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St. Francis’ Jeremy Ydens is Metro Baseball Player of the Year
Jeremy Ydens went into his senior season expected to produce after hitting better than .400 and posting a 1.69 ERA in his junior season.
[...] produce he did, making those numbers from a year ago look pedestrian by comparison.
The 6-foot-3, 190-pound center fielder and pitcher led St. Francis to its second consecutive Central Coast Section Open Division championship with a remarkable season that made him an easy choice as The Chronicle’s Metro Player of the Year.
The UCLA-signee hit .453 (48-for-106) with 11 doubles, five triples, a home run and 21 stolen bases.
Opponents rarely wanted him to hit with runners in scoring position (he had only 14 RBIs), but he was on base more than half the time (18 walks and a .550 on-base percentage) and he scored 38 runs.
[...] his hitting wasn’t even his strong suit.
On the mound, Ydens went 8-0 with an 0.96 ERA, 55 strikeouts and 25 walks in 65 innings.
Ydens was at his best when it mattered most, throwing a six-hitter with seven strikeouts and one walk in a 1-0 win over San Benito-Hollister in the CCS Open championship game.
All of that came after a superb junior season in which he was a first-team All-Metro choice after hitting .404, stealing 25 bases and putting together a 7-3 record and a 1.69 ERA.
St. Francis coach Mike Oakland said Ydens should be considered one of the best players the school has produced.
Ydens was the 1,216th and final pick of the 2016 Major League draft by the Cardinals, earning him the “Don’t Count Him Out Award” recipient by MLB.com.
A professional career will have to wait as Ydens said he’ll keep his commitment to UCLA.
“I feel like I need to continue to get stronger and get better as a baseball player, and going to UCLA, I can definitely do that,” Ydens told MLB.com.
Mitch Stephens is a senior writer for MaxPreps.
Email: mstephens@maxpreps.com Twitter: @MitchMashMax
Chronicle All-Metro baseball team
First team
Player
School
De La Salle
Sr.
St. Mary’s signee, 11-0, 0.36 ERA
Heritage
Sr.
St. Mary’s signee, 11-0, 0.76 ERA
Sr.
Cal signee, 10-1, 0.81, 90 K, 11 BB
De La Salle
Sr.
UCSB signee, 10-0, 0.79 ERA
Sr.
Sac State signee, MCAL MVP
SH Prep
Sr.
De La Salle
Sr.
EBAL POY led DLS to No. 1 ranking
Sr.
Cal signee, DFAL MVP hit .365
De La Salle
Sr.
UCSB signee, .405, 10 SB
Sr.
Co-WCAL Player of Year hit .426
Sr.
Santa Clara signee, TCAL Rock MVP
Sr.
Sr.
UCLA signee did it all for CCS champs
Palo Alto
Sr.
SCVAL DA MVP 0.94 ERA, .337 BA
[...] team
Player
School
WCAL Pitcher of the Year went 8-3
Sr.
Cal signee, 10-2, 1.56 ERA
UCSB commit, 9-1, 1.23 ERA, 62 K
P Giuseppe Benedetti
Sr.
8-0, 0.73 ERA for CCS Open champs
C Thomas McCarthy
.367, 20 RBIs, 10 doubles, All-WCAL
Sr.
All-WCAL hit .426, 6 HRs, 33 RBIs
Sr.
Cal Poly signee, .407, 23 SB, 34 runs
Casa Grande
ASU commit, .442, 27 SBs
Sr.
Sr.
1st-team All-DVAL hit .446, 27 runs
Sr.
WACC-Foothill MVP .319, 5 HRs
7-2, 1.56 ERA, hit .382, 4 HRs
Sr.
Santa Clara signee, 1.50 ERA, .368 BA
Honorable mention
San Francisco: OF Kobi Allen (Riordan), Sr.; DH Zach Avila (Stuart Hall), Sr.; UTL Moises Flores (Balboa), Sr.; P Larry Fonseca (Galileo), Sr.; P Diego Gonzalez (Sacred Heart Cathedral), Sr.; C Owen Mahoney (Lowell), So.; OF Aedan Leary-Vallejo (SHC), Jr.; OF Connor “CJ” Pino (Mission), Fr.; OF Jack Rocca (St. Ignatius), Jr.; UTL Joseph Solomon (Lowell), Sr.
Peninsula/South Bay: OF Ben Cleasby (Palo Alto), Jr.; OF Mark Gaffey (Bellarmine), Sr.; INF Ryan Gault (Los Gatos) Sr.; UTL Jake Holton (Los Gatos), Sr.; DH Todd Jackson (Bellarmine), Jr.; UTL Hayden King (Mitty), Jr.; C Connor Loucks (Carlmont), Sr.; INF Andrew Martinez (St. Francis), Sr.; OF Kyle Pruhsmeier (Sequoia), So.; INF RJ Teijeiro (St. Francis), Jr.
North Bay: C Nolan Alvarez (Analy), Sr.; INF Casey Armusewicz (Marin Catholic), Jr.; OF Peter Armusewicz (Marin Catholic), Sr.; UTL Jo Bynum (Maria Carrillo), Sr.; INF Patrick Gavin (Maria Carrillo), Jr.; INF Nic Gillies (Redwood), Sr.; UTL Zack Kopstein (Redwood), Sr.; UTL Dominic Pedersen (St. Vincent), Sr.; P Gabe Werthimer (Analy), Sr.; UTL Levi Yeley (Healdsburg), Jr.
East Bay: UTL Ryan Gibson (Washington), Sr.; UTL Bubba Gomez (Fremont Christian), Fr.; INF Kyle Guerra (San Leandro), Sr.; UTL Ricky Hernandez (De Anza), Sr.; OF Cinque Holliday (Encinal), Sr.; UTL Steven Manzo (St. Joseph), Sr.; INF Angel Munoz (St. Joseph), Sr.; C Colston Murphy (Oakland Tech), Sr.; UTL Leo Nierenberg (Bishop O’Dowd), Sr.; INF Cody Stevenson (Kennedy-Fremont), Jr.
Contra Costa/Tri-Valley: UTL James Biles (Clayton Valley), Jr.; OF Kevin Clancy (Northgate), So.; INF Christian Encarnacion-Strand (College Park), So.; OF Max Flower (Campolindo), Sr.; INF Dominic Foscalina (Livermore), Sr.; INF Nick Moroney (San Ramon Valley), Sr.; OF Zach Promes (Dublin), Sr.; C Casey Schwitters (Berean Christian), Sr.; OF Joe Vranesh (De La Salle), Sr.; P Grant Young (Acalanes), Sr.
More...
Jeremy Ydens went into his senior season expected to produce after hitting better than .400 and posting a 1.69 ERA in his junior season.
[...] produce he did, making those numbers from a year ago look pedestrian by comparison.
The 6-foot-3, 190-pound center fielder and pitcher led St. Francis to its second consecutive Central Coast Section Open Division championship with a remarkable season that made him an easy choice as The Chronicle’s Metro Player of the Year.
The UCLA-signee hit .453 (48-for-106) with 11 doubles, five triples, a home run and 21 stolen bases.
Opponents rarely wanted him to hit with runners in scoring position (he had only 14 RBIs), but he was on base more than half the time (18 walks and a .550 on-base percentage) and he scored 38 runs.
[...] his hitting wasn’t even his strong suit.
On the mound, Ydens went 8-0 with an 0.96 ERA, 55 strikeouts and 25 walks in 65 innings.
Ydens was at his best when it mattered most, throwing a six-hitter with seven strikeouts and one walk in a 1-0 win over San Benito-Hollister in the CCS Open championship game.
All of that came after a superb junior season in which he was a first-team All-Metro choice after hitting .404, stealing 25 bases and putting together a 7-3 record and a 1.69 ERA.
St. Francis coach Mike Oakland said Ydens should be considered one of the best players the school has produced.
Ydens was the 1,216th and final pick of the 2016 Major League draft by the Cardinals, earning him the “Don’t Count Him Out Award” recipient by MLB.com.
A professional career will have to wait as Ydens said he’ll keep his commitment to UCLA.
“I feel like I need to continue to get stronger and get better as a baseball player, and going to UCLA, I can definitely do that,” Ydens told MLB.com.
Mitch Stephens is a senior writer for MaxPreps.
Email: mstephens@maxpreps.com Twitter: @MitchMashMax
Chronicle All-Metro baseball team
First team
Player
School
De La Salle
Sr.
St. Mary’s signee, 11-0, 0.36 ERA
Heritage
Sr.
St. Mary’s signee, 11-0, 0.76 ERA
Sr.
Cal signee, 10-1, 0.81, 90 K, 11 BB
De La Salle
Sr.
UCSB signee, 10-0, 0.79 ERA
Sr.
Sac State signee, MCAL MVP
SH Prep
Sr.
De La Salle
Sr.
EBAL POY led DLS to No. 1 ranking
Sr.
Cal signee, DFAL MVP hit .365
De La Salle
Sr.
UCSB signee, .405, 10 SB
Sr.
Co-WCAL Player of Year hit .426
Sr.
Santa Clara signee, TCAL Rock MVP
Sr.
Sr.
UCLA signee did it all for CCS champs
Palo Alto
Sr.
SCVAL DA MVP 0.94 ERA, .337 BA
[...] team
Player
School
WCAL Pitcher of the Year went 8-3
Sr.
Cal signee, 10-2, 1.56 ERA
UCSB commit, 9-1, 1.23 ERA, 62 K
P Giuseppe Benedetti
Sr.
8-0, 0.73 ERA for CCS Open champs
C Thomas McCarthy
.367, 20 RBIs, 10 doubles, All-WCAL
Sr.
All-WCAL hit .426, 6 HRs, 33 RBIs
Sr.
Cal Poly signee, .407, 23 SB, 34 runs
Casa Grande
ASU commit, .442, 27 SBs
Sr.
Sr.
1st-team All-DVAL hit .446, 27 runs
Sr.
WACC-Foothill MVP .319, 5 HRs
7-2, 1.56 ERA, hit .382, 4 HRs
Sr.
Santa Clara signee, 1.50 ERA, .368 BA
Honorable mention
San Francisco: OF Kobi Allen (Riordan), Sr.; DH Zach Avila (Stuart Hall), Sr.; UTL Moises Flores (Balboa), Sr.; P Larry Fonseca (Galileo), Sr.; P Diego Gonzalez (Sacred Heart Cathedral), Sr.; C Owen Mahoney (Lowell), So.; OF Aedan Leary-Vallejo (SHC), Jr.; OF Connor “CJ” Pino (Mission), Fr.; OF Jack Rocca (St. Ignatius), Jr.; UTL Joseph Solomon (Lowell), Sr.
Peninsula/South Bay: OF Ben Cleasby (Palo Alto), Jr.; OF Mark Gaffey (Bellarmine), Sr.; INF Ryan Gault (Los Gatos) Sr.; UTL Jake Holton (Los Gatos), Sr.; DH Todd Jackson (Bellarmine), Jr.; UTL Hayden King (Mitty), Jr.; C Connor Loucks (Carlmont), Sr.; INF Andrew Martinez (St. Francis), Sr.; OF Kyle Pruhsmeier (Sequoia), So.; INF RJ Teijeiro (St. Francis), Jr.
North Bay: C Nolan Alvarez (Analy), Sr.; INF Casey Armusewicz (Marin Catholic), Jr.; OF Peter Armusewicz (Marin Catholic), Sr.; UTL Jo Bynum (Maria Carrillo), Sr.; INF Patrick Gavin (Maria Carrillo), Jr.; INF Nic Gillies (Redwood), Sr.; UTL Zack Kopstein (Redwood), Sr.; UTL Dominic Pedersen (St. Vincent), Sr.; P Gabe Werthimer (Analy), Sr.; UTL Levi Yeley (Healdsburg), Jr.
East Bay: UTL Ryan Gibson (Washington), Sr.; UTL Bubba Gomez (Fremont Christian), Fr.; INF Kyle Guerra (San Leandro), Sr.; UTL Ricky Hernandez (De Anza), Sr.; OF Cinque Holliday (Encinal), Sr.; UTL Steven Manzo (St. Joseph), Sr.; INF Angel Munoz (St. Joseph), Sr.; C Colston Murphy (Oakland Tech), Sr.; UTL Leo Nierenberg (Bishop O’Dowd), Sr.; INF Cody Stevenson (Kennedy-Fremont), Jr.
Contra Costa/Tri-Valley: UTL James Biles (Clayton Valley), Jr.; OF Kevin Clancy (Northgate), So.; INF Christian Encarnacion-Strand (College Park), So.; OF Max Flower (Campolindo), Sr.; INF Dominic Foscalina (Livermore), Sr.; INF Nick Moroney (San Ramon Valley), Sr.; OF Zach Promes (Dublin), Sr.; C Casey Schwitters (Berean Christian), Sr.; OF Joe Vranesh (De La Salle), Sr.; P Grant Young (Acalanes), Sr.
More...