TIP OF THE CAP—Carson Cerny, a Moorpark sophomore pitcher, first baseman and left fielder, is an Acorn All-Star for the Team of the Year. The Musketeers reached their first CIF final.
Rowdy Roddy Piper declared in “John Carpenter’s They Live” movie:
“I have come here to chew bubble gum and kick ass. . . . And I’m all out of bubble gum.”
Buckle up, boys and girls. The Snot Otter doesn’t serve bubble gum on the bumpy bullpen cart jaunt to Acorn Sports Island, but we do have one thing that no one else does . . . .
The first Acorn All-Star Baseball Team.
How about a round of curtain calls, fellas?
Camarillo, the Coastal Canyon League champion, celebrated its first CIF-Southern Section title since 2002.
Moorpark won its first CIF crown in program history . . . then had it taken away five minutes later by an umpire crew reeducated at the Wicked Witch of the West Institute of A House Fell On My Sister.
Westlake, loaded with more college prospects than Arnold Schwarzenegger one-liners, seized a Marmonte League banner while qualifying for the state regional tournament.
My colleague David Lopez, an award-winning Acorn Newspapers legend, told me a few weeks ago that the worst player on the worst baseball team is more talented than the worst player on the best football team. He’s right. Baseball talent in Acorn country is absolutely staggering. Some potential All-Stars did not make the cut. That’s life, kids.
Let’s celebrate the best in baseball.
It’s go time.
BIG BLUE HEAVEN—Camarillo High baseball senior Boston Bateman, showcasing a Vida Blue southpaw delivery, is the Acorn Newspapers Player of the Year. Bateman helped the Scorpions win their first CIF-Southern Section championship since 2002. Photos by MICHAEL COONS/Acorn Newspapers
ACORN NEWSPAPERS PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Boston Bateman
In a talented field, the Camarillo senior stands head and shoulders—literally and figurately—above everyone else.
I have never seen anyone like Bateman, the most unique baseball player to emerge from the area since I started working at the newspaper in 2007. The 6-foot-8 senior left-handed pitcher/first baseman, an LSU commit, will likely be an early Major League Baseball draft pick this summer.
Bateman was instrumental in the Scorpions’ road to the CIF Division 4 championship, notching an 11-1 record on the mound with a 0.54 ERA, 130 strikeouts and 37 walks in 64 1/3 innings. He was also imposing at the plate with a .341 batting average, seven home runs, nine doubles, 26 RBI and 17 runs scored.
He’s the next Randy Johnson—only Bateman should not be compared with anyone. He’s his own man, and he’ll be dealing mustard at a pro ball park near you soon.
SMOOTH OPERATOR—Nate Castellon, a Calabasas shortstop bound for Cal Poly, is the Offensive Player of the Year. The .500 hitter also plays strong defense.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Nate Castellon
Castellon, a Calabasas senior middle infielder with a 4.0 GPA, was the Ventura County Player of the Year. He finished the regular season with a .500 batting average, 43 hits, 33 runs and 10 stolen bases. Last year, the Cal Poly commit helped the Coyotes win a 2023 CIF SoCal regional title, the first in team history.
His approach (and astounding success rate) reminds me of Tony Gwynn. Castellon puts on a clinic every time he swings the bat. He’s a special player and an all-time Calabasas great.
TRIBE TIME—Westlake High baseball seniors Johnny Backus, left, and Mac McKinley are Acorn All-Stars. Backus signed a scholarship with the Michigan Wolverines. MICHAEL COONS/Acorn Newspapers
PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Dylan Volantis and Jordan Kingston
I cannot pick one flamethrower over the other. These superstars will have to share the award.
Volantis, a 6-foot-6 Westlake senior southpaw bound for USC, has an electric arm. The Kaiser of the Conejo (his mom is from Cologne, Germany, and Dylan speaks German), who also played two years of prep water polo, had a school record 0.33 ERA, 8-1 record, 96 strikeouts, 16 walks and a microscopic three earned runs in 63 innings.
Kingston, the only pitcher to go 5-0 in the Marmonte this spring, is bound for San Diego State. The 6-foot-5 Coyote righty is a powerhouse in every sense of the word: He has been the team’s ace all four years of high school, and he gets better every spring. Kingston went 8-1 with 47 strikeouts, 11 walks and a 1.49 ERA in 56 1/3 innings this season.
SPOTLIGHT—Westlake senior/Tulane commit Nate Johnson, above at left, is an Acorn All-Star. RICHARD GILLARD/Acorn Newspapers
COACH OF THE YEAR
TJ Foreman and Aaron Garcia
How about a tip of the cap for two rookie skippers?
Foreman, a Moorpark grad in his first year leading Camarillo, helped the Scorpions win a Division 4 title.
Garcia, a Moorpark grad and first-year head coach for his alma mater, directed the Musketeers to arguably their best season in team history. The Green Machine reached CIF section and state regional finals.
SNOT OTTER MVP
Blaise Meylemans
If there’s a tougher baseball player out there than Meylemans, I’d like to meet him.
Meylemans, a junior catcher, played this entire season with an injury on his catching hand. He couldn’t even swing a bat during the playoffs, and still managed to get on base multiple times. He caught five no-hitters. Oh, yeah, he’s got great stats, too: .355 batting average, 27 hits, 14 runs, 14 RBI, two doubles and one home run, and he committed only two errors.
I tip my cap to Blaise Meylemans, Snot Otter MVP and the toughest ballplayer in the land.
TEAM OF THE YEAR
Moorpark Musketeers
In any other year, a CIF champion would take this honor.
This was not any other year.
Moorpark’s controversial finish in the CIF-Southern Section Division 2 final, discussed at length in this space, will be talked about for years. It could be the catalyst to Ventura, Santa Barbara and Santa Clarita regions finally splitting from the too-big-for-their bonnet Southern Section.
The CIF champion Camarillo Scorpions deserve every accolade, but we’ll never see another team quite like the 2024 Moorpark Musketeers ever again. This is an imperfect analogy: Baseball fans all know about the 1919 Chicago Black Sox, but how many can name the World Series winner that year without a Google search?
Calabasas junior/Harvard commit Matthew Witkow, at right, is an Acorn All-Star. RICHARD GILLARD/Acorn Newspapers
ACORN ALL-STARS
• Ethan Broome, Agoura
• JP Cardenas, Agoura
• Will Michelman, Agoura
• Thomas Novak, Agoura
• Braden Oliver, Agoura
• Carter Roberts, Agoura
• Gavin Trafficanda, Agoura
• Nate Castellon, Calabasas
• Ethan Gibbel, Calabasas
• Simon Hoffman, Calabasas
• Brandon Hoffmann, Calabasas
• Jordan Kingston, Calabasas
• Luc Olson, Calabasas
• AJ Seidel, Calabasas
• Mason Shulman, Calabasas
• Gavin Slobin, Calabasas
• Will Stubington, Calabasas
• Matthew Witkow, Calabasas
• Troy Arenzana, Camarillo
• Boston Bateman, Camarillo
• Trotter Enright, Camarillo
• Tommy Goodin, Camarillo
• Jordan Gutierrez, Camarillo
• Blaise Meylemans, Camarillo
• Brayden Smith, Camarillo
• Nathaniel Tostado, Camarillo
• Nick Tostado, Camarillo
• Victor Tostado, Camarillo
• Noah Cooper, Grace
• Nico Kajiwara, Grace
• Lucas Martinov, Grace
• Nate Slaton, Grace
• Taylor Busch, Moorpark
• Carson Cerny, Moorpark
• Leon Chavez, Moorpark
• Cameron Johnson, Moorpark
• Greg Lareva, Moorpark
• Michael Leddy, Moorpark
• AJ Mai, Moorpark
• Derek Nickels, Moorpark
• Ronan O’Connell, Moorpark
• Robby Perez, Moorpark
• Jackson Pryor, Moorpark
• Tanner Stotts, Moorpark
• Cameron Faussett, Newbury Park
• Cade Falsken, Newbury Park
• Tyler Field, Newbury Park
• Justin Frohn, Newbury Park
• Mason Kerns, Newbury Park
• Paul Lizzul, Newbury Park
• Luke Medhurst, Newbury Park
• Owen Meli, Newbury Park
• Aaron Mundy, Newbury Park
• Drew Paez, Newbury Park
• Grayson Paul, Newbury Park
• Max Brusca, Oak Park
• Tyler Kutsch, Oak Park
• Dustin Dunwoody, Royal
• Dylan Jones, Royal
• Zach Nagy, Royal
• Caden Sramek, Royal
• Isaiah Tillman, Royal
• Noah Vasquez, Royal
• Landen Adair, Simi Valley
• Diego Barajas, Simi Valley
• Liam Blake, Simi Valley
• Raul Centeno, Simi Valley
• Quentin McGahan, Simi Valley
• Hector Piña, Simi Valley
• Evan Rodriguez, Simi Valley
• Collin Yamamoto, Simi Valley
• Chris Atkins, Thousand Oaks
• Jameson Berigan, Thousand Oaks
• Max Fernandez, Thousand Oaks
• Steven Gormley, Thousand Oaks
• Dane Holt, Thousand Oaks
• Cole Howard, Thousand Oaks
• Jaden Kolkowski, Thousand Oaks
• Cade Miller, Thousand Oaks
• Daniel Morge, Thousand Oaks
• Johnny Backus, Westlake
• Jesse Beer, Westlake
• Jack Braddell, Westlake
• Andrew Cusworth, Westlake
• Andrew Habermann, Westlake
• Nate Johnson, Westlake
• Nolan Johnson, Westlake
• Will Kaczynski, Westlake
• Dillon Marrisett, Westlake
• Mac McKinley, Westlake
• Jack Plummer, Westlake
• Noah Stead, Westlake
• Kaden Youmans, Westlake
Part II will run next week.