Warriors Well Represented on All-League Teams

The Resurrection Life Warriors capped a great season in the EP Round Lake Church League by placing four members of the team on the post-season All-League teams. Rez Life landed two players on the first team and two on the second team.

Not satisfied with just those honors, Rez also earned four Gold Gloves for league play and had the league's MVP, Defensive Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year.

All-League Teams
First Team
Austin Colby was one of two players in the league unanimously chosen to the first team as a utility player. Austin led the league with a .743 average and was second with a .750 on base percentage. His slugging percentage of 1.457 was also second as was his OPS of 2.207. His 41 runs scored led the league and his 46 rbi were second. He set league records with his 14 doubles and 9 triples while finishing tied for third in homers with 6. Austin also paced the league with a .759 average with runners in scoring position and a .750 average from the 5th inning and on.

Jason Merritt also landed a spot on the first team as an outfielder. Jason finished in the top 10 in average, .632 (6th), on base percentage, .694 (4th), OPS, 1.588 (8th), and doubles, 9 (8th). Jason only played in 15 league games otherwise his raw numbers would have had higher totals also.

Second Team
Lee Valle earns 2nd Team All-League laurels based primarily on his defensive prowess. He played third base at an amazing .932 fielding percentage clip which is quite high for a third-sacker. He was no slouch with the bat either, reaching base frequently with a .593 on base percentage. He drew 8 walks in 14 games while banging out 22 hits. Great year for Lee.

Eric Johnson continues his All-League presence with a 2nd team nod. Eric has bounced from 1st team to 2nd team honors in many of the past 6 seasons. While some of his numbers were down this year, his defensive performance helped prop up his overall resume. Eric did hit .538 with 5 doubles, 3 homeruns and an impressive 30 rbi in 16 league games. His 8 sacrifice flies did set a league-record also. Eric handled 61 chances in the infield while having a hand in 7 doubleplays.

Gold Glove:
Infield
Lee Valle gets his first gold statue for his play at third base. He was a unanimous choice at third base for the league and it is well deserved. Lee's defensive exploits received raving compliments from opponents, teammates, and umpires alike.

Outfield
Jason Merritt and Jamy Antoine nearly led to a clean sweep of outfield gold gloves for the Warriors. Both Jason and Jamy handily earned their hardware playing excellent corner outfield positions in a 3-man outfield. The league noticed.

Utility
Austin Colby added some more bling to his mantel with his third straight league gold glove. This one is his first non-infield prize. He manned centerfield in the 3-man set and played a solid amount of innings at shortstop also.

Defensive Player of the Year:
For the first time in the three years of Rez's participation in this league, a shortstop ('06) or centerfielder ('07) didn't win the award. Instead, the Warriors' own Lee Valle earned the honor with his heretofore discussed season at the hot corner. A fielding percentage over .900 at third or short is very good. One over .930 is excellent especially considering Lee had 22 assists and 19 putouts to boot. This is a well-deserved honor and the team applauds Lee's accomplishments.

Rookie of the Year:
Rez continued its domination in this category, winning this award in each of the past three seasons. 2006 saw Austin Colby grab the honor, last season was newcomer Brendan Finn and in 2008 Jason Merritt has kept the award at home. Jason took to the league well this season and looks to be a mainstay on the All-League teams in the future.

MVP:
In a hotly contested debate at the League Meetings, Austin Colby narrowly beat out Living Word's shortstop for MVP honors. While the two players had similar numbers across the board, Austin couldn't compete with his Living Word counterpart's 21 homeruns and 56 rbi. However, as one opposing manager said, 'MVP is not Player of the Year,' he stated. 'It is the most valuable player to his team. I think Austin carried the most value to his team.' Apparently the league agreed as Austin came out on top in a close vote. It's quite an honor to have, but it's a team honor as much as anything else. If a team doesn't compete, play hard and have some success, then individual players don't get recognized. Great compliment to the Warriors from Rez Life.