LAKE COUNTY >> Pitching is a big part of winning championships, but having a talented shortstop who can field his position and hit the ball goes a long way toward putting a pennant up on the wall.
Middletown had that shortstop, too. Isaiah Moore, who graduated from Middletown on Friday and then helped the East All-Stars win their game Sunday as both a shortstop and a pitcher, is the most valuable player on the 2018 All-North Central League I baseball team as recently selected by the league’s coaches.
The Mustangs, undisputed NCL I champions at 12-2, won their final eight league games to bring home the school’s first league title since the 2010 squad won the old NCL I North under former coach Mitch Tucker. Moore batted .382 with a team-best 23 runs scored and three home runs.
Joining Moore on the All-League first team were teammates Luke Holt, a senior pitcher, and Jack Bliss, a junior outfielder.
Three other Lake County players earned first-team honors as well. They were Clear Lake senior pitcher Cody Rybolt, Kelseyville senior pitcher Jason Gentle, and Kelseyville junior infielder AdrianVillalobos.
Rounding out the first team were senior James Wirt of Cloverdale, Fort Bragg’s Jason McCoard, a senior, and Garrett James, a junior, and St. Helena sophomore Caleb Jeske.
Five of nine spots on the All-League second team also went to Lake County players, Joining Cloverdale’s Drew Edens and Keller Siebert, both juniors, and Fort Bragg’s Ian Sutton, a senior, and Ricardo Padilla, a junior, were Clear Lake junior Chris White, Lower Lake senior Antonio Padilla, and Middletown’s Thomas Cook and Justin McDowell, both seniors, and Drake Harbison, a junior.
Among those receiving honorable mentions were Kelseyville’s Junior Gonzales, a senior, and Cooper Goff, a sophomore, Clear Lake’s Alex Adams, a senior, and Preston Jones, a junior, Lower Lake senior Austin Oranje, Cloverdale senior Kamrin Mitchell, Willits senior Josh Betts, Fort Bragg junior Marcos Hernandez, and St. Helena senior Casey Walker.
