Duo gets All-CIF honor
BURBANK — The baseball coaches at Burbank and Bellarmine-Jefferson highs would probably not want to ponder what their seasons would have been like without their star players.
Bulldogs senior Lonnie Kauppila and the Guards senior Patrick Haney both provided their respective teams with offensive output, defsnsive stability and on-field guidance that allowed their squads to be successful.
The pair has something else in common as well, as both were honored as CIF Southern Section selections. While Kauppila was named to the Division II second-team selection, Haney made the Division VI first team.
It is Kauppila’s second straight season he’s aarned All-CIF accolades.
Kauppila put together a solid season for the second year in a row. Kauppila, a shortstop who has signed with Stanford, led the team with a .443 average. In addition, he had 35 hits, scored 35 runs, had 22 RBI, eight doubles, four triples, three home runs, walked 21 times, had a .759 slugging percentage and stole 21 stolen bases.
In the field he had a .930 fielding percentage, 72 assists and 39 put-outs.
Kauppila also generated intrest outside of the high-school-baseball rhelm. He was selected in the 2010 Major League Baseball First-Year Players Draft. He was drafted in the 44th round — 1,325 overall — by the Oakland Athletics. He is the first Bulldogs player to be drafted in 10 years.
Burbank finished the season 14-15, as the Bulldogs placed fourth in the Pacific League.
Haney, a pitcher, proved to be a dominant force this season in the Santa Fe League, despite the Guards finishing third. Because of his fine play, he was rewarded by being named the Santa Fe League Player of theYear.
If was the fourth MVP award won by a Bell-Jeff player in the last five seasons.
Haney put up impressive numbers for the Guards. On offense, he paced the team with a .521 batting average. In addition, he had 25 hits, scored 25 runs, had 12 runs batted in, five doubles, five triples, an .833 slugging percentage and a .593 on-base average.
On the mound, he was 6-4 with a 4.16 earned-run average and 80 strikeouts in 62 1/3 innings. He also notched a no-hitter in a 15-0 league victory against Verbum Dei.
Bell-Jeff (11-7) made the CIF Southern Section playoff and won its Division VI wild-card game against Chadwick, 4-3.