Mason, San Saba standouts named co-MVPs of All-West Texas Baseball Team
Mason High School pitcher/designated hitter Blake Lewis and San Saba pitcher/shortstop Weston Oliver helped lead their teams to the Class 2A regional quarterfinals in 2022 and they put up some impressive statistics along the way.
The senior standouts were selected as Co-Offensive MVPs in District 29-2A, and now they share another honor -- Co-MVPs of the All-West Texas Baseball Team.
More: Meet the 2022 All-West Texas Baseball Team
They helped their teams make the deepest playoff runs in the Standard-Times' circulation area.
Mason finished second behind Johnson City in district. The Punchers finished 20-6 after losing to Kenedy in three games in the regionals quarters.
"They started playing really good baseball when we needed it the most, basically the second round of district and on into the playoffs," Mason head coach Jay Immel said.
"That's why we did so well. The pitching really did well and we played great defense behind the pitchers and got some clutch hitting when we needed it. So that was the biggest turnaround there in the second half of district and on into the playoffs."
San Saba was the third-place finisher in the district. A year after going 4-24, the Armadillos went 12-12. They were eliminated by Sabinal in three games in the regional quarters.
Oliver helped lead the Dillos to their first playoff wins since 2009. Offensively, he had a .578 average with 37 hits (including 11 doubles, three triples and eight homers). He finished with 30 RBIs, 29 runs and 15 steals.
Defensively, he was a .944 fielder with 44 putouts, seven assists and three errors.
Pitching-wise, Oliver was 6-2 with 103 Ks in 56.1 innings.
"It's probably been one of our best in recent memory, and I think going back to the 2009 season was the last time that San Saba had won a playoff game," San Saba head coach Scott Hayes said.
"Of course, it ended a little earlier than we expected, but I think it was a good run and a good group of kids. And definitely Weston was a difference maker on the team, that's for sure."
Lewis was outstanding on the mound for Mason, going 9-1 with an ERA of 2.26 with 77 strikeouts in 55 innings.
The Punchers' senior standout was a .404 hitter with an on-base percentage of .485 who had 34 hits (including five doubles, four triples and one homer). He scored 22 runs, drew 13 walks and stole 12 bases.
Mason made it to the regional semifinals last season and the Punchers came up a round shorter in 2022.
It wasn't a one-man show by any means, but Lewis was clearly Mason's standout.
"He was our cleanup batter and he was very productive in that spot," Mason head coach Jay Immel said. "He had some clutch hits when we needed them and a big hit in the Freer (area playoff) game that sparked the rally that ended up beating them in the bottom of the seventh.
"Pitching-wise, he was lights out this year. He was 9-1 on the season, and basically if he got on the mound, we knew that he would be able to go the full game, so that was one less thing to worry about. He did a real good job of throwing strikes and (using his) control and things like that. He was pretty dominant on the mound."
Hayes says Oliver, a Round Rock transfer, was beloved by his teammates and he made them all better.
"It was kind of nice," the Dillos coach said of Oliver. "There were several days after practice and everybody's kind of finishing up and heading out and he's hanging around helping in the cage and three or four guys are hanging around there with him.
"The last few years, it's kind of like practice is over and everybody's gone. So that was kind of good to see, a player getting extra work in. He was a pleasure to coach, a great young man. Seeing his leadership with the young guys as well, I think it kind of helped everybody get a little more confidence at the plate and in the field."
Oliver reflected on the Dillos' 2022 campaign.
"We won a lot more games than we have in the past years and years," Oliver said. "It ended a little bit earlier than we wanted it to. We thought we could have gone a lot farther, but it was a good season for us all and a good learning experience for everybody, too."
His senior season couldn't have gone much better.
"I felt pretty good," Oliver said. "I started off the season hitting pretty good and then it just carried on. I had to keep myself from trying to do too much and keep doing what I'm doing. It ended up working pretty well for me."
Volunteer coach David Smart, a former Austin Westlake coach, helped him with his hitting this year.
"My swing has felt better than it ever has this past year, and I think (Smart) was a big part of that," Oliver said.
Pitching-wise, Oliver's confidence in his slider grew as the season progressed.
"My fastball's not that great, but my slider helped me out quite a bit, so I could throw it for strikes and get what I needed out of it," Oliver said.
As for Lewis, he had the most confidence when he was on the mound.
"My fastball won't save me too much, only if I put it in the right spot," Lewis said. "I would say the thing that helped me out the most was just hitting my spots and putting it where it's hard to hit.
"My curveball was a decent help coming off the fastball, and I had a changeup but I didn't throw that very much."
Lewis talked about what made him better as a hitter.
"Just sticking with it because there were times when I'd want to give up," Lewis said. "I just kept working and kept practicing. I think if you stick with it and you keep going, you can do anything you want."
Mason won both of its showdowns against San Saba, including a 14-5 victory in the second matchup when Lewis and Oliver pitched against each other.
"I believe we were down and I was pitching and I gave up like a two-run home run to him and we were down," Lewis said. "And then later on, he was on the mound.
"I think we'd already caught up or we might have gotten a little ahead, and then I hit a two-run homer off of him, too. I would say that was one of the more exciting games of the season for me."
Lewis will continue his playing career at the next level.
He's planning to go to Twin City Post Grad, a one-year baseball academy in Texarkana. After that, he'll still have four years of eligibility to play for the college of his choice.
As for Oliver, he's scheduled to have knee surgery in August and that will be his third operation.
After all that he's been through physically, he's not going to play college ball.
"I'm hanging it all up and ending it on the good season I had," Oliver said.
2022 All-West Texas Baseball Team
Co-MVPs: Weston Oliver, P/SS, Sr., San Saba; Blake Lewis, P/DH, Sr., Mason
Pitcher of the Year: Apiatan Salinas, Sr., Christoval
Hitter of the Year: Riley Workman, OF, Sr., Christoval
Newcomer of the Year: Luke Kemp, P/OF, Fr., Wall
Coach of the Year: Casey Otho, Christoval
The Team
Hunter Weidner, San Angelo Central, P/OF
Juandiego Lagunes, San Angelo Central, P
Wyatt Henry, San Angelo Lake View, P/OF
Gary Cruz, San Angelo Lake View, P/DH
Hayden Baronet, Brady, P
Nakia Villarreal, Ballinger, 1B/P
Lane Busenlehner, Ballinger, 1B/P
Wyatt Row, Mason, P/1B
Ryne Todd, Mason, P/CF
Seth Soto, Reagan County, 1B
Kaden Gonzalez, Eldorado, P/SS
Michael Adame, Eldorado, 1B
Ryland Gentry, Coleman, P/IF
Jorge Salas, Coleman, P/IF
Alex Renteria, C, Sr., Sonora
Sean Mungia, Sonora, OF/C/IF
Jacob Martinez, Sonora, 1B/P
Seth Michalewicz, Miles, P
Will Scherr, Wall, C
Matthew Steen, Wall, DH/U/P
Kelton Bowman, Wall, 2B/P
Gunnar Dillard, Wall, 3B
Dylan Gidney, Wall, 1B/P
Drake Bryant, San Saba, CF
Reagan Mejia, San Saba, P/SS
Wesley Lackey, San Saba, 3B
Bryson Lake, Harper, SS/P
Jackson Davis, Harper, 1B
Brandon Valdez, Forsan, P/SS
Josh Cervantes, Forsan, 3B
J.P. Killough, Winters, P/IF
Kolton Whitaker, Menard, LF
Lane Smith, Ozona, SS/P
Carlos Cantu, Ozona, U
Charles Bryce is a journalist covering sports in West Texas. Send him a news tip at cbryce@gannett.com. Consider supporting West Texas journalism with a subscription to GoSanAngelo.com.
This article originally appeared on San Angelo Standard-Times: Mason's Lewis, San Saba's Oliver named All-West Texas Baseball co-MVPs
