Kelseyville High senior three-peats; Knights, Clear Lake Cardinals dominate picks
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LAKE COUNTY >> Brock Barrick didn’t lose a game this season for the Kelseyville Knights, and it’s not the first time that’s happened during his four-year varsity career.
Barrick, 8-0 on the mound for the 19-5 Knights in 2025, also went 8-0 during his sophomore year in 2023. Those two undefeated seasons were sandwiched around a 9-1 campaign in 2024. Not surprisingly, Barrick was named the All-County co-MVP in 2023, the solo MVP in 2024. Now you can make that three in a row for the senior as he is the MVP on this year’s squad as selected by Lake County Sports.
With a 28-4 lifetime record for the Knights, Barrick started 10 games in 2025 as Kelseyville won a third straight undisputed North Central League I championship. In those 10 appearances, he threw five complete games and three shutouts, including a no-hitter. He compiled a 1.12 ERA while striking out 78 batters and walking only 21 in 56 1/3 innings. Barrick allowed just 38 hits and nine earned runs.
Headed to another baseball powerhouse, Santa Rosa Junior College, Barrick is Kelseyville’s all-time strikeout leader (293), passing previous leader Logan Barrick, his older brother and now an assistant coach for the Knights.
If Barrick was a standout while toeing the pitching rubber for the Knights this season, he made a big impact at the plate as well. Barrick batted a team-best .540 and was among Kelseyville leaders in most statistical categories, including hits (34, first), RBIs (26, tied for first), runs (32, tied for first), doubles (11, first) and home runs (3, first).
On defense he made only one error while pitching and playing in the Kelseyville infield. His .985 fielding percentage was second best on the team.
All-County
Joining Barrick on the All-League team are four of his senior teammates – Kyle Watkins, Tyler Bryant, Reme Strong and Max Hommer.
Watkins hit .433, including 29 hits, 32 runs, 18 RBIs and five doubles, while Bryant batted .403 with 27 hits, 27 runs and 25 RBIs.
Strong, the Knights’ talented center fielder, and Hommer, the team’s top-notch catcher, both made just one error on defense in 2025. Like their teammates Barrick, Watkins and Bryant, they also held their own at the plate and then some. Hommer hit .459, second only to Barrick, with 28 hits, 26 RBIs, 20 runs and six doubles. Strong batted .386 with 27 hits, 26 runs and 15 RBIs.
While NCL I three-time champion Kelseyville landed five players on the All-County team, so did NCL I runner-up Clear Lake, which posted a 19-6 overall record and advanced farther in the postseason than any other county team, finishing second in the North Coast Section Division 4 playoffs.
Better yet for the Cardinals, all five of those players are juniors and return next season.
For Clear Lake, both of the team’s top starting pitchers, AJ Bruch and Sawyer Smith, catcher Zane McAuley, shortstop Johnny Gonzales III and outfielder Jesse Hayes earned All-County honors.
On a team loaded with firepower, the Cardinals hit the ball up and down their lineup to support the standout pitching of both Bruch and Smith.
Gonzales and Hayes hit .526 and .515, respectively. Gonzales led the team in hits (40) and RBIs (20) while Hayes finished with 35 hits, a team-best 31 runs, 17 RBIs and a team-best seven doubles. McAuley and Bruch weren’t far behind with .456 and .452 averages, respectively. McAuley had 26 hits and 20 RBIs while Bruch, the No. 3 hitter in the Clear Lake lineup, finished with 28 hits, 20 runs and 15 RBIs.
Rounding out the All-County team are two more juniors – Hayden Xavier of Middletown and Tyler Collins of Upper Lake – and senior Zach Jones of Lower Lake.
Xavier batted .322 for the Mustangs with 19 hits, including six for extra bases and two home runs, 17 runs and 11 RBIs. Jones batted a team-best .367 for the Trojans. Upper Lake’s Collins was the team’s top pitcher and overall player.
Coach of the Year
Kelseyville’s Billy Shaul and Clear Lake’s Brian Horne are the All-County co-Coaches of the Year.
Shaul directed the Knights to another NCL I championship and a 19-win season. Horne also had a big year while taking the Cardinals to the Division 4 championship game. Clear Lake posted 19 wins and was the only team to beat Kelseyville in league play, snapping the Knights’ 42-game NCL I winning streak.
Sponsor/awards
Glowing Smiles Dental Hygiene of Lakeport sponsored this year’s All-County awards. MVP Barrick will receive a crystal plaque while the other All-County players as well as the All-County coaches receive medals.