Landon Beasley was Lodi High’s top hitter this spring, and the team’s top pitcher, leading the Flames to a second-place spot in the Tri-City Athletic League.
As a result, the senior was named the league’s Most Valuable Player.
With the last two TCAL teams exiting the CIF NorCal playoffs in Thursday’s semifinals, the league has released its all-TCAL baseball team, with Beasley’s name in bold at the top of the list.
Beasley batted .475 at the plate this spring, turning in 47 hits in 99 at-bats. He finished with two triples, seven doubles, 23 RBIs and 21 runs.
On the bump, Beasley compiled an 11-1 record in 16 appearances, nine of them as the starting pitcher. With a 1.34 earned-run average, he finished with three complete games, striking out 77 batters in 89 innings, against 67 hits and 16 walks. His last start of the season was a complete-game shutout in a 3-0 win over Casa Grande in Petaluma in the first round of the NorCal playoffs.
The team’s trip to the NorCal Division II semifinals was the deepest the Flames have ever gotten in the postseason.
The other top awards went to players from TCAL champion St. Mary’s, which 13-2 in league play. Dax Hardcastle was named the league’s Offensive Player of the Year, and Nico Bavaro was the league’s Pitcher of the Year. St. Mary’s ended its season Thursday in the D-I semifinals.
Lodi had four players on the TCAL first team — third baseman Santino Ramirez, shortstop Charlie Casazza, center fielder Rylan Takahashi and utility player Andrew Fichtner, all seniors.
Fichtner, like Beasley, was a key pitcher for the Flames and an infielder when he wasn’t pitching. He went 7-3 on the mound with a 2.04 ERA, with 95 strikeouts in 68 2/3 innings of work. He allowed 39 hits and 42 walks. On offense, he batted .372 (32 hits in 86 at-bats) with 10 doubles, 23 RBIs and 17 runs.
Ramirez batted .421 (48 of 114), with four triples, eight doubles, 35 RBIs and 30 runs, Casazza batted .373 (38 of 102) with two doubles, 15 RBIs and 28 runs, and Takahashi batted .350 (35-100) with two triples, four doubles, 17 RBIs and 37 runs.
Takahashi and Casazza were terrors on the basepaths as well, with 38 stolen bases for Takahashi and 28 for Casazza.
The rest of the first team consisted of infielders Xavier Ayala of Lincoln and Brady Errecart of St. Mary’s, outfielders Ethan Silva of St. Mary’s, Jacob Kobrin of St. Mary’s and Aiden Williams of Lincoln, catcher Ryan Torres of Tracy, utility player Taylor Tran of Lincoln, and pitchers Jace Johnson of Tracy and Tanner Grove of St. Mary’s.
Lodi had two second-team selections in outfielder Slade Schmitt and catcher Chase Whiting. Schmitt batted .320 (16-50) with a home run, two doubles, 10 RBIs and seven runs, and Whiting batted .258 (24-98) with a home run, six doubles, 18 RBIs and 18 runs.
Other second-team selections were infielders Dylan Patten of Lincoln, Brady Brown of Tracy, Dylan Giannini of Tracy and Alex Escalante of St. Mary’s, outfielders Bradley Swanson-Thurman of Lincoln, Moses Alexander of St. Mary’s and James Isler of Kimball, and pitchers Joe Victory of Lincoln and Giani Camacho of St. Mary’s.
Honorable mentions went to Lodi senior Riley Walker and junior Noah Hufford. Walker batted .343 (23-67) with two triples, four doubles, 12 RBIs and 18 runs, and Hufford batted .280 (14-50) with two doubles, 13 RBIs and 12 runs.
Other honorable mentions went to Brayden Abdon and Steven Friedman of Lincoln, Dawson Pelech and Gino Mallamo of Kimball, and Dom Franco and Minh Vu of St. Mary’s.