Well, that was quick. Historically, at one player per day, a list of 15 players would take a little over two weeks. Bundle them, though…. Jake from State Farm would be proud.

Here are, in my estimation, the top five hitters in the 2023 Valley League season. However, I need to mention that hitters had to be eligible for the batting title, which comes out to 2.7 plate appearances per team game- roughly 113 or so. That means that hitters like Harrisonburg’s Chris Katz (.414/.527/.786, 86 PA) and Purcellville’s Jose Torres (.407/.550/.507, 105 PA) fell short. It obviously doesn’t mean that they didn’t have a great summer; it just means they weren’t eligible for this list.

#5: Alex McCoy, Waynesboro (Maryland Eastern Shore): McCoy hit .372/.486/.490 in 145 at-bats for the Generals, along with 45 runs scored, 12 doubles, one triple, one home run, 24 RBIs, a 19/32 BB/K ratio, and 40 stolen bases (in 44 attempts). He was named All-League and All-League defensive at first base for the South. He led the league in runs scored, finished 3rd in batting average, 4th in OBP, tied for 4th in hits, tied for 5th in doubles, tied for 6th in total bases, and 6th in OPS. He also led the league in stolen bases, officially with 40*, which ties him with Juan Pierre (Harrisonburg, 1997) for the most in a VBL season in the last 30 years.** McCoy, a very large man at 6-foot-6, has played for two college seasons for the Hawks, overall hitting .264/.365/.353 in 301 plate appearances (with 36 stolen bases, if you were wondering).

#4: Jack Hay, Winchester (Alabama State): Hay hit .383/.500/.558 in 120 at-bats, with 35 runs, 10 doubles, one triple, three home runs, 38 RBIs, seven stolen bases, and an excellent 19/11 BB/K ratio. He was named All-League in the outfield for the North Division. He finished 2nd in the league in both batting average and on-base percentage, 3rd in RBIs, 4th in OPS, and 5th in runs and slugging percentage. He also finished in the top ten in doubles, home runs, hits, and total bases. Hay spent two years at Andrew College, where he hit a cool .372/.450/.563 in 339 total at-bats. In 2023, he played for Alabama State, and he just continued to rake, hitting .385/.472/.575 in 221 at-bats, with double-digit doubles and home runs and a solid 36/37 BB/K.

#3: Victor Castillo, Strasburg (New Orleans)***: Castillo raked for the Express in ’23, putting up a .344/.471/.615 line in 122 at-bats, with 34 runs, 10 doubles, one triple, seven home runs, 30 RBIs, six stolen bases, and an outstanding 27/18 BB/K. He was named All-League at first base for the North. He finished 3rd in the league in slugging and OPS, tied for 3rd in walks and home runs, 4th in total bases, and 5th in OBP. He also finished in the top ten in batting average, RBIs, doubles, and runs. Castillo has been a bit of a nomad in both his college and VBL career. In the VBL, he played for both Covington and Charlottesville in 2021, Waynesboro in 2022 (where his season was cut short after a frightening injury he sustained in a collision), and Strasburg in 2023. He was the 11th best hitter in the league in 2021. In his college career, he’s played for Florida Atlantic, College of Central Florida, and Liberty, and is currently a grad transfer at New Orleans.

#2: David Coppedge, Culpeper (Lipscomb): In 104 at-bats last summer, Coppedge hit .356/.493/.664, with 31 runs, eight doubles, eight home runs, 31 RBIs, 10 stolen bases, and an excellent 20/18 BB/K ratio. He finished 1st in the league in slugging and OPS, and tied for 1st in home runs. He was also 3rd in OBP, tied for 5th in RBIs, and 5th in batting average. He finished in the top ten in walks, total bases, and runs scored as well. He was named All-League at second base for the South. Coppedge attended UVA in 2021, but did not appear in a game. He has attended Lipscomb in 2022 and 2023, where he hit a combined .189/.312/.301 in 206 at-bats. Watch for a breakout for David in 2024!

#1: Ryne Guida, Purcellville (Florida International): It’s hard to overstate how good Guida has been in his two years in the Valley League. First of all, he was named the MVP of the North****, becoming the first player ever to achieve the feat of back-to-back MVPs.***** He was also named All-League at DH for the North both years. In 2023, he hit .425/.506/.582 in 134 at-bats, with 30 runs scored, 12 doubles, three home runs, 30 RBIs, and a stupefying 17/8 BB/K ratio. (This means that he struck out in 5% of his 158 plate appearances. For perspective, Tony Gwynn struck out 4.7% of the time in his major league career.) Leader board: Guida led the league in batting average (.042 ahead of Jack Hay’s second place), on-base percentage, and hits. He finished 2nd in OPS, 3rd in total bases, 4th in slugging percentage, and tied for 4th in doubles. He also finished in the top ten in RBIs and home runs. How about 2022? He “only” hit .396/.455/.458 in 96 at-bats for the Cannons. No big deal. Guida started off his college career at Stetson in 2021, and appeared in 16 games. He transferred to Indian River State in 2022, where he hit .341 with nine home runs. In 2023 he attended Florida International, and hit .366/.444/.587 in 213 at-bats, with 14 doubles, 11 home runs, and 50 RBIs.

*Yes, there was some contention around this number during the season, contention that I will not get into in this space.

**Stats are complete only through 1993; Gary Jones (Waynesboro 1982) is considered the all-time record holder, with 45.

***Full disclosure on Victor: I met him when he played for Covington in 2021, and we kept in touch off and on in the succeeding years. He has done nothing but impress as a person and player in his time in the VBL.

****Little-known fact: Jon Snow was the original “MVP of the North.”

*****It was originally reported that Daniel Murphy won back-to-back MVPs in 2004 and 2005. However, the 2004 winners were Jon Love (Front Royal) and Jeremy Terni (Winchester) (and the 2006 winner was Luray’s Tyler Kuhn). Murphy did win the award in ’05.