MESSER WINS SECOND ADWELL AWARD AS NATION'S TOP HIGH SCHOOL PLAYER
For the second time in three years first baseman Walt Messer has been named the top high school player in the nation. Messer, who won the Adwell Award two years ago as a sophomore but finished second to pitcher Rufus Barrell II a year ago, was named the winner after a 1936 season that saw him hit .586 with a high school best 13 homers and 49 rbi's for Washington DC's McKinley Tech. Messer finishes his high school career with a .601 batting average, the highest career total ever recorded going back to 1910 and the beginnings of the old feeder league system. This season marks the third straight year that Messer was named to The Figment Sporting Journal's High School All-American team. He is projected to be selected second overall behind only college outfielder Sal Pestilli in the first OSA Mock Draft leading up to the December 5th selection date for FABL.
Messer's stiffest competition for his second Adwell Award was a sophomore pitcher by the name of Donnie Jones. Jones, from Minneapolis High School in Minnesota was a perfect 12-0 with a 0.43 era and a 0.37 FIP this season. His 215 strikeouts broke Rufus Barrell's 1 year old record of 199 and his 0.43 era was second best all-time (including feeders) trailing only Rufus Barrell's 0.38 a year ago. Jones is one of only 3 High School pitchers to win 12 games in a season. Ivan Rusman of Avon (NY) HS also did it this season, going 12-1. Jones K/9 of 15.4 was third highest this season and he was second in K/BB ratio. Jones was also named to the high School All-American team but perhaps surprisingly his older brother Johnnie did not get the nod. Johnnie was a senior at St. Paul High School this season, posting a 9-2 record with a 1.54 era. OSA has him as the top pitcher available in the December draft and placed him 15th on their initial mock draft.
The Adwell Award is named after former FABL pitcher Red Adwell, who was the winningest high school pitcher in history until being surpassed last season by Rufus Barrell's career 35-6 record. Here are the winners of the Adwell Award.
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ADWELL AWARD WINNERS
1934 Walt Messer 1B SO McKinley Tech (Washington DC)
1935 Rufus Barrell II P SR Macon (GA) High School
1936 Walt Messer 1B SR McKinley Tech (Washington DC)
The FSJ's High School All-American lists have also been around for 3 years and Messer is the only player named to the team each of the three seasons, although Wally Doyle and Si Crocker both made honourable mention this season after being named to the team each of the previous two years. Here are the 1936 Figment Sporting Journal's High School All-Americans.
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1936 HIGH SCOOL ALL-AMERICAN SELECTIONS
1936 NAME/CLASS SCHOOL
C Pete Casstevens – JR (2)Syracuse (NY) HS
C Cal Morgan – FR Alexandria (IN) HS
1b-3b Walt Messer - SR (3) McKinley Tech (Washington DC)
1b-3b Wally Fuller – FR Collegiate HS (New York City)
1b-3b Tom McCarty – SR Avon (NY) HS
2b-SS Herb Carey – SO (2) West Point (VA)
2b-SS Ted Brown – SR (2) Henry Snyder (Jersey City NJ)
2b-SS Roosevelt Brewer – JR Washington HS (Chicago, IL)
OF Luke Berry – SR Cressona (PA) HS
OF Bob Coon – SR Montgomery City (MO) HS
OF Mike Towsley – SO Honey Brook (PA) HS
OF Roy Harris – JR Fairfax HS (Los Angeles, CA)
OF Ellison Sterner – SR Kiser HS (Dayton, OH)
P Donnie Jones – SO Minneapolis (MN) HS
P Al Duster – JR Council Bluffs (IA) HS
P Cliff Atkinson – JR Beaver (PA) HS
P Ed Funkhouser – JR St Albans HS Washington DC
P Pete Papenfus – SR (2) West Plains (MO) HS
HONOURABLE MENTION
P Wally Doyle (SR) Waco (TX) HS
P David Molina (JR) Florissant (MO) HS
P Ivan Rusman (SR) Avon (NY) HS
C Rick York (SO) Terre Haute (IN) HS
INF Pascal Lafreniere (SO) Rabouin HS (New Orleans LA)
INF Billy Woytek (SR) Loyola (Los Angeles CA)
INF Heinie Roth (SR) Bowling Green (OH) HS
OF Si Crocker (SR) East (Buffalo, NY)
OF Happy Ellison -(SO) Sycamore (Cincinnati, OH)
Donnie Jones is not the only player with a tie to either a current draft prospect or past FABL star on the list. Junior catcher Pete Casstevens from Syracuse High School is the son of former Montreal and Pittsburgh outfielder Clint Casstevens. Another catcher, Rick York, who received honourable mention status, is the son of former Detroit Dynamo legend Dick York. The younger York, is a sophomore at Terre Haute (IN) High School where he is a teammate of his brother, shortstop Joe York. Joe, draft eligible in 1937, is considered a marginal pro prospect at this stage but Rick, who will not be eligible until the 1938 draft, is considered to be a potential FABL starter down the road.
PESTILLI NAMED CHRISTIAN TROPHY WINNER
For the second time in three years Narragansett outfielder Sal Pestilli has been named winner of the Frank Christian Trophy, presented annually to the top college baseball player. Pestilli led the AIAA in batting average (.378) by a sizeable margin and homeruns with 13 in 48 games. He had 54 rbi's which is tied for 6th among all college players in any of the three draft classes. He also led the AIAA in OBP, SLG%,OPS, wOBA and his 3.7 WAR was far and away the highest among any hitter. Second place was a tie at 2.2 war. Pestilli leaves quite a legacy in the college game: a triple crown and a Christian award as a freshman in 1934, led the AIAA in homers 2 of his three seasons, led in batting average twice and was second the year he did not win the batting crown. His lifetime .380 college batting average is the greatest of all-time including feeders. He is 7th all-time in college career hits and 5th in rbi's trailing only Bill Moore, Vic Crawford, Pablo Reyes and Dave Henry. Not sure how fair it is to compare feeders with game generated classes but that is some great company for Pestilli.
Pestilli won the award over fellow finalists Bunny Edwards and Carl Roe. Edwards, a junior righthander from Red River State, went 7-1 with a AIAA best 2.10 era in 15 appearances (12 starts). He pitched just 81 innings but his 10.5 K/9 was second best in the AIAA this season. His 1.87 FIP is the lowest recorded in the three years of draft classes for college players and the second year in a row he led the league in that category. What makes Edwards' season so special is how far his 1.87 FIP was ahead of #2 on the list- Eastern State's Jim Douglass who was at 2.48. Roe is also a junior pitcher, who went 12-3 with a 2.90 ERA and 105 strikeouts for Valley State. His 12 victories this season ties an AIAA record originally set by Bob Cummings in the feeder era and equaled by Phil Gregg in 1936. Those are the only college pitchers in history to win 12 games in a season. His 27 career wins is 9th most all-time- Tom Barrell is #1 with 34 and Pug Bryan second with 32.
The win makes Pestilli just the second player to win the Christian Trophy twice as he joins former Lubbock State first baseman Bill Moore, who won back to back Christian's in 1931 and 1932. Moore just recently made his FABL debut with the Detroit Dynamos and is hitting .347 with 3 homers and 22 rbi's in 37 FABL games. There is a chance that Pestilli and Moore may one day be teammates as the Narragansett outfielder tops the initial mock draft and the Dynamos are expected to own the first selection.
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FRANK CHRISTIAN AWARD WINNERS
YEAR NAME POS CLASS TEAM
1927 Sam Orr 2B FR Henry Hudson
1928 Tommy Wilcox P JR Liberty College
1929 Vic Crawford OF JR Commonwealth Catholic
1930 Freddie Jones 2B SO Central Ohio
1931 Bill Moore 1B SO Lubbock State
1932 Bill Moore 1B JR Lubbock State
1933 Joe Hancock P JR Henry Hudson
1934 Sal Pestilli OF FR Narrangansett
1935 Al Jones P JR Central Ohio
1936 Sal Pestilli OF JR Narrangansett