Broward’s Best Recognized At Senior All-Star Game

Broward County’s best senior high school baseball players showcased their talents before a crowd of more than 300 Sunday night at Nova High School.

(Click here to view the photo gallery from the game, as well as the portraits that were taken of all senior all-stars.)

The nine-inning game was a pitchers’ duel early on as the 2A-6A All-Stars took a 3-0 lead into the seventh inning before the 7A-8A team rallied for a 7-4 win on the strength of a four-run eighth.

Zack Butler of Coral Springs Christian caught the entire game for the 2A-6A team, and Andrew Paredes of Cypress Bay and Colton Rogers of Coral Springs Charter earned Most Valuable Player honors for their respective teams.

Throughout the game, BrowardHighSchoolBaseball.com recognized the county’s top players by announcing its first and second team All-County awards as well as its coaches of the year, pitcher of the year, hitter of the year and player of the year.

Rogers, a Nova Southeastern University signee, earned the top honor of BHSB Player of the Year, going 6-1 with 64 strikeouts, 0.88 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and two saves. At the plate, he was just as dominant with a .470 batting average, 28 RBIs, 19 runs and 10 doubles.

“Player of the year feels tremendously accomplished,” Rogers said. “I worked so hard for this and it paid off, and I just feel great about myself about it. And if nothing more than working hard turns into this — player of the year — there’s not much you can say about that.”

Rogers said he was looking forward to the game and the chance for a few more memories with his pals.

“I was just going to have fun, just have fun with my friends, our last time playing together, just have a good time,” Rogers said. “I went 2-for-2, and it was just a great day overall.”

Pembroke Pines Charter shortstop Kevin Daly was named BHSB Hitter of the Year after posting a .531 batting average that was tops in the county. He also had 22 RBIs, 20 runs, eight doubles and eight stolen bases.

Flanagan ace Jose Mesa Jr. earned the BHSB Pitcher of the Year award after pacing the Falcons to a regional semifinal appearance while going 9-2 with a 1.13 ERA and 134 strikeouts. Mesa was especially dominant in district games, throwing a no-hitter against West Broward in the teams’ first meeting and six no-hit innings in the second. He no-hit Cypress Bay and one-hit Western.

BrowardHighSchoolBaseball.com also recognized two coaches who guided their teams to special seasons and awarded them Co-Coaches of the Year. The first, Bruce Aven of American Heritage, took over this year for longtime coach Todd Fitz-Gerald and made sure the Patriots didn’t miss a beat in remaining among the county’s top teams. He directed Heritage to the Class 5A state title to cap a 25-4 year.

The other coach of the year was Jose Piedra of Zion Lutheran. Piedra led the Lions to 15-8 season as well as a district championship and a regional semifinal appearance.

The staff of BrowardHighSchoolBaseball.com thanks everyone who attended Sunday’s all-star game as well as our readers throughout the season and wishes all the players a great summer and future success with the sport we all love.

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