T-CAL’s Baseball Player of the Year
– Ben Hemeon
T-CAL’s Softball Player of the Year
– Bria DeLorenzo
GILROY – When seniors Ben Hemeon and Bria DeLorenzo completed their final spring seasons at Gilroy High School, the two friends both expected to get first team All-League honors.
Hemeon, a first baseman, had a record-setting campaign for the Gilroy High baseball team, breaking three school marks for home runs (8), runs batted in (52), and batting average (.500).
“This ball park, basketball, football, I’m going to miss everything,” said Hemeon, who was at Gilroy High on Tuesday to sign up for his American Legion baseball team. “This is a great school.”
DeLorenzo, a catcher, was the only senior on the Lady Mustang softball team, gunning down runners on the base paths and leading by example with team-highs in triples (2) and multiple-hit games (4).
“I definitely am going to miss it. I had so many good times playing here,” said DeLorenzo, who received a softball scholarship to play at Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont. “I will miss all the girls, but I’m definitely ready to go to the next level and, hopefully, produce over at Notre Dame.”
But before the two Mustangs move on to college, they both got a big surprise when DeLorenzo was named the Tri-County Athletic League Player of the Year for softball and Hemeon was selected as the T-CAL’s Most Valuable Player for baseball.
“I was expecting first team. But player of the year, I was completely shocked. Totally excited,” DeLorenzo said. “Last year, I only got honorable mention and I didn’t feel like I got my due. This made up for it big-time.”
“I was hoping to get it, but it’s always a surprise getting a big award like that,” Hemeon added. “It closes out everything. It’s the last award of the year.”
It marked the first time in Gilroy High history that players from both softball and baseball earned the league’s highest honor the same season.
Hemeon shared this year’s MVP award with Palma High pitcher/outfielder Dan Romero, who went 5-1 on the hill with a 1.92 earned-run-average and batted .390. Gilroy’s senior slugger was 46/92 at the plate, including 41 doubles, 27 runs-scored, two triples, eight homers, 52 RBIs and a .924 slugging percentage in 25 games.
“You can’t expect a kid to have a year like that. Some great players have come through Gilroy over the years and none ever had a year like that,” Mustang baseball skipper Clint Wheeler said. “It was nice to be a part of.”
Hemeon’s MVP honor follows past Gilroy High standouts Dennis Castro, who hit seven homers to take the top prize in 1991, and John Selgado, who won the award in 1989.
“I wanted to have a big season so people would look this way,” said Hemeon, who is leaning towards walking on at Sacramento State University. “I was hitting the ball well and seeing the ball well. … I was kind of waiting because sooner or later you get into a slump, but it didn’t happen.”
Hemeon led the Gilroy High baseball team to a 16-9-1 regular-season record (9-6 in T-CAL) and a berth into the Central Coast Section Playoffs. In the 9-2 loss to Valley Christian, Hemeon went 2-for-4 with one run batted in.
“I hadn’t been there since my sophomore year so definitely good to get back and compete,” said Hemeon of playing in a CCS game to finish out his season.
DeLorenzo, along with eight of her softball teammates, attended the baseball team’s playoff game to offer her support.
“I feel it’s a big thing for our ball clubs to be close. We both play the same season and we both support each other,” said DeLorenzo, whose softball squad missed the playoffs for the first time in her four-year varsity career. “I know how special it was.”
The Lady Mustangs struggled this season, finishing with an 11-16 overall record and a 4-11 league mark. With seven freshmen and only one senior, Gilroy broke its string of seven straight post-season appearances.
“That was really hard for me,” DeLorenzo said. “This was by far the best team in my four years at Gilroy High. … I wouldn’t trade my team in for a CCS team. They’re young, but they are the best friends I ever had.”
Despite a losing campaign, DeLorenzo was still voted by the T-CAL coaches as the player of the year. Notre Dame hurler Kim Reeder was selected as the league’s pitcher of the year.
“I was completely surprised,” said DeLorenzo, who knew of her honor before Hemeon and hoped her friend would receive the same. “I said Ben now it’s your turn. We were really excited about it. We were talking about it the whole week.”
Hemeon was just as happy for DeLorenzo.
“Before high school, we were friends growing up playing baseball and softball,” Hemeon said. “It’s fun to see one of my good friends get MVP.”
While Hemeon will continue to play baseball this summer with the Gilroy Heat, DeLorenzo will continue to play softball with the San Jose Strikers.
