A magical season for Magdalena baseball

As befitting a team that won a state championship, Magdalena dominated the Class 1A All-State baseball team, headlined by player of the year Josiah Candelaria, and his dad, Kyl Candelaria, who was coach of the year.

“I kind of expected myself to have a good season because I didn’t play last season,” Josiah Candelaria said of a meniscus tear suffered while playing basketball as a freshman. “I worked really hard to come back.”

And comeback he did, hitting .530 with 38 RBI and 34 runs. Among his 44 hits were 13 doubles, three triples and three home runs. For good measure he added 14 steals.

But as strong as he was at the plate, it was on the mound where he really shined. He was 8-1, with seven complete games. Josiah Candelaria had a microscopic earned-run average of 1.28 and he had 69 strikeouts in 49 1/3 innings with just 11 walks.

So, in addition to being player of the year, he also was a first team pitcher and first team infielder.

“All the hard work pays off,” he said. “I’ve put so much time into baseball. And it all worked out in the end.”

Josiah Candelaria, a rising junior, had plenty of company from his fellow Steers, with first baseman Joseph Zamora and middle infielder Ayden Herschbach, who both graduated, also landing on the first team.

And they were both easy choices.

Zamora led the team in hitting at .536 with 35 RBI and 37 runs. He had 12 doubles, two triples and five homes, including a grand slam.

And Herschbach hit .507 with 23 RBI and 34 runs. He had nine doubles, three triples and two homers, and also a team best 20 steals in 21 attempts.

Joining Josiah Candelaria on the hill, senior-to-be Shane Montoya was nearly as unhittable with an 8-0 record – he was the winning pitcher in the state championship game – with a 1.91 ERA. He struck out 60 in 47 2/3 innings while walking 19.

Adding to the accolades, graduate Javen Tafoya was a second team outfielder, hitting .392 with 22 RBI and 26 runs, while successfully stealing all 10 of his attempts.

“We’ve all played together since we were little and we all knew we could do this,” Josiah Candelaria said.

For coach Candelaria, the announcement capped a magical season.

“It’s a pretty exciting honor,” he said. “I never thought it was something I would get and I never thought about it. But, it’s cool to be recognized for all the hard work I’ve put in over the years.”

Of course, an award like this, coach Candelaria said, is more of a team honor.

“It’s taken lots of hard work and so much dedication from the parents and kids. Discipline, trust. Anything you can imagine, we’ve pretty much gone through. As a coach, I started out with them when they were tee-ballers with a goal of building this team to one day win a championships. So it started when they were four and five years old and they worked all the way to this year. We paid our dues, had some rough seasons and had some good seasons and this season we reached all the goals that we set out 10 to 12 years ago.”

The reward, he said, was watching the players dogpile on the field after clinching the championship.

“The biggest joy to me is watching these boys mature into young, successful adults,’ the coach said. “That’s been the biggest blessing and joy out of this. It’s nice to see a bunch of young kids set a goal and have to work year after year toward that goal and as a group to achieve it. It’s the perfect way to go. A fairytale to go out.”