The most valuable player of the 2011 Westhill Construction All-Johnson County baseball team is Burleson senior Levi Scott.
The teams and the superlative awards were determined by the Times-Review’s sports department based on all-district selections and coaches’ nominations.
Scott helped lead Burleson deep into the playoffs after the Elks finished third in District 7-4A play.
His prowess on the mound and at the plate was critical for Burleson to make a run to the regional finals where the Elks fell in three games to eventual state champion Wichita Falls Rider.
Scott batted .511 for the Elks and drove in 53 runs on 68 hits. He had 12 home runs.
On the mound, Scott was Burleson’s ace, finishing with a 3.03 ERA with opposing teams batting .214 against him. He had big wins throughout his high school career, and had another this year against Crowley in the playoffs.
He allowed just 52 hits in 57.2 innings pitched.
Scott said the plan from this point is to make it to the professional level as soon as possible.
“It’s a great honor to receive the award,” he said. “And to play for a team as high-caliber as Burleson, it means a lot.
“I plan on going to Howard Junior College to play for a year or two and hopefully get drafted. If not, then I’ll hopefully go to a Division I school for a little bit and go professional as quickly as I can.”
Scott was joined by several of his teammates in the superlative selections and his coach, Chris McKinley.
McKinley was named the coach of the year and Sabo Murray (defensive player of the year) and Blake Perkins (pitcher of the year) were also honored for the Elks.
McKinley had high praise for Scott.
“He’s a tremendous talent,” McKinley said. “I’ve been doing this for 15 years, and he’s one of the top three kids that I’ve coached and one of those others is still in the minor leagues.
“I know these rising seniors and juniors will have some big shoes to fill next year. It was a great experience coaching this team and to build on the things we did as a program last year.”
Cleburne’s Dustin Torres and Grandview’s Philip Chavez were named the offensive players of the year after Torres came one hit shy of the Cleburne single-season record, and Chavez received the award in the District 15-2A selections.
Grandview’s Chase Goldwater, Godley’s Maverick Macy and Joshua’s Devon Scoggins were named the newcomers of the year after each player received the accolade in their respective all-district selections.
McKinley said Murray was well-deserving of winning the defensive player of the year award for the second straight year.
“Sabo is a special kid being a three-year starter,” McKinley said. “He’s been kind of the backbone of the program and has really been kind of a building block for us.
“It was a great experience to take what we built last year in our last year in Class 5A, and to continue it this year by going a step further.
“That was a really special part of getting to coach this team.”
Baseball and Softball
Related Photos
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Pictured, from left, are Godley’s Maverick Macy (co-newcomer of the year), Grandview’s Philip Chavez (co-offensive player of the year), Grandview’s Chase Goldwater (co-newcomer of the year), Burleson’s Blake Perkins (pitcher of the year), Burleson’s Chris McKinley (coach of the year), Burleson’s Sabo Murray (defensive player of the year), Burleson’s Levi Scott (most valuable player), Cleburne’s Dustin Torres (co-offensive player of the year) and Joshua’s Devin Scoggins (co-newcomer of the year). David Beans/Special to the Times-Review
Discussion
Cleburne, Burleson lead selections
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Baseball/Softball playoff update
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