LAKE COUNTY >> Logan Barrick went undefeated on the mound for the Kelseyville Knights during the 2017 high school baseball season. His teammate, Kyle Ellis, was nearly unstoppable at the plate. Together they provided quite the forward momentum for a team that went 24-2-1, including a streak of 23 consecutive victories.
Barrick and Ellis take their final high school bows tonight when they receive their diplomas during Kelseyville’s commencement ceremonies, but not before being named co-most valuable players on the 2017 edition of the All-Lake County baseball as selected by the Lake County Record-Bee.
While the Knights were far more than a two-player act during a season when several players stepped up at critical times for the team, Barrick and Ellis were the building blocks upon which the Knights’ incredible run, including a second straight undefeated league campaign, was constructed. Barrick set a Lake County single-season record for most wins (13). His 13-0 record is the best ever posted by a county pitcher and his 30 career victories are the most by any pitcher going back to at least 1980 (the record search continues for a pitcher with more lifetime wins before 1980).
Ellis was nearly as dominant at the plate, sparking a Kelseyville offense that wasn’t so much great as it was opportunistic. The Knights’ shortstop led the team in most offensive categories, among them batting average (.481), runs (32), hits (31), doubles (11), triples (3), on-base percentage (.584) and slugging average (.728). He also was third in RBIs with 22 while hitting in the No. 2 slot in the batting order. Barrick also fared pretty well with a bat in his hands. He batted .451 with 37 hits, 24 runs, a team-leading 31 RBIs and 12 extra-base hits, including two home runs.
First team
Named to the All-County first team are two other Kelseyville standouts, senior Jonah Lewis and sophomore Adrian Villalobos, both vital cogs in the Knights’ standout season. They are joined on the first team by a Middletown trio of seniors Ty Chorjel, Jordan Fowler and Trevor LaFave, Lower Lake senior Ethan Watson, and Upper Lake senior Dre Santos.
Second team
Earning second-team honors are Kelseyville juniors Randy Pfann and Jason Gentle, Clear Lake seniors Jake Jackson and Cody Dillsaver and junior Alex Adams, Middletown juniors Thomas Cook and Isaiah Moore, Upper Lake senior Carson Whitfield, and Lower Lake senior Jordan McGrath.
Coach of the Year
Coach of the Year honors go to Kelseyville’s Lou Poloni for a second year in a row. Poloni said he didn’t know how his 2017 team would top the accomplishments of a 2016 squad that went 20-3 overall and undefeated in league while reaching the North Coast Section Division IV semifinals, but the Knights found a way, posting a better overall record, including a 16-1 mark against other playoff-bound teams, a 14-0 league record for the second season in a row, and a return trip to the Division IV semifinals where Kelseyville fell 4-0 to eventual section champion St. Joseph Notre Dame of Alameda.
