By Christopher Livingston
Managing Editor/Daily Independent
Two Cerro Coso baseball standouts have penned their next chapters.
Sophomores Tyson Banks and Cole Martin signed on to play college baseball – another edition of Coyotes ready to make their mark at the next level – as part of the Coyote Fall Sports Awards and Signing Day held Monday at the campus' main building.
The signings bring the tally to 19 Cerro Coso baseball players who have signed on to play collegiately over the last three years.
"This might be the best part of my job," Cerro Coso skipper Justus Scott said. "My most favorite part of this job is seeing these guys work hard for two years and move on to another school on a baseball scholarship."
Banks will be attending the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, a Division-I school that plays in the Sun Belt Conference. In the 2018 season, Banks batted .322, tallied 46 hits, four home runs, and 39 RBIs. In various roles on the mound, he threw 31 innings and struck out 32 batters. Banks, an Odessa, Texas, native, is slated to return to the Dawg Yard this spring.
"He's come a long way in just a year. He's been tremendously loyal to me and this baseball program in many ways. He's a great student; he's a student ambassador here on campus, so he's done everything we've asked of him and then some."
Martin, a Ridgecrest native and Burroughs High School baseball alum, will attend Colorado State University-Pueblo, a Division II school that plays in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. Also a dual threat for the Coyotes, he hit .279 with two home runs and 12 RBIs, and he struck out 38 batters in 49 1/3 innings on the mound.
"Cole's an extremely hard worker," Scott said. "He's a great teammate – tremendous teammate, maybe the best we've had. ... You don't hear him say much, but he's always working and you can hear him on the side, talking to a guy here and there."
The college also handed out its end-of-season fall awards: Makaylee Garcia-Moore was named to the all-Central Valley Conference team for the second year in a row. She was first in the conference in shots (60) and tied for fifth in goals (nine). Mya Morales, who was fourth in the conference in shots (37), Lesly Tejeda, who was seventh in the conference in shots (12), and Estefany Partida, who was eighth in the conference in shots (11), were also nominated to the all-CVC team.
On the volleyball court, Tinoi Martin was named to the all-CVC first team. The Ridgecrest native was first in the conference in overall kills (376), kills per set (4.42), points (400.5) and points per set (4.7); sixth in hitting percentage (.281), and seventh in digs (311). Honorable mentions for the Lady Coyotes include: setter Macey Balas, who was sixth in the conference in assists (332), second in aces (54); Dresden Stucky, who was fifth in the conference in aces (45) and seventh in the conference in blocks (49); Ellie Schmidlin, who was 10th in digs (287) and 18th in aces (32); Olivia Henden, third in the conference in blocks (73); and Dahlia Stucky, who was eighth in block assists (29).
"It was a great fall for Cerro Coso women's sports, both in soccer and volleyball," Cerro Coso athletic director John McHenry said at the ceremony. "Moving forward, we look forward to seeing where you all end up next."
