6/11/2010 12:38:00 AM O'Connor 'Rock-ed the record book
The Times photo by Richie Hall - Westfield baseball player Brandon O’Connor, pictured with Shamrocks coach Ryan Bunnell, is this year’s The Times Baseball Player of the Year. O’Connor set new records for Westfield in batting average (.554) and runs batted in (43).
The Times 2010 All-County Baseball Team
Player School Class
Brandon O'Connor Westfield Senior
Conrad Gregor Carmel Senior
Rob Stein Hamilton Southeastern Senior
Jake Straub Hamilton Southeastern Senior
Jake Yeary Noblesville Senior
Ryan Byrne Noblesville Junior
Derek Asuras Noblesville Junior
Adam Neidlinger Guerin Catholic Sophomore
Tony Zunica Guerin Catholic Junior
Andy Gehr Westfield Junior
Adam Durr Sheridan Senior
Eric Price Sheridan Sophomore
Ant Roach Fishers Junior
Colin Brooke Fishers Senior
Matt Hammel Westfield Senior
Dewey Rodgers Noblesville Junior
Zach Starr Hamilton Southeastern Senior
Tyler Sauerteig Hamilton Heights Junior
Andrew Knapp Hamilton Heights Junior
Matt Pletzke Guerin Catholic Junior
Michael Conner Carmel Junior
Honorable Mention
Carmel: Ben Backes, Cameron Cruz, Robby Shea, Brian Bolin.
Fishers: Chris Patrick, Drew Clark.
Guerin Catholic, Colin Shanteau.
Hamilton Heights: Logan Cunningham, Austin Sowers, Tanner Stis, Tyler Anderson.
Hamilton Southeastern: Christian Leffler, JT Timmer, Grant Kistler.
Noblesville: Kyle Guariello, Seth Rayle.
Sheridan: Curtis Moore, Adam Hoover.
Westfield: Wade Burtron, Brad Speek, Jack Houtman.
Even in a county full of big baseball hitters, Westfield's Brandon O'Connor stands out.
The senior right fielder set new records for the Shamrocks in both batting average (.554) and runs batted in (43) and led Westfield to an outright Hoosier Crossroads Conference championship this season. For that reason, O'Connor is this year's The Times 2010 Baseball Player of the Year.
This is the second year in a row that the 'Rocks have a Player of the Year. Pitcher Kyle Kramp shared the honor with Noblesville's Jake Wood in 2009.
"We have been fortunate," said WHS coach Ryan Bunnell. "We've just been pretty blessed with some good players. Kyle meant the world to us, what Brandon was able to do for us this year, setting so many school records and just having an incredible season."
O'Connor was a Westfield varsity player all four years, playing right field three of those years. He switched to left field in his junior season before returning to right in 2010. His road to success actually began back in seventh grade, when he began to realize that he was able to stay with pitchers that were older and threw fast.
"I was playing a year up and I could catch up to the 85 mph (pitches) back when I was 13," said O'Connor. "I realized that if I keep working at it, I'll be good by my senior year. When I played freshman year, that really opened my eyes. I hit .350 when I was only 15 years old, playing against 18-year-old pitchers."
O'Connor hit .410 his junior year, which was a big help for Westfield in it's memorable run to the Class 4A state championship game.
As for playing the outfield, O'Connor is humble about his abilities in that position. But Bunnell said that O'Connor is a sound outfielder who knows that the best way to make a catch isn't necessarily the fast way.
"He's not blessed with great speed, and Brandon would tell you that as well," said Bunnell. "But he takes very good angles to the ball and that's kind of the science of outfield is taking good routes to the baseball. We've had people that were very quick that took bad routes. Brandon takes good routes and makes himself a good defensive outfielder."
"We got a great outfield coach," said O'Connor. "I'm not a super speedy guy. I'm 6-1, 200 pounds, but I always got good reads off the ball, so that made up for it. If you play outfield and you can't hit, you don't play. It's not like infield, where you can be a great shortstop and not hit."
O'Connor usually hit in the fourth spot, which meant it was his job to get those who reached on base before him - Jack Houtman, Nick Crouse and Matt Hammel - in to score. He did that well, as he batted in those record 43 runs.
"We knew Brandon would produce," said Bunnell. "It's also a credit to Jack Houtman, Nick Crouse, who set a new record for runs scored. As much as that's him getting on base, Brandon a lot of times was knocking him in. Matt Hammel had 33 or 34 runs scored. Jack was in the high 20's. Those guys did a great job of getting on base so that Brandon had the opportunities that he had.
O'Connor will attend Ball State University this fall, where he will play baseball and also start work towards a teaching degree.
"I'm definitely going to do my general studies freshman year," said O'Connor. "I'm going to have to figure out what I want to teach, because I'm not too sure yet."
In addition to teaching, O'Connor said he would like to coach, and has already been talking to his coaches about that topic.
