The Intimidator: Baseball Player of the Year Floro was virtually unhittable in 4 years

Trevor Cesar hated stepping into the batter's box against Buhach Colony right-hander Dylan Floro. So much so that he'd rather face former Buhach Colony left-hander Brett Mooneyham.

"I'd rather face Brett than Dylan any day," the former Golden Valley star said last year. "My stats against Dylan prove it."

The statement alone says a lot.

Mooneyham went on to Stanford this year and was named a freshmen All-American.

Not many hitters have had much success against Floro during his four-year varsity career.

The Buhach Colony ace compiled a 33-5 record to go along with a microscopic ERA.

Floro went 7-1 this season to help lead Buhach Colony to its third straight Central California Conference championship.

The CCC MVP is our choice as the Sun-Star Baseball Player of the Year.

"It was a fun year. It was our seventh straight title and fourth in a row for me," said Floro, who also won a league championship during BC's days in the Valley Oak League.

"I hope next year they'll be able to keep it going."

How tough is it to stand at the plate and see Floro out on the mound?

"I'm not going to lie, it's intimidating," Golden Valley catcher Peter Sandino said.

"You know he's got that good curveball. He's not your usual high school pitcher. He can hit his spots with any pitch in any count.

"His mechanics are nearly perfect. You never see him hang a curveball. He always has the same arm speed on every pitch."

Merced shortstop Tynan Pedretti has faced him the last three years.

Pedretti even managed to get a couple hits off of him his junior year.

"He's one of the best pitchers I've ever faced," Pedretti said. "You know he's going to challenge you with his fastball, but he's got great command of his offspeed pitches, too.

"You have your work cut out for you when you step in the batter's box."

Most hitters are lucky to even get the bat on the ball against Floro.

He's averaged almost two strikeouts per inning during his four years at Buhach Colony.

This year, he struck out 109 in just over 61 innings pitched.

"It just comes from being confident in all your pitches," Floro said. "I know what I want to throw and where I want to throw it."

Floro has already accepted a scholarship to Cal State Fullerton.

He was also drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 20th round during the Major League Baseball draft a couple weeks ago.

He has until Aug. 17 to decide what he wants to do.

Either way, there will likely be more frustrated hitters in Floro's future.

Shawn Jansen is a Sun-Star sports reporter. He can be reached at 385-2462 or via e-mail at sjansen@mercedsun-star.com.

This story was originally published June 23, 2009 at 12:07 AM with the headline "The Intimidator: Baseball Player of the Year Floro was virtually unhittable in 4 years."