Every once in a while, I’ll take a look at a page of statistics from a specific college, and a set of numbers will jump off the page. Other times, I have a slow dawning of the significance of a few lines.

A couple days ago, I took a quick look at the St. Thomas Bobcats, an NAIA school that is 28-8 and nationally ranked (#10 in the March 19 Coaches’ Poll). The top player, ranked by batting average, was Erick Delgado– aha! A Valley Leaguer! Erick played in Strasburg both in 2016 and 2017.

The second player? Sergio Lopez, who played in Purcellville in 2018.

The third? Alejandro Rivero, a Winchester Royal in 2017.

And fourth? Former Purcellville Cannon (2018) Chris Garabedian.

So the top four hitters, by batting average (and all over .340, too), for a nationally ranked program, are all former Valley Leaguers!

A closer look:

  • Delgado is hitting 390/512/545 in 123 at-bats, with 47 runs, 10 doubles, 3 triples, 1 home run, 28 RBIs, a silly 24/12 BB/K ratio, and 15 stolen bases. He leads the team in batting average, on-base percentage, runs, hits (48), and doubles.
  • Lopez is hitting 368/474/726 in 117 at-bats, with 29 runs, 9 doubles, 3 triples, 9 home runs, 46 RBIs, and a solid 26/30 BB/K ratio (and 5 stolen bases).He leads the squad in slugging percentage, home runs, RBIs, and walks.
  • After 120 at-bats, Rivero is at 350/443/567, with 25 runs, 8 doubles, 6 home runs, 37 RBIs, and a 10/19 BB/K ratio.
  • Garabedian is slashing 343/405/533 in 137 at-bats, with 33 runs, 7 doubels, 5 triples, 3 home runs, 43 RBIs, a 14/12 BB/K ratio, and 6 stolen bases. He leads the team in triples.
Rivero
Garabedian
Delgado
Lopez