Cuesta baseball and softball players earn conference honors

After a 21-18 season that led to the 19th postseason appearance in the past 20 years for the Cuesta College baseball team, nine players earned spots on all-Western State Conference teams Wednesday, including three on the first team.

Outfielder Josh Falco made the first team after leading the team in home runs (two), RBI (25), and triples (four) and was second in runs (23) and stolen bases (nine) as the Cougars’ top offensive player. Pitcher Brendan Jenkins made the first team as well after setting a school record with 37 consecutive scoreless innings, going over a month without giving up an earned run. He set a school record with three complete game shutouts and his 1.80 ERA on the season is third-best all time at Cuesta. First-team closer James Kannenberg had seven saves on the season, third-best in school history, and posted a 1.98 ERA in 20 appearances.

Pitcher Alex Fagalde, catcher TK McWhertor, and San Luis Obispo High grad Garrett Giovannelli earned second-team honors. Giovannelli led the team in stolen bases (10) and runs (27). Pitchers Jackson Gentes and Morro Bay High grad Dan Beavers as well as outfielder Dustin Miller were all-WSC honorable mentions.

Cuesta softball gets seven on All-WSC

Three Cougars made the first team, following Cuesta’s 14-18 regular season and playoff appearance.

Centerfielder and team MVP Savanna Johnson made her second consecutive all-WSC first team appearance after leading the Cougars in batting average (.393), stolen bases (10), and fielding percentage (.965). Infielder Mikala Strum made her second first team as well after leading the team in RBI (20) and hitting .354 while playing every infield position for the Cougars. Morro Bay High grad Marissa Tabares made the first team after earning 12 of the Cougars’ 14 wins in the circle and posting a team-best 4.14 ERA.

Atascadero High grad Chey Hufstetler made the second team and hit .395 on the season with a team-best .684 slugging percentage. Fellow Atascadero grad Erin Pennington was named honorable mention, as were outfielder Ami Hood and 2014 WSC player of the year Bre Ojala.

This story was originally published May 6, 2015 at 10:04 PM with the headline "Cuesta baseball and softball players earn conference honors."