The Point Loma High School (PLHS) baseball team celebrated its most successful season in 15 years at a recent team awards banquet. Seniors Patrick de la Garza and Garrett Bruhn took home top honors, winning the Most Valuable Player designation and the Coach Delgado Leadership Award, respectively. De la Garza, a second baseman, had a batting average of .359, while first baseman Bruhn developed into a team leader batting .345.  He had more walks than strikeouts at the plate. The team finished 19-12 overall in 2009 and 6-6 in what head baseball coach Jon Posternack called “the toughest league (Western) in the county,” noting that every league member went to the CIF playoffs. Additionally, PLHS won the City Tournament championship involving all teams in the San Diego Unified School District. Booster Club President Richard Vermazen emceed the event June 4 at Nick’s at the Pier restaurant in Ocean Beach. Posternack presented awards to a team ranked in the county top 10 much of the season, a team many observers felt developed a special bond. “This year’s squad featured a well-balanced, cohesive group of returning seniors with experience, coupled with young underclassmen who made significant contributions throughout the year,” Posternack said.  “The team’s mature approach to preparing in practice coupled with their desire to compete made for a very enjoyable and successful 2009 campaign,” he said. Among those underclassmen were two pitchers who proved dominant on the mound and give the team high hopes in future seasons. Sophomore Kellen Urbon fashioned an outstanding 9-1 win-loss record, walking only seven while striking out 46 in 68 innings of work.  His ERA of 2.62 led the team as he held opposing batters to a .262 average. Connor Baits, a 6-4 freshman, threw three complete games, including the only shutout by the Pointers staff.  Baits racked up 58 innings on the mound. Senior Zac Hile led the team with two saves and started three games. The Pointers as a team batted .335 as several players exceeded that mark. Sophomore catcher Campbell Wear, pressed into duty when junior Sean Stepina was hurt, finished at .394, while juniors Zach Skarbic (.365, most RBI) and senior Coleman Cox (.351, most hits) also put up big numbers. In a part-time role, senior Jake Martin led all hitters with a .481 mark, while Stepina (.317, most triples) seniors Ridge Deakman (.333, most doubles), Matt Arlington (.306) and Kevin Hilton (.280, team-leading three home runs) also had good seasons. Returning next season for the Pointers will be Baits, sophomores Sergio Guerra, Cody Harvey, Dylan Morris, Wear and Urbon, plus juniors Stepina and Skarbic. Other varsity awards included: Skarbic:  Offensive Player of the Year, Clutch Player of the Year. Morris:  Defensive Player of the Year. Garrett Bruhn, Hilton and Cox:  Team captains. Wear and Urbon:  Rookies of the Year. Harrison Hirsch:  Coaches Award and Teammate of the Year. Cox also has been named the salutatorian of the class of 2009 and will attend Menlo College on a scholarship. Arlington will be attending San Diego State University to play under head coach and former San Diego Padres standout Tony Gwynn. Other varsity coaches for PLHS were Earl Altshuler, Jake Awrey and John Quann. Also honored were the junior varsity and AAU-associated freshman teams.  The coaches report there is a good supply of young Pointers talent coming in future years to keep the varsity program a winning one. Junior varsity coaches were Ian Gomez, Abe Madrigal, Mike Delgado and Kyle Harvey. Freshman team coaches were Darrell Klueber and Corey Breskin.