Riverside City College outfielder Matt Bardowell and Tiger teammate, right-hander David Butler, highlighted a star-studded cast of baseball players for this year's All-Orange Empire Conference team, as selected by the conference's head coaches at their season-ending meeting on Monday.
Butler was the top dog on a talented Tigers' pitching staff, going 6-0 in seven conference starts with a 2.90 ERA, allowing 16 earned runs in 41 innings with 37 strikeouts and just seven walks.
Bardowell put up some prodigious numbers for the Tigers in 2022, especially in the OEC when it counted most. The 6-foot-4 slugger batted a conference-best .474 batting average, with a conference-best .547 on-base percentage and a conference-best .782 slugging percentage. Bardowell also led the conference with 11 doubles and was second in the OEC in hits (37) and RBI (28).
After guiding the Saddleback College Bobcats to the 2022 Orange Empire Conference crown – snapping Orange Coast College's four-year run as the OEC's top team – head coach Sommer McCartney was named this year's John Altobelli Coach of the Year. Saddleback finished the 2022 season 32-8 overall, 17-4 in OEC and will be the No. 1 seed in this year's Southern California Regional Playoffs, joining fellow OEC teams Riverside (No. 3 seed), Santa Ana (No. 4) and Cypress (No. 11).
2022 ALL-ORANGE EMPIRE CONFERENCE TEAM
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Matt Bardowell, Riverside (6'4, 235, Fr)
PITCHER OF THE YEAR: David Butler, Riverside (6'3, 180, Fr)
COACH OF THE YEAR: Sommer McCartney, Saddleback
FIRST TEAM
STARTING PITCHERS
Jason Blood Golden West 6'2 185 So
Connor Wilford Saddleback 6'3 210 So
Chase Hennessey Santa Ana 6'5 220 So
Ryan Farmer Saddleback 6'0 170 So
Jeremy Wiegman Irvine Valley 6'4 210 So
RELIEF PITCHER
Josh Meekins Saddleback 6'1 185 Fr
CATCHERS
Jordin Dissin Saddleback 6'2 180 So
FIRST BASEMAN
Luc Stuka Saddleback 6'3 210 So
INFIELDERS
Ignacio Alvarez Riverside 6'1 190 Fr
Lance Gardiner Saddleback 5'11 185 So
Jonah Sebring Golden West 6'0 175 Fr
Eddie Hacopian Cypress 6'1 190 FR
OUTFIELDERS
Cole Koniarsky Saddleback 6'4 205 Fr
Kyle Ashworth Santa Ana 6'0 180 Fr
Luke Honikel Cypress 6'0 180 Fr
Logan Jackson Orange Coast 6'1 195 Fr
Cary Arbolida Orange Coast 6'1 240 Fr
DESIGNATED HITTER
Brendon Harris Cypress 6'2 210 Fr
UTILITY
Cedrick Perez Santa Ana 6'0 180 Fr
SECOND TEAM
STARTING PITCHERS
Brett Wozniak Golden West 6'0 215 So
Nick Bautista Cypress 6'4 200 Fr
Joel Martinez Fullerton 6'3 200 Fr
Adam Armstrong Fullerton 6'0 190 Fr
RELIEF PITCHERS
Logan Groff Cypress 6'2 185 Fr
CATCHER
Noah Estrem Golden West 6'0 180 So
FIRST BASEMAN
Noah Karliner Cypress 6'4 225 Fr
INFIELDERS
Dominic Martinez Fullerton 5'11 195 Fr
Mike Davinni Saddleback 6'0 190 Fr
Zach Schwartzberg Saddleback 5'10 180 Fr
Jordan Ku Orange Coast 6'1 180 Fr
OUTFIELDERS
Jake Naso Saddleback 5'10 170 Fr
Garet Crenshaw Fullerton 6'4 210 Fr
Dean Toigo Cypress 6'1 190 Fr
Julian Alvarez Riverside 5'10 170 Fr
DESIGNATED HITTER
Adam Arroyo Golden West 5'10 185 Fr
UTILITY
Dylan Kordic Golden West 6'2 195 Fr