The ninth best hitter in the 2019 Valley League season is UMBC’s rising senior Christian Torres!

Torres was a mainstay in the middle of Covington’s lineup:

VBL G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB CS Avg OBP SLG
2019 39 142 28 48 13 2 4 26 18 24 0 0 0.338 0.424 0.542
Play 3 11 3 4 1 0 1 1 3 2 0 0 0.364 0.500 0.727

He finished fourth in total bases (with 77), tenth in RBIs, tied for fourth in triples and doubles, and fifth in hits. He was an All-Star, a Showcase participant, first team All-Valley at third base, and at least one coach said that he was the best defensive third baseman of the summer.

He had a ten-game hitting streak from June 10 to 20, and ended his season by hitting in nine straight games as well. On June 3rd, he went 3-4 against Woodstock, with a run, double, triple, and three RBIs, and was named hitter of the day. Against Front Royal on June 18th, he went 3-3, with a double and three RBIs.

Torres has improved each of the three rate stats (batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage) in each of his years at UMBC:

UMBC G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB CS Avg OBP SLG
2017 46 163 21 45 9 0 2 30 12 19 0 4 0.276 0.328 0.368
2018 48 163 19 46 11 1 1 23 18 29 3 1 0.282 0.372 0.380
2019 51 185 35 53 11 3 4 36 25 47 5 3 0.286 0.375 0.443

After his freshman year in 2017, Torres raked in the awards:

  • America East Conference Rookie of the Year
  • America East All-Conference Second Team
  • America East All-Rookie Team
  • Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American
  • ABCA/Rawlings All-East Region Second Team

The Valley League wasn’t his first summer league experience; he also played in 2017 for the Gaithersburg Giants in the Cal Ripken League:

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB CS Avg OBP SLG
2017 32 110 20 32 5 0 2 18 13 21 4 1 0.291 0.380 0.391

Congratulations, and good luck this spring!