League-champion Dos Pueblos and runner-up Santa Barbara High each landed four players on the All-Channel League first team for baseball.
Seniors Dustin Demeter and Peter Appel and juniors Josh Feldhaus and Colter Nisbet were the Chargers picked to the 12-player team. The Hawaii-bound Demeter batted .374 for the season, with 28 RBIs, 28 runs and 12 doubles. Appel hit .373 and collected 22 RBIs. Feldhaus batted .388, with 10 doubles and 17 RBIs, while Nisbet hit .305 and drove in 20 runs.
From the Dons, seniors Kevin Gowdy and John Jensen, and juniors Joseph Firestone and Alex Chicote were first-team selections. Gowdy, a UCLA signee and a projected early-round draft pick in the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft, had a big season on the mound. He recorded 104 strikeouts and walked just six batters in 63 innings. The 6-4 right-hander posted an impressive earned run average of 1.10 and had a record of 5-3. Jensen was the team’s top hitter with a .492 average. Chicote developed into a steady pitcher and fired a complete-game shutout that clinched a playoff berth for Santa Barbara. Firestone batted .369 and was a solid outfielder.
Shortstop Ryan Guardino was San Marcos’ lone representative on the first team. The junior batted .432 and had an on-base percentage of .519. He also had an .889 fielding percentage.
Buena’s Zane Chittenden was the league’s MVP. The senior did it all for the Bulldogs, he batted .474 with nine homers, six doubles and 26 RBIs. As a pitcher, he went 5-3, struck out 58 batters in 65.2 innings and had a ERA of 1.39.
ALL CHANNEL LEAGUE BASEBALL, 2016
MVP — Zane Chittenden, Buena 12
First Team
Name, School, Year
Dustin Demeter, Dos Pueblos, 12
Josh Feldhaus, DP, 11
Peter Appel, DP, 12
Colter Nisbet, DP, 11
John Jensen, Santa Barbara, 12
Kevin Gowdy, SB, 12
Joseph Firestone, SB, 11
Alex Chicote SB, 11
Ethan Reyes, Buena, 11
Brett Steinberger, B, 12
Ryan Guardino, San Marcos, 11
Tommy Matsuyama, Ventura, 11
Second Team
Dylan Kelley DP 10
Darby Naughton DP 11
Gio Macias DP 12
Antonio Andrade SB 11
Carter Soto SB 12
Ethan Webster B 11
Jorden Castro B 12
Ian Churchill SM 11
Blake Katsev SM 12
Mason Metcalf SM 11
Will Smithson V 11
Jaden Metz V 12
Local Honorable Mention
Name, School Grade
Austin Bull DP 12
Julian Amador DP 11
Davy Demeter DP 11
Kevin Barker DP 11
Bijan Palme SB 11
Caleb Norton SB 11
Kyle Gonzalez SM 11
Thomas Hantgin SM 11
— Noozhawk sports editor Barry Punzal can be reached at bpunzal@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.