Wrapping up the Sox's season

Peaks and valleys are always a part of any team's season, but it's the peaks which get the crowd on their feet.

The 2009 Yuba-Sutter Gold Sox season certainly had no shortage of memorable performances, plays and stories.

In review, the summer was complete with record-breaking moments, a pleasant emergence or two, gutsy performances and a handful of familiar faces.

The local flavor

Like every year, the Gold Sox team is made up of young talent scattered from all over the nation. However, this year a local pipeline helped fill the roster.

Five Mid-Valley area players earned spots on manager Jack Johnson's team and few others made an appearance.

Colusa's Matt Vedo, Marysville's Kendyle Blank and Yuba City's Max Stassi, Scott Harlan and Justin Lamb made huge contributions to the team's final 33-13 record.

Vedo and Blank, both of whom pitched with Yuba College this past spring, came out of the bullpen, along with Harlan, who finished his second season with the team. Harlan's season was cut short due to injury, but he finished with a 3.97 ERA, a 3-1 record and five saves in 17 appearances. Vedo finished with a 2.35 ERA in six appearances, while Blank had a 2.45 ERA after five appearances.

Making single-game appearances from the mound were Yuba City High's Jake Stassi and Michael Lowden.

Lamb, who saw some action last year, was solid behind the dish and with the bat. Lamb finished the season fourth on the team in runs scored (26), third in triples (9), tied for second in home runs (3) and led the team in RBIs (29).

Rotating from first base, catcher and designated hitter along with Lamb and Michael Wiseman was Stassi, who has six days left to agree on a contract with the Oakland Athletics. The local sensation caught fire midseason and went on a 16-game hitting streak. He finished his season with a .301 batting average, 41 hits, 23 runs scored and 26 RBIs.

The Yuba-Sutter fans were also treated to a one-night appearance by former Honker and CSU-Northridge product Richard Cates, who went 3-for-5 with two RBIs, a double and a run scored.

The buddy system

With few returners making up the roster this year, a handful of new faces traveled across country to play ball in Marysville — and a lot of them brought friends.

Aaron Crooks and Corey Chaffins each made their way from Eastern Michigan; Trent Evins, Dan Brown and Christian Garcia were all from New Mexico Highlands; Jeff Fisher-Gasper, Niko Saladis, Dan Black and Andy Quiring made the short trip down Highway 70 from Feather River College; Brett Shankin and Michael Wiseman hail from Wayne State; and of course, Adrian Perez, Blank and Vedo each made their way from Yuba College.

Wiseman, who also joined Lamb and Stassi in the summer-long rotation at catcher, first base and designated-hitter, ultimately led the team in batting average (.333).

New Mexico teammates Evins and Brown each captured glory this year — Evins was named the team's pitcher of the year after going 6-0 with a 1.90 ERA in 12 starts and 71 innings pitched. He also led the team with 50 strikeouts. Meanwhile, Brown led the team in home runs after blasting one in each of the final three games, including a grand slam — a record broken by this year's team. Perez and Chico State's Deven Braden hit the other two, the most by any Gold Sox team. Perez and Braden each hit three homers, while Stassi and Mikey Raudenbush added one more.

Perez had a nice year from the plate. He was second with 160 at-bats, second in hits and second in doubles (11) to Brown's 15.

Black, who finished with a .294 batting average, third in hits (42), second in walks (33) and was first in stolen bases (18), was one of only three returners to the team this year. Garcia led the team in walks with 37.

After Harlan went down, the closer role fell on the shoulders of Fisher-Gasper, who handled the situation with ease. With the most appearances of any pitcher (28), Fisher-Gasper wrapped up a top-notch season with nine saves, a 2-0 record and a 1.53 ERA. He also had 39 strikeouts in 35 innings.

Chaffins had a good summer in the rotation, finishing with a 3.12 ERA, a 3-2 record with 38 strikeouts.

Without a friend

They didn't know the place or a single face, but the impact of Raudenbush, Braden, Andy Hebrard, Cris Rogers and Chris Shea were invaluable.

Raudenbush, team MVP, had the most starts of any player and was strong in the outfield. He batted .309, led the team in runs scored (35), hits (54), had five doubles, 26 RBIs and posted just one fielding error all year.

Braden, who got hot later in the season, finished second in batting average (.322).

But it was the pitching of Rogers, Shea and Hebrard, that wheeled the team through the four-game sets.

While Evins was no doubt the top pitcher on the team, the three hurlers made for a deep rotation.

Hebrard, who battled back from a separated shoulder, was outstanding in the second-half. He finished with a 1.94 ERA, a 3-0 record and 33 strikeouts to just nine walks in 41 innings pitched.

Rogers was also to be feared, going 6-1 in 10 starts with 40 strikeouts compared to 11 walks, and Shea, who went 3-2 with a 3.82 ERA in 16 appearances.