Gilroy
– The Gilroy High baseball team’s two linchpins were rewarded
with Tri-County Athletic League first-team honors last week. Senior
first baseman and pitcher Peter Mickartz, the team’s Most Valuable
Player, also received votes for the league’s MVP award, while
junior defensive whiz Drew Andersen joi
ned his Chico State-bound teammate on the league’s first
team.
Gilroy – The Gilroy High baseball team’s two linchpins were rewarded with Tri-County Athletic League first-team honors last week. Senior first baseman and pitcher Peter Mickartz, the team’s Most Valuable Player, also received votes for the league’s MVP award, while junior defensive whiz Drew Andersen joined his Chico State-bound teammate on the league’s first team.
“Peter was the MVP of our team, so he was definitely deserving of this honor,” said Gilroy head coach Clint Wheeler of Mickartz, a fireballing closer who also batted .409 and shared league leads in doubles, triples and runs batted in.
“Both those guys are very deserving. Drew hit .350 and was one of the most consistent fielders (in TCAL). He’s got a big heart, he wants to win, he’s a true competitor.”
Catcher Chris Hernandez and center fielder Josh Sterling, both juniors, were named to the TCAL second team.
“Both did solid jobs for us up the middle,” said Wheeler. “Hernandez was the by far the best defensive catcher in the league.”
GHS athletic director Jack Daley described watching Mickartz quarterback the Mustangs to their first playoff win in football since 1985 last fall, and then go on to perform just as ably on the baseball field in the spring.
“I think Peter’s done a great job,” Daley said. “He’s proved all year long that he’s a great athlete, first in football and now again in baseball. … He was a great leader in football and that carried over to baseball.”
Andersen, the Mustangs’ steady shortstop and the son of junior varsity coach Alan Andersen, accepted starting pitching duties for the team’s first-round playoff game against Valley Christian last month. Gilroy lost that game, but team supporters came away with a new appreciation for the young man’s willingness to fill whatever role his team needed filled.
“Drew is super-steady, the kind of kid that will do anything you ask him to do,” Daley said. “He’s a coach’s son so he knows the game.”
Junior left-hander Jeremy Teschera and sophomore second baseman Michael Stevens received Honorable Mention nods. Teschera went 3-0 for the Mustangs. Stevens teamed with Andersen to form possibly the best double-play combination in the league after moving up from junior varsity early in the season.
