Today we have a former MVP vs a current pro player…

  • Andrew Eyster (New Market 2018) was not only Valley League MVP two summers ago, but he helped New Market to the town’s first title since 2002. A rising senior at South Carolina, Eyster hit .421/.511/.781 in 114 regular season at-bats, with 14 doubles, nine home runs, 35 RBIs, and a 18/21 BB/K ratio. (He hit .345/.355/.690 in 29 playoff at-bats, too.) He finished 1st in the league in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS (obviously), and doubles, while finishing 3rd in total bases (89), 4th in RBIs, 2nd in home runs, tied for 6th in hits, tied for 4th in runs, and 8th in walks. He was named 1st team All-Valley in the outfield, and as mentioned, he was also the Most Valuable Player. Every single person ATVL spoke to about top prospects from the summer said that Eyster was the best player in the league, and it wasn’t particularly close.
  • Downs beat Ryan Sullivan to get here. Here’s his writeup: “Jerry Downs came to the Valley from NAIA St. Thomas in 2014, after his sophomore year. The brother of prospect Jeter Downs, Jerry was the second best hitter in the summer season, slashing .355/.476/.497 in 155 at-bats, with 30 runs scored, seven doubles, five home runs, 25 RBIs, an outstanding 33/24 BB/K ratio, and 15 stolen bases in 16 attempts. At St. Thomas, he was a monster. In three years covering 165 games and 570 at-bats, Downs hit .325/.459/.474, with 144 runs scored, 32 doubles, four triples, 15 home runs, 131 RBIs, a 94/98 BB/K ratio, and 33 stolen bases in 39 attempts. The Boston Red Sox picked him in the 15th round of the 2015 draft, and he’s spent five seasons in the minor leagues, reaching Double-A Portland for 55 games in 2019. He’s hit a total of .231/.331/.365 in 1,078 minor league at-bats so far.”

Vote by going to twitter.com/JohnATVL.

And by the way, if you want to read a ton about either the 2015 or 2019 VBL season, be sure to check out this post on the 2019 Valley League Annual!

Also, please check out and subscribe to the Valley Baseball League youtube channel– some awesome stuff is released almost every day!

Eyster
Downs (Scott Mason/Winchester Star)