To be a Deseret News Most Valuable Player you have to be able to both pitch and hit. That seems to be the consensus of the high school managers who voted on who should be All-State for 1994.
In 5A and 3A a pitcher and hitter came in the form of one person in Taylorsville's Brett McDermaid and Emery's Dean Stilson. In 4A the award was split between teammates Brandon Huntsman and Damian Sapp of Pleasant Grove.Huntsman was the pitching portion of that equation. He rang up 115 strikeouts in 58 innings of pitching on the year while going 10-0 and posting a 1.52 ERA. Sapp, catcher for Huntsman, slugged 16 home runs in 28 games while maintaining a lofty .493 batting average.
The two have been linked throughout high school, and it appears that they won't soon be rid of each other. Both recently were drafted by AL East teams. Huntsman was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the sixth round, and Sapp went in the 10th to the Boston Red Sox. Both leave this weekend to play for rookie-league teams in Florida. The two will only be about an hour apart with Huntsman in Sarasota and Sapp in Fort Myers. To top it off, their teams will play against each other in only their second professional games.
Pleasant Grove manager Jon Hoover thinks the pair's stats are even more impressive considering the pressure they were under all year. "They both had scouts watching their every move," says Hoover. He also says, "Both are outstanding competitors. The better the competition, the better they played." Hoover points out that, in the state tournament, Sapp hit six home runs while Huntsman only allowed two hits in 14 innings of pitching. As 5A MVP, McDermaid led the Warriors to their third straight title by going 6-0 as a pitcher and hitting .417. According to manager Steve Cramblitt, McDermaid plans to enroll at Lassen College in California.
Although the powerful Warriors placed two other players on the All-State first team, two on the second team and three more in the honorable-mention category, Cramblitt feels that McDermaid stood out because, "He worked harder at the game this year than he ever has. He didn't just sit back and rely on his ability." For example, McDermaid spent all winter working on a weight program and his pitching mechanics. Because of this attitude, Cramblitt says, "He'll just get better every year."
3A MVP Stilson was the only one whose team didn't win a championship. He still easily outdistanced any rival in the voting. On the mound Stilson went 10-2 on the year with an ERA of 1.45. When he wasn't pitching, Stilson was playing shortstop and hitting at a .406 clip. Although he has had offers from local schools, Stilson has made no commitments as yet because he plans to leave on an LDS mission in October.
Noting that Stilson has started since he was a freshman, Emery manager Jimmy Jones says, "He's easily the best pitcher we've had in the nine years I've been here." Jones also notes that Stilson made academic all-state in football, basketball and baseball. He points out, "He's not only a good athlete, but a good kid, too."
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Additional Information
1994 Deseret News All-State Baseball
5A team
MVP: Brett McDermaid, Taylorsville
First team
1B: Nate Forbush, Bingham
2B: Dan Roden, Alta
3B: Chris Lyman, Taylorsville
SS: Brody Bevan, Taylorsville
OF: Mike Burrows, American Fork
OF: Casey Child, Mountain View
OF: Craig Peterson, Viewmont
C: Shawn Peterson, Orem
DH: Troy Farnsworth, Granger
P: Jeff Garff, Viewmont
P: Curtis Wilson, Bingham
P: Brad Seare West, Jordan
P: Sky Grant, Skyline
Second team
1B: Shae Cook, Viewmont
2B: Zach Rappleye, Taylorsville
3B: John Conlee, Mountain View
SS: Bronson Bills, Skyline
OF: Shane Belliston, Orem
OF: Dave Alsop, Skyline
OF: Matt Evers, Skyline
C: Justin Oliver, Granger
DH: Jared Larsen, Taylorsville
P: Brandon Duckworth, Kearns
P: Zack Sorensen, Highland
P: Jamie Jeffords, Mountain View
Honorable mention
Jeremy Hymas, West Jordan; Adam Brown, Orem; Rustin Rains, Alta; Tyler Perry, Alta; Matt Jacobs, Bountiful; Aaron Garn, Bingham; Mike Davis, Taylorsville; Chad Miller, Taylorsville; Steve Rice, Viewmont; Chris Lear, Bingham; Scott Sumner, Mountain View; Troy Beckman, Viewmont; Gary Thornton, Mountain View; John Uriarte, Hillcrest; Lance Erickson, Orem; Brandon Ballard, Taylorsville.
4A team
MVPs: Brandon Huntsman and
Damian Sapp, Pleasant Grove
First team
1B: Brad Winget, Murray
2B: Nate Blotter, Mountain Crest
3B: Troy Thomas, West
SS: Mike Gonzales, Cyprus
OF: Brian McBeth, Tooele
OF: Jess Siebenberg, Murray
OF: Jason Barney, Spanish Fork
C: Rod Madsen, West
DH: Jeff Holtry, West
P: Scott Pratt, Tooele
P: Ben Staley, Cyprus
P: Sam Vest, Spanish Fork
Second team
1B: Jamon Taylor, Payson
2B: Spike Nash, Cyprus
3B: Riley Nelson, Bear River
SS: Ben Marziale, Spanish Fork
OF: Sean Conroy, Spanish Fork
OF: Jason Walker, Springville
OF: Dave Webb, Mountain Crest
C: Beau Papa Dakis, Woods Cross
DH: Bryce Shields, Tooele
P: Paul Clark, Logan
P: Doug Clark, Murray
P: John Eyre, Cyprus
Honorable mention
Robb Rice, Olympus; Cody Malmrose, Woods Cross; Mark Thornley, Logan; Ryan Partridge, Payson; Clint Davis, Bear River; Cameron Udy, Box Elder; Brandon McCloy, Jordan.
3A team
MVP: Dean Stilson, Emery
First team
1B: Chris McQuivey, Emery
2B: Kyle West, Pine View
3B: Neal Marchant, Cedar City
SS: Troy Tuttle, Dixie
OF: Nate Andrus, Dixie
OF: Jason Barney, Emery
OF: Rusty Keel, Union
C: Ryan Bowers, Pine View
DH: Zac Davis, Emery
P: Aaron McArthur, Dixie
P: Travis Cloward, Carbon
P: Jared Bradshaw, Cedar City
Second team
1B: Bo Iverson, Pine View
2B: Jaymie Lott, Carbon
3B: Shane Mortenson, Pine View
SS: Jason Dunn, Carbon
OF: Neal Rogers, Dixie
OF: Jon Holman, Park City
OF: Dillion Thomas, Lehi
C: Danny Stucki, Emery
DH: Sean Sparks, Pine View
P: Aaron Graham, Park City
P: Matt Felix, Lehi
Honorable mention
John Reva, Carbon; Scott Cuff, Richfield; Brady Tom, Cedar City; Matt McDonald, Dixie.