SAMOHI — An historic year on the diamond has earned Santa Monica baseball an arm load of All-Ocean League honors.
Head coach Kurt Schwengel was named Coach of the Year. Outfielder Gary Dixon and his gaudy .684 league batting average won Most Valuable Player.
The first team included catcher Matt Kassowitz, infielder Tommy Gutierrez and pitcher Andrew Brown.
The second team featured pitcher Alex Gironda, third baseman Rudy Olmedo, outfielder Fred Norris and outfielder Noah Barba.
"It really was an historic season," Schwengel said.
Samohi's 28-5 mark was the best in school history.
On that momentum, Samohi made it to the semi-finals of the CIF-Southern Section Division 3 playoffs.
But, not without controversy.
After what would have been a loss in a second round game against Palos Verdes Peninsula, Samohi filed a protest saying that their opponent was taking batting practice before the game, which is a violation of CIF rules.
The protest was upheld by CIF officials and Samohi went on to the next round where they defeated Paloma Valley, 7-0.
The run ended against Palm Desert in the semifinal.
The protest itself generated national buzz with commentators on ESPN saying that Schwengel was the "worst person in sports" for making the complaint.
"There was no way this historic season would go out with a whimper," Schwengel said with a laugh.
daniela@www.smdp.com
