Wilson and Leader Selected to League All-Star Teams
The Intercounty Baseball League announced the 2022 League All-Star Teams, as voted by coaches and managers of all 8 teams, and two Panthers players were selected for the second consecutive season.
First Baseman, Liam Wilson (1st Team), had a monster season for the Panthers, posting his third season in a row with a batting average above .400. He had a career high .440 average with 7 home runs, 36 RBI and 13 doubles in 91 at bats, appearing in 26 games. Wilson’s slugging percentage was a sizzling .813 and his On Base Percentage rang in at a dominant .522 for an OPS of 1.335. Wilson narrowly missed the cutoff for plate appearances to be considered in several league leader categories but would have been the league leader in Batting Average, On Base Percentage, Slugging Percentage and OPS had he qualified. Striking out only 5 times on the season, Wilson had a league low At Bats per Strikeout ratio and also led the league with a 2.6 Base on Balls to Strikeouts ratio. Wilson was equally as impressive on the defensive side of the ball, sporting a perfect fielding percentage for the second season in a row and placing himself amongst the top fielders in the league.
Outfielder, Andy Leader (2nd Team), had a breakout season in 2022, batting .362 with 6 home runs, 35 RBI and 51 hits in 141 at bats and set a career high in basically all offensive categories. His slugging percentage came in at .525 and on base percentage at .416 for an OPS of .941. Leader ranked 7th in the league in batting average. His defensive season was equally as impressive as he made only 1 error while making several brilliant catches throughout the season in Center Field. Leader has really came into his own over the past few seasons, cementing himself as one of the top players in the IBL.
The complete League All-Star Teams can be viewed below.
2022 IBL First Team All-Stars
1B - Liam Wilson, Kitchener
2B - Jakob Newton, London
3B - Malik Collymore, Guelph (tie)
3B - Johnathan Solazzo, Toronto (tie)
SS - James Smibert, Welland
OF - Justin Gideon, Welland
OF - Gianfranco Morello, Welland
OF - Dalton Pompey, Guelph
C - Robert Mullen, London
RHP - Claudio Custodio, Guelph
LHP - Rich Corrente, Welland
DH - Cleveland Brownlee, London
2022 IBL Second Team All-Stars
1B - Jordan Castaldo, Toronto
2B - Owen Jansen, Barrie
3B - Taylor Wright, London
SS - Conner Morro, Guelph
OF - Ethan Hammond, Guelph
OF - Andy Leader, Kitchener
OF - Starling Joseph, London
C - Justin Marra, Toronto
RHP - Jose Arias, London
LHP - Zach Sloan, Toronto
DH - Matt Hilderbrandt, Welland
The League also named Pitcher Claudio Custodio of the Guelph Royals as League MVP, Catcher Sam Cawker of the Welland Jackfish as the Rookie of the Year and Brian Essery of the Welland Jackfish as the Manager of the Year.