Baseball Player of the Year: Holden Powell
When Holden Powell entered Mt. Whitney High School as a freshman in 2013, he was a talented baseball player who flashed at the youth levels.
Entering his first season at Mt. Whitney, Powell knew he had to prove his worth, so he invested his time in the Pioneers’ summer and fall ball programs.
By the time spring rolled around, despite being only a freshman, Powell was elevated to the varsity squad.
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And it didn’t take very long for then-Mt. Whitney coach Ryan Miller to notice Powell’s skills.
Soon after the Pioneers wrapped up play at the Clovis Coca-Cola Classic, Miller approached Powell and re-assured his freshman — that if he performed at a high level consistently — the positions at shortstop and right field were his to lose.
“I basically just took advantage of it,” Powell said. “I was just excited to play. It was a great opportunity. I learned a lot. It just helped me a lot down the stretch.”
Fast forward four years later, and Powell, for the second season in a row, is the 2017 Times-Delta/Advance-Register All-Tulare County Baseball Player of the Year.
As a senior, Powell powered Mt. Whitney to its first Central Section Division II championship since the 2008 season.
Serving as the ace, Powell fired a three-hitter and 10 strikeouts to lead the seventh-ranked Pioneers to a 2-1 win over crosstown rival and top-seeded Redwood in the D-II title game at the Visalia Rawhide’s Recreation Park.
Under the tutelage of coach Nick Yockey and his staff, Powell and the Pioneers denied the Rangers of a three-peat and handed them just their fourth loss of the season.
“It felt great, honestly,” Powell said. “Winning a Valley title, playing against a lot of the area’s best talent, competing with your friends, just having an opportunity to win a section title is very special. Not a lot of teams get to do that. We’re really grateful for it.”
Although Powell is a four-year starter at shortstop, he didn’t emerge as a solid pitcher at the high school level until last season.
And since finding his stride on the mound, Powell has been a force to be reckoned with.
During his senior season, he registered a 10-3 record, hurling 97 strikeouts in 67 1/3 innings.
It was the second year in a row Powell won nine games or more while throwing, at least, 81 strikeouts. His fastball has checked in at 94 mph.
“Dominant,” Yockey said. “If I can describe him in one word: dominant. He’s someone, who when you see him play, you know why he’s a Division I college baseball player. That’s the best way to describe him.”
Powell graduated from Mt. Whitney with a 4.08 GPA in June.
With Powell’s high school career now behind him, he is set to reunite with former Mt. Whitney teammate and 2016 Pioneers grad Jordan Prendiz at UCLA.
Powell plans to major in business or economics. He is expected to make an impact for the Bruins as a pitcher.
“It’s going to be great,” Powell said teaming up with Prendiz again. “We still talk and hang out a lot. Just being able to go to the same school, knowing that we can help each other out if something doesn’t work, that’ll be convenient for both of us. It’ll be fun since we played all of high school together. Playing with him in college is going to be a good opportunity.”
2017 All-Tulare County Baseball
Player of the year: Holden Powell, Mt. Whitney
Coach of the year: Nick Yockey, Mt. Whitney. The third-year Pioneers head coach and his staff have been knocking on the door for a Central Section Division II championship since he arrived in 2015. After enduring back-to-back semifinal defeats in 2015 and 2016, respectively, Yockey helped direct the Pioneers to their first Valley title since 2008. This season, Yockey was faced with the challenge of plugging in several new starters, and the Pioneers did suffer some growing pains throughout the year, but they were able to overcome their 7-5 record in West Yosemite League action. The Pioneers capped off the 2017 season winning five straight en route to an 18-12 overall record and a section crown. “I just told them, ‘That if we improved every game and every week then we’re going to be in good shape. If we stayed the same, then we’re not going to win anything,’ ” Yockey said. “It wasn’t just me. It was the entire coaching staff. It was the team. They all deserve a ton of credit. It would have been very easy to say, ‘It is what it is, and we’re not going to be very good as the year before.’ But they decided they were going to put the work in and get better as the season went on.”
- Hunter Bryan, infielder, Redwood
- Jace Chamberlin, infielder, Redwood
- Izaiah Davis, utility, Tulare Western
- Matt Dias, outfielder, Tulare Union
- Isaiah Duran, utility, Lindsay
- C.J. Fish, utility, Porterville
- Noah Flores, utility, CVC
- Asher Gallegos, catcher, Tulare Union
- Luke Garispe, infielder, El Diamante
- Mason Garispe, pitcher, El Diamante
- Wyatt Gilbert, pitcher, Tulare Western
- Chris Gonzalez, outfielder, Redwood
- Jake Hernandez, pitcher, Porterville
- Blaze Hickey, infielder, Tulare Western
- Alex Lagrutta, utility, Exeter
- Blake Martin, outfielder, Mission Oak
- Connor Paden, catcher, CVC
- Holden Powell, pitcher, Mt. Whitney
- Vincent Pratti, pitcher, Redwood
- Matt Rodriguez, infielder, Mt. Whitney
- Hector Ruvalcaba, infielder, Tulare Western
- Ryan Tucker, outfielder, Tulare Western
- Trenton Vanderveen, pitcher, CVC