After a few days reporting on other things, we return to the list of the top hitters in the 2018 Valley League season.
The 12th best hitter in the league is William Simoneit, from Staunton and Cornell!
William, a 6-foot-4, 205 pound catcher, has put together a strong resume in college baseball. Take a look at his stats for the summer:
| VBL | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | K | SB | CS | Avg | OBP | SLG |
| 2018 | 27 | 106 | 19 | 36 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 15 | 14 | 21 | 5 | 2 | 0.340 | 0.431 | 0.547 |
William finished 10th in the league in OPS, 7th in slugging, tied for 9th in home runs, tied for 7th in doubles, was an all-star, was selected to the Prospect Showcase roster, and was named 1st team All-Valley at catcher at the end of the year. The coaches and other evaluators hold his defensive skills in high regard as well, as he was named the 2nd best prospect in the league by ATVL. Staunton also awarded him the John Lancaster Award, given to the Brave who performs at a high level on the field and represents values of the team off the field.
He had two four-hit games: one on June 21 at Woodstock, when he went 4-4, with 3 runs, 2 doubles, a home run, and 2 RBIs, and on July 14 against Purcellville, when he went 4-5, with a run, double, home run, and 4 RBIs.
After a injury-filled freshman year in 2016, here are his stats for 2017 and 2018 at Cornell:
| Cornell | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | K | SB | CS | Avg | OBP | SLG |
| 2017 | 24 | 82 | 16 | 26 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 28 | 7 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0.317 | 0.391 | 0.610 |
| 2018 | 37 | 143 | 17 | 44 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 27 | 13 | 23 | 7 | 0 | 0.308 | 0.380 | 0.406 |
He was All-Ivy League 2nd Team at catcher both seasons.
Congratulations on your excellent summer, William!
[…] 340/431/547 in 106 at-bats, with 10 doubles and 4 home runs, and was named the league’s 12th best hitter. (And was also one of the league’s top prospects.) For Cornell in 2018, Will hit 308/380/406 […]
[…] Will Simoneit (Staunton 2018), from Cornell, is the league’s 9th best draft prospect according to BA. The big catcher was ATVL’s 12th best hitter in the 2018 summer, and made both Perfect Game’s and ATVL’s top prospect lists. […]