Two-time MVP Ozawa-Burns heads up WVC All-Coast honorees

Two-time MVP Ozawa-Burns heads up WVC All-Coast honorees
Posted: May 12, 2022

Curran Ozawa-Burns has beeen named the Coast-North Conference Most Valuable Player for the second consecutive year, West Valley baseball coach Rick Wiens recently announced. Six other Vikings - Cae Cox, Michael Dixson, Jacob Dressler, Cole Murchison, Ryan Sleeman and Henry Wright - earned All-Coast recognition.

Ozawa-Burns picked up his second MVP after an incendiary 2022 season in which he led all NorCal hitters with 14 home runs and topped the Vikings with 47 RBI, a .644 SLG% and 48 runs scored. He was second in stolen bases (9), laced 10 doubles, batted .306 and posted a .965 fielding %. In his WVC career, he slashed (AVG/OBP/SLG) .350/.455/.685, blasted 25 homers, drove in 87 runs, hit four triples, 21 doubles, stole 16 bases, scored 92 runs and had a .970 fielding %. He joins Billy Mullins (2015) and Ryan Tregoning (2008) as WVC Coast MVP winners.  

A pair of Viking pitchers, reliever Michael Dixson and starter Ryan Sleeman, were named to the All-Coast 1st Team, Sleeman for the second consecutive year. Dixson was Wiens' go-to long reliever, appearing in 21 games, picking up three wins with 56 strikeouts (8.95 K/9) and a team-leading 3.20 ERA. Sleeman posted a 6-3 mark in 14 starts, pitched 76.1 innings, with a team-high 81 K's (9.55 K/9) and a 4.36 ERA. Cae Cox received an All-Coast 2nd Team nod after leading WVC with seven wins. Cox had 14 starts, recorded a 4.30 ERA with 43 K's (5.78 K/9) in 67 innings pitched.

Infielder Jacob Dressler was one of the state's top infielders. The Viking second baseman had an astounding single error in 203 total chances, a .995 fielding %. He pounded out a team-leading 64 hits in 175 at-bats for a .366 AVG. Dressler was second on the team in doubles (12) and runs (42), and drove in 28 runs, along with two homers, a triple and three stolen bases.

Murchison is the second straight WVC designated hitter (Ozawa-Burns - 2021) selected to the All-Coast 1st Team. His .385 AVG and .471 OBP paced the Vikings, while he was second in RBI (31), doubles (12), and scored 26 runs and stole three bases.  

Outfielder Henry Wright earned All-Coast 1st Team honors for the second straight season. He followed up 2021 with a .267/.343/.461 slash line, five home runs, 26 RBI, and a team-high 13 doubles and two triples. Wright scored 29 runs, stole four bases and posted a .976 fielding %.

The Vikings finished 2022 in second place in the rugged Coast-North with a 14-6 mark, 25-18 overall. They earned the #15 NorCal seed and defeated #18 Monterey Peninsula before falling at #2 Folsom Lake in the NorCal Regionals.