LAKEPORT >> Good pitchers are worth their weight in gold in baseball. Catchers who possess outstanding defensive skills and hit the cover off the ball are the stuff of platinum dreams.
Clear Lake High School senior Cole Brodnansky is a perfect example.
Brodnansky was nearly impossible to run on during the 2015 high school season and his ability to handle the bat helped make the Cardinals go during a 26-1 season that included a perfect North Central League I campaign (14-0) and regular season (24-0).
So it’s no surprise that Brodnansky, who is headed to Santa Rosa Junior College to continue his baseball career, is the most valuable player on the All-Lake County team, as selected by the Lake County Record-Bee, for the second year in a row.
After all, the Cardinals won two league championships with Brodnansky behind the plate, going a combined 27-1 in NCL I action during the 2014-15 seasons. They won their first 26 games this season and were trying to become the first Lake County baseball team during the sectional playoff era to go undefeated for an entire season. They came up short after falling 7-3 to Head-Royce of Oakland in the Division V semifinals.
Brodnansky’s list of accomplishments in 2015 featured county bests in hits (40), home runs (4) and RBIs (34). He led Clear Lake in nearly every statistical category, including batting average (.465), slugging (.697), on-base percentage (.545), OPS (1.243), and even stolen bases (29 on 30 attempts).
Behind the plate he handled a talented staff of pitchers, including All-County teammates Jordan Chana (10-0), Dillon Williams (6-1), Matt Heller (5-0) and Brendan Coakley (4-0). As a defensive catcher, he threw out 50 percent (nine of 18) of would-be basestealers.
First team
Joining Brodnansky on the All-County first team are senior teammates Chana and Williams, shortstop Jared Strate and second baseman Jake Egger, all seniors.
Chana won all 10 of his decisions in 2015, the first Lake County pitcher to win 10 games in more than a decade. He is also the first county pitcher to reach double-digit wins and go undefeated for an entire season. He struck out 63 in 63 1/3 innings.
Williams went 6-1 on the mound with 41 strikeouts in 41 2/3 innings. He had a big year at the plate as well with 33 hits (third in the county), eight doubles (third in the county) and 25 RBIs (second in the county).
Strate banged out 35 hits (second in the county) in the Cardinals’ 27 games while Egger had 32 (tied for fourth in the county). The two teammates also played solid defense up the middle for the Cardinals.
Other first-team selections were Kelseyville junior Noah Lyndall, a third baseman/pitcher, and Middletown senior pitcher/infielder Tyler Holt.
Lyndall was the workhorse for the Knights’ pitching staff in 2015, logging a county-high 77 innings and striking out a county-best 91 while posting a 5-8 record. He also was one of the teams spark plugs on offense with 32 hits (tied for fourth in the county), 11 doubles (first in the county) and 21 RBIs (fourth in the county).
Holt went 6-5 for the Mustangs with 87 strikeouts (second in the county) in just 66 innings pitched.
Second team
Named to the All-County second team are Coakley, a junior, and Heller, a senior, of Clear Lake; catcher/pitcher Logan Barrick and junior first baseman Sambhava Baird of Kelseyville; Lower Lake senior pitcher Tony Jones; Upper Lake catcher William Santos; and Middletown senior pitcher/infielder Cody Chorjel. Barrick and Santos are the only two sophomores on the All-County squad.
Heller had a county-best three saves to go along with his 5-0 record for the Cardinals. He also had 27 hits and 15 RBIs. Barrick, who worked his way into the No. 2 spot in the Kelseyville rotation behind Lyndall, went 5-4 with 42 strikeouts in 59 innings pitched.
Baird finished eighth in the county with 25 hits and third in RBIs with 22.
Coach of the Year
Clear Lake’s Zane Jensen went 20-6 in 2014 to earn his first All-County Coach of the Year award and his 26-1 mark in 2015 made him the easy choice to win again this season. He faces a major rebuilding job in 2016 as the Cardinals graduate nearly their entire starting lineup. Easing that burden will be a junior varsity squad that shared the league title with Lower Lake this season and such returning players as Coakley.
