The Valley League, contrary to how it might feel in the middle of it, is actually a very short season. It can be difficult, if not impossible sometimes, to recover from a poor start.

Our 15th best hitter, though, not only recovered from a slow start, but ended up being one of the best hitters in the entire league by the end.

Pedro Castellano, a rising senior from Central Florida, went 1-29 in his first nine games in the Valley for New Market- a not-so-sterling .034/.176/.034 line. His manager stuck with him, though, and after breaking out with a 3-5 game in game number ten, Castellano proceeded to end his summer going 35-87 (.402), with 15 extra base hits, including eight home runs. He recovered for sure, and obviously excelled.

Here are his total stats:

VBL G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB CS Avg OBP SLG
2019 34 116 21 36 6 1 8 23 14 17 2 2 0.310 0.397 0.586
Play 2 6 2 1 0 0 0 1 2 2 0 1 0.167 0.444 0.167

He finished ninth in the league in OPS, ninth in slugging, and fourth in home runs. He was hitter of the day twice- July 14 and July 28. His best two games were on June 29, against Woodstock, and July 23, against Strasburg. Against the Bandits, he went 3-3, with two runs, a home run, RBI, and walk. Against the Express, he went 3-4, with two runs, two doubles, a home run, and RBI.

Castellano spent his first two years at South Florida State College (and was All-Conference both years) before transferring to Central Florida.

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB CS Avg OBP SLG
2017 46 167 24 48 11 3 4 27 8 25 2 2 0.287 0.322 0.461
2018 54 207 41 69 17 2 6 37 23 23 7 5 0.333 0.400 0.522
2019 21 41 3 4 1 0 0 6 3 13 1 0 0.098 0.196 0.122

Watch for an increased role in 2020 for our 15th best hitter!

Pedro Castellano New Market resized