For today’s matchup, we have two burly first basemen- Brandon Quaranta (Strasburg 2016-17) against Zach Sterry (Waynesboro 2016)!

  • Quaranta got here by defeating Leo Rojas (87.2% to 12.8%). His writeup: “Brandon Quaranta was a monster in Strasburg’s lineup… and on the hill. Let’s see: in 2016, he hit .375/.425/.713 in 80 at-bats, with seven doubles and six home runs. He went on to hit .448/.500/1.034 in the playoffs to help the Express to a title. On the mound, he didn’t allow an earned run in 7 1/3 regular season innings and four postseason innings. Then, 2017. In 151 regular season at-bats, he hit .331/.448/.623, with 11 doubles, 11 home runs, 49 RBIs, and a 25/32 BB/K ratio. He hit another home run and walked 11 times in nine playoff games, too. On the mound, he went 0-0, 1.58, with four saves in 11 1/3 regular season innings, and 1-2, 1.42 in 6 1/3 playoff innings. He was ATVL’s 2nd best hitter that year (behind only Michael Wielansky). He played all four years at Philadelphia U (changed to “Jefferson” in 2017, I believe), and hit .318/.449/.630 in 462 at-bats, with 24 doubles, 38 home runs, 123 RBIs, a 92/97 BB/K ratio, and 25 stolen bases in the four years. He was not drafted after his college eligibility ended.”
  • Sterry beat Austin Embler (57.1%-42.9%). His writeup: “Zach Sterry laid waste to the Valley League in 2016 for the Waynesboro Generals. He hit .350/.453/.734 in 40 games and 143 at-bats. He added 33 runs, 41 RBIs, 50 hits, 14 doubles, one triple, 13 home runs, a solid 27/33 BB/K ratio, and even stole four bases without getting caught. He led the league in on-base percentage, slugging percentage (by a huge amount- Nick Ward finished at .587), doubles, home runs, and RBIs. He tied for 3rd in walks, finished 4th in batting average and on-base percentage, and tied for 5th in both runs and hits. He continued hitting right through the playoffs, too. In six games and 22 at-bats, he hit .409/.500/.818, with eight runs, eight RBIs, and three home runs. He also had a double and two RBIs in the all-star game. He was ATVL’s #1 hitter, finished first team All-Valley at first base, and was league MVP. In his four years at Oakland, Sterry hit .302/.383/.487 in 653 at-bats, with 110 runs, 46 doubles, 23 home runs, 113 RBIs, and a 78/119 BB/K ratio. He was drafted in the 8th round of the 2017 draft, and spent two seasons in the minor leagues, hitting .265/.353/.371 in 283 total at-bats. He retired in February 2019.”

So who ya got?

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!

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Quaranta
Sterry