Saenz, Cantu, Gonzalez Repeat

CORPUS CHRISTI - The Moody battery of pitcher Kenneth Saenz and catcher Michael Cantu headline the 2014 South Texas Pre-Season Large School All-Star Team.

The Trojans and Calallen each placed three student-athletes on the honor squad, selected by 14 area Class 4A and 5A head coaches. Moody third baseman Ricky Gonzalez also repeated. Calallen is represented by pitcher Dylan Duarte and outfielders Michael Leal and Derek Scheible.

Carroll and Ray have two players. Tigers second baseman Rene Pineda, who made the team at shortstop a year ago, is joined by outfielder Zach Alaniz. Matt Merino is the 2014 shortstop and classmate Henry Hausman the DH.

Tanner Geiser (Gregory-Portland) and Ryan Williams (Victoria East) round out the pitching staff and Flour Bluff's Rivers Ewing, the 2013 Matt Beveridge Award winner, is the first baseman.

Eleven of the 13 selections are seniors; Duarte and Alaniz are juniors.

They'll all be honored at the 10^th South Texas Winter Baseball Banquet January 29 at the Solomon P. Ortiz Center. The event is presented by the Corpus Christi Caller- Times and ClearChannel Media + Entertainment. Tickets are on sale at the Whataburger Field Box Office. To order by phone, call 361-561-HOOK (4665).

Saenz, Cantu, Gonzalez, Duarte, Leal and Scheible earned all-state accolades last season. Saenz was Caller-Times South Texas MVP, Duarte co-Newcomer of the Year.

Moody finished 2013 33-7-1 as the state's 10^th-ranked team after falling in the 4A state finals to Tomball. The Trojans qualified for their 12^th state tournament. No. 3 Calallen was eliminated by Alamo Heights in the regional semifinals. The Wildcats were 32-5.

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Other Receiving Votes

Triston Busse, Gregory-Portland, Jr.

Koby Bynum, Victoria West, Jr.

Dustin Canales, Calhoun, Sr.

Leo Cardona, Alice, Sr.

Jonathan Contreras, King, Sr.

Kyle Craft, Victoria East, Sr.

Eric Estrada, Ray, Sr.

Nathan Freitag, Tuloso-Midway, Jr.

Nick Galaviz, Tuloso-Midway, Jr.

Tim Gleinser, Victoria East, Sr.

Chris Gonzalez, Alice, Jr.

Garrett Harrison, Victoria West, Jr.

Mason Hellums, Tuloso-Midway, Jr.

Tristan Henderson, Calhoun, Jr.

Aaron Hernandez, Moody, Jr.

Andrew Holsey, Calhoun, So.

Shane Kallman, Victoria West, Jr.

Colton Kveton, Calhoun, Sr.

Dominique Lane, King, Sr.

Johnny Luby, Flour Bluff, Sr.

Isaiah Lybarger, Carroll, Sr.

Matt Martinez, Flour Bluff, Jr.

Matt Morin, King, Jr.

Jonathan Ortega, Victoria East, Jr.

Jacob Porterfield, Flour Bluff, Jr.

Jack Riggs, Victoria West, Sr.

RJ Rodriguez, Miller, Sr.

Caleb Rozypal, Tuloso-Midway, Jr.

Justin Quinones, Calallen, Sr.

Gilbert Trevino, Ray, Jr.