Dos Palos’ Del Rio repeats as West Sierra League MVP

Efrain Del Rio said he doesn’t swing for the fence.

But when you’re 6-foot-7 and 295 pounds, the ball tends to jump off of your bat.

Dos Palos High School baseball coach Kevin Jones knows all about it. Del Rio said his coach invested in a few extra batting practice balls this season to compensate for Del Rio’s moon shots that are never seen again.

“Every practice I hit three or four out,” Del Rio said. “Coach is almost always out there after practice looking for balls in the field across the street.”

It’s a problem most coaches would like to have. Determined to top the numbers he put up the year before, Del Rio had a 2015 to remember. He hit .505 with 39 RBIs and a school season-record 11 home runs. The senior was sharp on the mound as well, going 7-4 with a 1.35 ERA and 105 strikeouts to just 11 walks in 83 innings.

It earned Del Rio the West Sierra League MVP for the second consecutive season.

“It was a good season,” Del Rio said. “I really achieved all of my goals for the team and myself. We wanted to win 20 games and we got 23. We wanted to win the league title, and we did that.

“My biggest goal was the home run record, and I was able to do that in our first playoff game. After just missing it last year, it meant a lot to get it.”

Del Rio snagged one of Dos Palos’ two major awards, as junior Ozzie Suarez was named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year. Firebaugh’s Jordan Martinez was named Offensive Player of the Year, Sal Alaniz (Firebaugh) and Sal Flores (Mendota) were co-Pitchers of the Year, and Brian Lopez (Firebaugh) and Dayton Wisley (Coalinga) were co-Underclassmen of the Year.

The WSL-champion Broncos were well-represented with six players on the first team.

Rolando Flores (.484, 29 runs, 22 RBIs), Jacob Baker (.350, 11 RBIs), Mario Hernandez (.301, 10 doubles, 19 RBIs) and Dominic DeFrancesco (6-2, 1.27 ERA) joined Del Rio and Suarez (.404, 22 runs, 21 RBIs) on the first team.

Carlos Lara and Nathan Flores of Dos Palos made the second team.

This story was originally published June 1, 2015 at 9:35 PM with the headline "Dos Palos’ Del Rio repeats as West Sierra League MVP."