Orange Leader's Baseball Athlete of the year 1974-2005

[adminbaberuth]

If you played with, against or watched these guys, share why they stood out and won this award.

1974 Paul Richardson WO
1975 Billy Bayliss, Stark
1976 JE Lancaster, WO
1977 Kim Bryant BC
1978 Harlan Robertson WOS
1979 Pat Meeks BC
1980 Pat Meeks BC
1981 Wade Phillips WOS
1982 Mike Perkins LCM
1983 Greg Choate LCM
1984 Tony Dallas WOS
1985 Shon Shelton WOS
1986 Mike Stewart LCM
1987 Brian Daniels LCM
1988 Thad Chaddrick BC
1989 Bruce Aven WOS
1990 Bo Mires BC
1991 Kelly Free WOS
1992 Steve Martin BC
1993 Frankie Tays LCM
1994 Stephen Gilbert D’ville
1995 Kevin Kirby OF
1996 John Patterson WOS
1997 Beau Hale LCM
1998 Jeremy Green LCM
1999 Billy Burrow LCM
2000 Josey Kelly LCM
2001 Chad Barbe WOS
2002 Luther Sanders BC
2003 Derek Blacksher BC
2004 Shon Landry LCM
2005 Kevin Angelle BC

[BaseBow]

Bruce Aven enough said ;)Thought Shane Dronett should have been 1988..But chaddrick was a good one.. Man I am getting old ;D

[GTBBaseball]

I can only personally speak about Tony Dallas and Shon Shelton, but I see one more that must have gotten overlooked, Rodderick Robertson.
State champion Quarterback and in my opinion, a top 5 infielder to ever come out of the Orange area, drafted by the Phillies.

Shon Shelton, CLASS ACT, Christian kid, who I think at that time only made like 2 errors as a 3 year starter for the Stangs, and that was at Shortstop, a high percentage error position... He could drag bunt push bunt hit for power steal bags and if you hit in his direction, forget about it, he would make the play!
He signed with Panola then made his way to Lake Charles and McNeese, where he led McNeese to the schools 1st NCAA regional playoff appearance hosted by a Robin Ventura led, Oklahoma State team(that season Ventura set National Hitting Streak Record at 58games)- the regional(back then only had 8 regionals of 6 teams) consisted of Okla State, Witchita State(National Champs), Loyola Marymount(pre-season #1) to name 3 of the teams. Also Tony Robichaux, now at Univ La-Lafayette, was 25yrs of age, the youngest coach in NCAA to bring a team to NCAA Playoffs.
Shon was 5 ft nothing weighed 150sumn, hit 8 homeruns at McNeese that season with only 3 errors... amazing baseball player, but an even more amazing person!

Tony Dallas - simply put, dredded seeing him toe the rubber against you... you brought rosary beads to the on-deck circle for the ball came out his hand with violence and not many were able to make contact. A shame his career was cut short at Panola due to arm issues for he was a very successful and reliable arm in high school.
A good man who is still in the Orange area giving back to the game. His 2 boys will probably make an impact on the playing field as well at WOS or LCM when they enter high school.

John Patterson simply put, brought more attention to High school athletics in Orange Tx, on a national scene, then anyone from the Orange area. His talents had Major League Baseball following him from th time he got out the car in the parking lot onto the pitching rubber...
Derek Blacksher, good high school player, but may have done more for himself after high school at Panola and McNeese State(#1 arm in rotation for Southland Conference Championship Team) and then to the Florida Marlins and now in independent baseball still living the dream.

Love the thread Clint-Admin

Merry Christmas,
Chris Fackler

[silly365]

PAT MEEKS WAS A GOOD ONE. I THOUGHT JEFF GRANGER SHOULD OF BEEN ON HERE AS WELL. 

[BaseBow]

[quote name="BaseBow" post="938015" timestamp="1293183528"]
Bruce Aven enough said ;)Thought Shane Dronett should have been 1988..But chaddrick was a good one.. Man I am getting old ;D
[/quote]Sorry Chaddrick over Dronett in baseball I was thinking football on that one.

[WOSgrad]

[quote name="GTBBaseball" post="938025" timestamp="1293201610"]
I can only personally speak about Tony Dallas and Shon Shelton, but I see one more that must have gotten overlooked, Rodderick Robertson.
State champion Quarterback and in my opinion, a top 5 infielder to ever come out of the Orange area, drafted by the Phillies.

Shon Shelton, CLASS ACT, Christian kid, who I think at that time only made like 2 errors as a 3 year starter for the Stangs, and that was at Shortstop, a high percentage error position... He could drag bunt push bunt hit for power steal bags and if you hit in his direction, forget about it, he would make the play!
He signed with Panola then made his way to Lake Charles and McNeese, where he led McNeese to the schools 1st NCAA regional playoff appearance hosted by a Robin Ventura led, Oklahoma State team(that season Ventura set National Hitting Streak Record at 58games)- the regional(back then only had 8 regionals of 6 teams) consisted of Okla State, Witchita State(National Champs), Loyola Marymount(pre-season #1) to name 3 of the teams. Also Tony Robichaux, now at Univ La-Lafayette, was 25yrs of age, the youngest coach in NCAA to bring a team to NCAA Playoffs.
Shon was 5 ft nothing weighed 150sumn, hit 8 homeruns at McNeese that season with only 3 errors... amazing baseball player, but an even more amazing person!

Tony Dallas - simply put, dredded seeing him toe the rubber against you... you brought rosary beads to the on-deck circle for the ball came out his hand with violence and not many were able to make contact. A shame his career was cut short at Panola due to arm issues for he was a very successful and reliable arm in high school.
A good man who is still in the Orange area giving back to the game. His 2 boys will probably make an impact on the playing field as well at WOS or LCM when they enter high school.

John Patterson simply put, brought more attention to High school athletics in Orange Tx, on a national scene, then anyone from the Orange area. His talents had Major League Baseball following him from th time he got out the car in the parking lot onto the pitching rubber...
Derek Blacksher, good high school player, but may have done more for himself after high school at Panola and McNeese State(#1 arm in rotation for Southland Conference Championship Team) and then to the Florida Marlins and now in independent baseball still living the dream.

Love the thread Clint-Admin

Merry Christmas,
Chris Fackler


[/quote]

Chris, I think Rod was named Male Athlete of the Year, which was why he was not named Baseball Player of the Year.

The player that was Baseball Player of the Year that year, Mike Stewart (now head football coach at Kountze), was personally responsible for having me come to terms with the fact that I would never play professional baseball.  In the final Pony League game of the year, he threw 3 straight fastballs...I swear I didn't see the ball once it left his hand on any of the 3...never played organized baseball ever again!!!

As to your descriptions of Shon and Tony, all I can say is ditto!

[saban]

I also played against and with Shon. Great player, and Great teammate. True competitor, who got the most out his talent.

[adminbaberuth]

1974 Paul Richardson

Catching him in the street was something I never cherished, with no catchers mitt, I wrapped my hand with a rag to soften the blow.

Like WOSgrad, my final day was over at West End park in a Pony league game on a hot summer night. Paul was my best bud, but as I was stepping into the box his eyes looked like he was possessed. The first pitch, I guessed fastball, I ended up in the on deck circle as he crossed me up with curve. Next pitch took the only wisker I had at that age. Of course I went down, but I took a hack on strike three, it felt good.

[bigred360]

I played against both Shon and Rod and hated to see them coming to the plate when I was pitching because I knew there was nothing I had to strike them out. I just hoped they hit the ball to a teammate and kept the ball in the park.

They were both great players!

[td]

There are alot of really good players from the Golden Triangle that aren't on this list. Alot of them I have been lucky enough to play against and or with.

[td]

[quote name="GTBBaseball" post="938025" timestamp="1293201610"]
I can only personally speak about Tony Dallas and Shon Shelton, but I see one more that must have gotten overlooked, Rodderick Robertson.
State champion Quarterback and in my opinion, a top 5 infielder to ever come out of the Orange area, drafted by the Phillies.

Shon Shelton, CLASS ACT, Christian kid, who I think at that time only made like 2 errors as a 3 year starter for the Stangs, and that was at Shortstop, a high percentage error position... He could drag bunt push bunt hit for power steal bags and if you hit in his direction, forget about it, he would make the play!
He signed with Panola then made his way to Lake Charles and McNeese, where he led McNeese to the schools 1st NCAA regional playoff appearance hosted by a Robin Ventura led, Oklahoma State team(that season Ventura set National Hitting Streak Record at 58games)- the regional(back then only had 8 regionals of 6 teams) consisted of Okla State, Witchita State(National Champs), Loyola Marymount(pre-season #1) to name 3 of the teams. Also Tony Robichaux, now at Univ La-Lafayette, was 25yrs of age, the youngest coach in NCAA to bring a team to NCAA Playoffs.
Shon was 5 ft nothing weighed 150sumn, hit 8 homeruns at McNeese that season with only 3 errors... amazing baseball player, but an even more amazing person!

Tony Dallas - simply put, dredded seeing him toe the rubber against you... you brought rosary beads to the on-deck circle for the ball came out his hand with violence and not many were able to make contact. A shame his career was cut short at Panola due to arm issues for he was a very successful and reliable arm in high school.
A good man who is still in the Orange area giving back to the game. His 2 boys will probably make an impact on the playing field as well at WOS or LCM when they enter high school.

John Patterson simply put, brought more attention to High school athletics in Orange Tx, on a national scene, then anyone from the Orange area. His talents had Major League Baseball following him from th time he got out the car in the parking lot onto the pitching rubber...
Derek Blacksher, good high school player, but may have done more for himself after high school at Panola and McNeese State(#1 arm in rotation for Southland Conference Championship Team) and then to the Florida Marlins and now in independent baseball still living the dream.

Love the thread Clint-Admin

Merry Christmas,
Chris Fackler


[/quote]



Chris, having guys like Rod and Shon play behind you made it easy to pitch. They made almost every play that came their way. Then put them at the plate and good things were going to happen. Man those were good days. Never was fun playing French though. With you and Lionell (Po Bear) Adams, always made for a great game. One in particular that still haunts me.  ;D

[Bobcat55]

I was wondering why Jeff Granger had not won it? Then I read that if they were Athlete of the Year than they could not be Baseball player of the Year because He and Rodrick should have been at least twice!

[Big Stick]

I did not know that Rod was a state champion QB!

[bigred360]

He wasn't as WO-S was 5A back then and the never made it to the state championship game in that classification. The Mustangs won it when they had Kevin Smith for two straight seasons and lost in the finals a third straight year in the state championship and that was in 4A.