The 11th best starter in the 2019 Valley League season, Staunton’s Reid Celata, “only” started two games (in the regular season), but he threw the second-most innings on the entire starters list, and was 2nd team All-Valley at starting pitcher after the season, so here he is.

And he was quite good, too, of course. Here is what the 6-foot righthander from UMBC did in his summer:

ERA W L G GS IP H R ER BB K BAVG WIP BB/9 K/9
2019 3.07 2 0 11 2 41.0 40 17 14 12 39 0.255 1.268 2.6 8.6
Play 4.35 0 0 2 2 10.3 12 5 5 4 11 0.293 1.553 3.5 9.6

Besides finishing second in innings pitched among pitchers considered for this list, Celata also finished ninth in ERA, second in innings pitched, tenth in WHIP, and fifth in BB/9. He was pitcher of the day on July 6 at Covington, when he allowed three hits, one run, no walks, and struck out six over four innings pitched. He was also very good on June 16, also against Covington, when he allowed five hits, one run, no walks, and struck out three over five innings. Oddly, he received the win for the outing on July 6, but did not receive a decision on June 16 (both appearances were in relief).

Celata also put in some tough work in the playoffs in 2019. His second start in the new season was against  Charlottesville, and many of the players behind him in the field were actually moonlighting pitchers. Celata himself batted 14 times in the playoffs, and went 3-12 with two walks.

Here is how the sophomore performed at UMBC in his first college season:

UMBC ERA W L G GS IP H R ER BB K WHIP BB/9 K/9
2019 5.89 1 1 15 5 36.7 48 26 24 13 25 1.662 3.2 6.1

I know for a fact that Celata has been working hard on his game at Next Level Athletic Development, so watch for a breakout second season next spring!