho Wyatt Laub Cody Macias Foothills Christian Steele Canyon Helix Granite Hills 10 12 11 11 1B SS-RHP C 3B-P Thomas Molina Jacobe Noland Jake Perez Aiden Perez Steele Canyon Mountain Empire Helix Helix 10 12 12 12 SS 3B P C Ryan Parker Ryan Rodgers Jake Romero Jacob Savoy West Hills West Hills Grossmont Monte Vista 12 12 11 12 UTL 2B SS-P RF-DH Max Shabestari David Vega Cole Winsor Barron Zamora Patrick Henry Monte Vista El Capitan Grossmont 11 12 11 11 ALL-NEWCOMERS TEAM       POS.  NAME SCHOOL              YR. 2B LF-SS INF-P-C OF-P 3B   Shane Bailey Weston Clark Eddie Delgado Dakota Hatmaker Riely Hughes Christian Steele Canyon Mount Miguel Mountain Empire Valhalla 10 11 10 10 10 CF P-SS C P SS Will James Vaughn Major Owen Rodgers Aaron Shebloski Camden Sos Steele Canyon Christian West Hills Christian Granite Hills 10 10 9 10 10 Note: Because of the COVID-19 situation, plus the addition of Patrick Henry and Mountain Empire to our coverage line-up, we slightly expanded the all-East County teams, plus added the all-Newcomer team (similar to what ECS does for softball).

ALL-LEAGUE TEAMS SELECTED BY COACHES

GROSSMONT HILLS LEAGUE Player of the Year Isaiah Gomez Grossmont Pitcher of the Year Evan Vasiliou Grossmont Rookie of the Year Noan Barnes Grossmont Coach of the Year Jordan Abruzzo Grossmont FIRST TEAM Isaiah Gomez 12 Grossmont Evan Vasiliou 12 Grossmont Justin Smith 12 Granite Hills Caleb Hommel 12 Grossmont Jake Entrekin 12 Steele Canyon Noah Barnes 11 Grossmont Ethan Mc Nish-Heider 11 Granite Hills Ben Haar 11 Helix Sebastian Granados 12 Steele Canyon Noa Ponciano 12 Granite Hills SECOND TEAM Will James 10 Steele Canyon Ryan Parker10 West Hills Vencel Kalasha 12 Steele Canyon Justin Brown 12 Grossmont Weston Clark 11 Steele Canyon Max Cadwalader 12 Grossmont Landon Wirschem12 Helix Grant Mac Arthur 11 Granite Hills Barron Zamora 11 Grossmont Thomas Molina 10 Steele Canyon HONORABLE MENTION Cody Macias 11 Granite Hills Camden Sos 10 Granite Hills Aiden Perez 12 Helix Jake Perez 12 Helix Wyatt Laub 11 Helix Ryan Rodgers 12 West Hills Connor Evans 11 West Hills Ray Marrero 11 Steele Canyon Issac Vargas 12 Steele Canyon Taylor Corella 11 Steele Canyon Jaden Wilcom 12 Grossmont Reggie Williams 12 Grossmont Jake Romero 11 Grossmont Trey Henige 12 Valhalla Riley Hughes 10 Valhalla David Gordon 11 Valhalla

GROSSMONT VALLEY LEAGUE Player of the Year Dean Landers, Santana Pitcher of the Year Andy Canedo, Monte Vista Rookie of the Year Jason Gonzalez, Santana Coach of the Year Rigo Ledezma Santana FIRST TEAM Cole Contreras 12 Santana Davin Burroughs 12 Santana Dean Landers 12 Santana Ethan Wright 11 Santana Jason Gonzalez 11 Santana Koda Alto 11 Santana Andy Canedo 12 Monte Vista Ernie Arambula 12 Monte Vista Connor Crist 12 El Capitan Thomas Ringer 12 Mount Miguel SECOND TEAM Caleb Harris 11 Santana Tyler Begg 11 Santana Tyler Glowacki 12 Santana Tyler Lemen 10 Monte Vista Isaiah Hilke 11 Monte Vista Jacob Savoy 12 Monte Vista Zach Mayhew 12 El Capitan Jake Bergherm 12 El Capitan Cole Winsor 11 El Capitan Bradley Larsen 10 El Capitan HONORABLE MENTION Elijah Reber 11 Santana Miguel Rosario 12 El Capitan Sy ‘Bobo’ Mendoza 12 El Capitan Jeremiah Castillo 9 Mount Miguel Johnathan Trader 10 Mount Migue lDavid Vega 12 Monte Vista Chris Leask 12 Monte Vista