2007 Baseball All-Star Team

Even for a program rife with expectations of excellence, Fowler kept aiming higher.

Posted at 05:19 AM on Sunday, Jun. 24, 2007

The plan -- better, the expectation -- for Fowler High's baseball team this season was to improve from a year ago.

That meant beating a school-record 27-4 mark, Central Section championship and a No. 3 state ranking in Division V.

"We were going to be better, that's what we were saying," junior pitcher/outfielder Josh Poytress recalls. "We had a lot of talent back. We were stoked."

In a game where the objectives are to squarely hit a ball with a round bat, field spinning balls off unpredictable surfaces and perform consistently over four months in Central Valley weather ranging from bitter cold to searing heat, the Redcats didn't flinch.

And, indeed, they were better.

They won their last 23 games, finished 33-2, successfully defended their section title and were anointed No. 1 in the state's Division V by Cal-Hi Sports.

"Miracle season," says Fowler coach Bill Feaver, whose team tied Clovis' 1998 team for most single-season wins in section history.

Had the Redcats slipped just once in those final 23 games, a final No. 1 state ranking was unlikely, Cal-Hi executive editor Mark Tennis says.

But they kept their footing in a command performance that landed the tiny southeast Fresno County school a sweep of The Fresno Bee All-Star top awards -- Feaver as Coach of the Year and Poytress as Player of the Year.

Feaver admittedly had a stacked deck -- a D-V team loaded with D-I talent -- but he shuffled it virtually without error in producing overpowering offense, dominant pitching and steady defense while capturing a third section title in nine years years. And the latest was achieved with a third conquest this season of Liberty-Madera Ranchos, which finished 25-7 and third-ranked in the state's D-V.

The Redcats went 3-0 against Washington, a D-III semifinalist that closed 26-6; 1-0 against D-IV champion Dos Palos (22-7); and 6-1 against D-II schools.

Their losses were 6-1 against D-I 21-game winner Buhach Colony-Atwater of the Sac-Joaquin Section and 7-3 against D-II 18-game winner Fresno. And they avenged that with a 3-1 win over the Warriors.

Poytress -- no secret from Chowchilla to Bakersfield because of his involvement in high-caliber offseason competition with players from all divisions -- unleashed a 90 mph left-handed fastball, lethal bat, quick feet and golden glove in center field.

His final numbers: As a pitcher, 9-1 with a 1.57 ERA and 93 strikeouts in 67 innings; and as a hitter, .411 average with 36 runs and 16 stolen bases.

He beat Liberty-Madera Ranchos all three times in the state's top D-V matchups. And in the 3-1 section title game, the left-hander pitched a three-hitter and went 2 for 3 with two runs.

"We didn't want to be 32-3," Feaver says. "We had to be 33-2 because all of the rest of it would have been for naught if we didn't pull off that win."

Poytress adds: "People would have said, '[32-3] is a good record, but you didn't win Valley.'"

It was with that mentality the Redcats marched into the year after closing the 2006 season with a 2-0 decision over Coast Union in a game they started only one senior.

Plus, sophomore pitcher/first baseman Clay Cederquist -- a 2007 Bee All-Star -- would be back after missing virtually all his freshman season with an illness and broken wrist.

"The priority was to go out and get better, challenge ourselves and win every game," Poytress says.

But the bubble popped early in a humbling way when Fowler and Poytress were beaten in their second game in the McLane Tournament.

"An eye-opening deal," Feaver says. "They realized that day our performance was unacceptable. Looking back, that was the turning point of the year. We came back the next day and -- player led -- had the best practice I think since I've been here. And we've had a lot of good ones."

The Redcats rebounded to win the McLane Tournament, sweep Washington in a doubleheader, lose at Buhach Colony, and the stage was set for perfection.

"We said, 'You know what, we're going to run the table from here,' " Feaver says.

"We weren't going to lose any more," Poytress adds. "That was our last loss of the season."

And where to go from here?

Four senior starters are gone, but a foundation returns in Poytress, Cederquist, Kenny Corona, who led the team in hitting (.471) as a freshman, and Brandon Martinez, who hit .339 and went 5-1 with a 1.67 ERA as a sophomore.

"This year will be hard to beat," Poytress says.

So his coach begins to dream. Again.

"How do you top 27-4?" Feaver says "You go 33-2. How do you top 33-2? I guess we can only lose one time."