Crescenta Valley baseball’s Lynch shares top Pacific League honor

A season that included positive results for Crescenta Valley High, Glendale and Hoover’s baseball programs also included postseason accolades as the teams had players lauded on the All-Pacific League awards list.

The league co-champion Falcons received the lion’s share of honors as senior Ryan Lynch was named the Pacific League co-Player of the Year along with Burroughs’ Kyle Nicol, while Crescenta Valley Coach Phil Torres was selected as the coach of the year.

Crescenta Valley finished 20-8 and 12-2 in league to tie with Burroughs for the league title.

Lynch certainly played a big role, as the senior batted lead-off and hit .398 with 35 hits, 22 runs, seven runs batted in and five doubles.

“It means a lot to win this award and I appreciate the recognition,” said Lynch, who will be attending Glendale Community College in the fall. “I worked really hard and my coaches and teammates put in the work for a successful year.”

In league, the infielder showed off his glove as he only committed one error in 14 games.

Perhaps Lynch’s best moment came May 13 in the league finale versus archrival Arcadia when he smacked a go-ahead two-run single to lead the Falcons to a 5-4 victory and a share of the title.

“I think Ryan’s award is a great honor for our program and for Ryan,” Torres said. “He’s really come a long way since his freshman year and a lot of credit goes to [hitting coach] Dave [Mendoza]. Dave put in a lot of time with Ryan and we stuck with him early when things were shaky because we knew he would be a good player.”

As for the coach of the year award, a diplomatic Torres felt the honor should be shared with his coaches.

“That award is more about recognizing my staff and the things they do to get the kids ready,” Torres said. “I’m really fortunate to have Dave and [pitching coach] Darren [Beer] be crazy enough to stay with me for 20 years now. They’ve taken the team to the playoffs for 20 straight years.

“I’m lucky to have all my coaches help me out.”

The Falcons boasted two players on the first team in pitcher Trevor Beer and infielder Nico Arredondo.

Beer was Crescenta Valley’s ace and finished with a 6-2 record and a 1.07 earned-run average in 12 starts. Beer tossed 65 1/3 innings and struck out 78 with 10 walks.

Arredondo batted .284 with 21 hits, 19 runs and five doubles.

“Trevor did a great job throwing those Friday games and those were big games, must-wins after Tuesday losses,” Torres said. “Trevor was kind of our stopper and that’s a lot to ask of a 10th-grader.

“As for Nico, he played great early in league and got some big hits against Hoover and Burbank and I think the league coaches recognized that.”

Crescenta Valley’s Will Smiley (.265 batting average with 22 hits, 14 runs, 10 RBI and 6-3 record with 1.45 ERA) and Scott Vinceri (4-1 with two saves and 2.39 ERA in 26 1/3 innings pitched with 19 strikeouts) were both named to the league’s second team, while Charles Weinmann (.387 average with 14 RBI and 10 runs) was an honorable mention.

Though Hoover had its struggles in 2016, the Tornadoes still had some highlights in a season in which they swept archrival Glendale, finished 6-18 and 4-10 in league to tie for fifth with Pasadena.

The Tornadoes’ John Paul Gallegos was named to the second team after the junior third baseman hit .375 during league play with 17 hits, 14 RBI and 16 runs scored batting lead off.

“John Paul was one of our silent captains,” Hoover first-year Coach Mickey Moreno said. “It’s funny, we didn’t intend for him to be our lead-off guy, but he kept on finding ways to get on base and so we kept him there.”

Hoover pitcher Jonathan Salandi, who finished 2-4 in league with a 3.79 ERA and 38 strikeouts, was named an honorable mention.

As for Glendale, the Nitros finished 4-20 and 3-11 in league to finish seventh. Glendale did throw a monkey wrench into the league title process when it defeated then league-leading Arcadia, 2-0, on April 12.

Glendale had two selections, with junior infielder Andrew Tinoco being named to the second team.

Tinoco batted .284 with 19 hits, 10 RBI, eight runs, eight doubles, one triple and one homer.

Nitros senior pitcher Orlando Diez was an honorable mention and didn’t receive much run support in a season in which he finished 2-9 with a 4.47 ERA and 58 strikeouts in 58 innings.