Hillsdale Daily News

Alvarez and Bradley named '23-24 baseball players of the year; all-area dream team

By Joseph Flaherty, Hillsdale Daily News,

1 day ago

It was an eventful spring sports season for Hillsdale County. The Camden-Frontier and Jonesville baseball teams both won district championships, making it back-to-back for their respective programs. Jonesville advanced all the way to the regional finals round this year.

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Below is the list of baseball student athletes from the 2023-24 season that received All-Area Dream Team honors for their efforts helping their teams to important milestones this year. To be eligible for the dream team, coaches had to submit their nominations to the Hillsdale Daily News.

In addition, athletes with all-conference or all-star game honors from this year were automatically given (at least) honorable mention dream team honors. For the honorable mentions list, an additional three athletes from each school could be chosen if no other athletes were eligible from the above criteria. At least one athlete per school made the first team list.

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Players of the Year

Junior Alvarez – Litchfield – Senior – Pitcher/Fielder

Drew Bradley – Jonesville – Junior – Pitcher/Fielder

This year, two student-athletes were named Player of the Year honorees for their efforts during the 2023-24 spring sports season.

Junior Alvarez followed up his dream team junior season with his best season yet as a pitcher for Litchfield. Alvarez received first team all-conference, all-district and all-star game honors after leading Litchfield on the mound as one of the top pitchers in the county and in the D4 MHSAA playoffs. In the nominations for all-conference, Alvarez was first place in total votes from the coaches in the SCAA East, 12 ahead of the second-place honoree.

Alvarez, boasting 345 career strikeouts, helped lead the Terriers to a 13-12 regular season record. On the mound, Alvarez had a record of 8-5. In 61.1 innings pitched, he had 123 strikeouts, a 1.027 earned run average, a WHIP of 1.092 and only allowed nine earned runs on the year (six of those were in one game) and 29 total runs. Opponents struggled mightily against Alvarez, averaging just a .129 batting average. He threw a perfect game and one no hitter during the year. In addition, he threw 17 strikeouts and 16 strikeouts in rival league games against Pittsford.

Junior Alvarez had a batting average of .373, an on-base percentage of .478, a slugging percentage of .453, 28 hits (six doubles), 35 RBIs and 21 stolen bases. He earned team MVP honors for his efforts, and he earned the save in the inaugural all-star game. He finished his career with three first team dream team honors.

Junior Drew Bradley, following up a first team dream team sophomore year, was a key reason why the Jonesville Comets were able to earn back-to-back district titles this season and make a run at a MHSAA Division 3 regional championship.

Bradley helped Jonesville defeat Bronson 10-2 and Union City 5-1 to win the district title. He pitched against Union City, earning nine strikeouts over seven innings, allowing one run. He would pitch in the regional semifinal game against Kalamazoo Christian, helping the team earn a shot at the regional title with a 3-1 victory. He threw six innings, allowing one earned run on two hits and striking out four batters.

He helped Jonesville earn a final record of 20-13. He finished the year with a perfect 7-0 overall record on the mound. This included a perfect game. In 55.2 innings pitched, he threw 70 strikeouts, a 1.76 earned run average, a 1.006 WHIP and gave up just 14 earned runs (17 total runs). Opponents had a .192 batting average against Bradley.

At the plate, Bradley led the Comets in hits with 40 (six doubles, three triples), 28 RBIs and 30 runs. He had a .408 batting average, a .510 slugging percentage and a .473 on-base percentage. As a fielder, Bradley had a .930 percentage.

Bradley received first team all-conference honors in the team’s first year of Cascades baseball. This was his second first team dream team honor.

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Runner-Up: Dawson Shaw – Camden-Frontier – Senior – Pitcher/Fielder

Dawson Shaw helped lead Camden-Frontier RedHawk baseball to back-to-back district championships. The team defeated Waldron 8-2 and Reading 17-3 this season to earn the championship. Shaw pitched five innings, striking out nine batters and gave up just one earned run in the title game against Reading.

Shaw established himself as one of the top pitchers in Hillsdale County his senior year. Shaw posted a near-perfect record of 8-1 with 83 strikeouts in 52.1 innings pitched. He earned a no-hitter during his final year with Camden-Frontier.

He was an all-district, first team all-conference and all-star game honoree for his efforts during the 2023-24 season.

He was one of the most talented base runners in the County while also boasting a .310 batting average. Shaw broke the school record for stolen bases this year, earning 44 total.

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Coach of the Year - Corey Rogers - Jonesville

Rogers led the Jonesville varsity baseball team to their second straight district championship game, and their first regional title game appearance in several seasons. The team finished the year with a 20-13 overall record. This was their first season of Cascades conference baseball. The team defeated two former Big 8 rivals to win their way to the district championship. The team lost to eventual D3 state champion Watervliet in a hard-fought regional title game at Adrian College. This is his second straight coach of the year honor.

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Runner-Up: Michael Conant - Camden-Frontier

Conant led Camden-Frontier to a second straight district and conference championship this season. The team finished their season with a 20-10-1 overall record. They defeated two league rivals by a combined scoring differential of 25-5 in the district finals to win the championship. They eventually lost to Lenawee Christian in a hard-fought regional semifinal game. This is his second straight honorable mention coach of the year honor.

All-Area Dream Team

Byron Hukill – Camden-Frontier – Senior – Catcher
Dawson Shaw – Camden-Frontier – Senior – Pitcher/Fielder - Runner-Up POTY and Captain
Rodney Weir – Camden-Frontier – Senior – Fielder/Pitcher
Ben Kunkel – Hillsdale – Senior – Fielder
Drew Bradley – Jonesville – Junior – Pitcher/Fielder - POTY
A.J. Bowers – Jonesville – Senior – Fielder
Wade Sommers – Jonesville – Senior - Fielder/Reliever
Junior Alvarez – Litchfield – Senior – Pitcher/Fielder - POTY and Captain
Tyler Bills – Litchfield – Senior – Fielder/Pitcher
Miguel Pedroza – Litchfield – Senior – Fielder
Connor McKay – North Adams-Jerome – Junior - Fielder/Reliever
Brady Hartman – Pittsford – Senior – Fielder
Stephen Anderson – Reading – Junior – Fielder
Alec Shamplo – Waldron – Junior – Fielder/Reliever