MaxPreps Oregon Team of the Week: Beaverton baseball

It all starts with the Metro League for the Beaverton High baseball team. If the Beavers conquer it, then anything is possible.

With the pitching they've shown during a 9-4 start, the Beavers should indeed be in the hunt for their first state title since 1998.

The Beavers have given up just six runs in the last six games, five of which were wins, earning them the MaxPreps Oregon Team of the Week honors, presented by the Oregon National Guard.

"We have the pieces to compete and contend for the Metro League title first," Beaverton coach Derek Nekoba said. "From there, the way the playoff format is in Oregon, anyone can win. Our goal every year is to be playing our best baseball at the end of the year to give ourselves a chance to contend for a title."

With a 2.11 team ERA through eight games, the Beavers have allowed only 31 runs this season led by the all-around talents of Sam Noyer. The 6-foot-4 junior is also a football and basketball standout and thus far is 3-0 with 0.00 ERA. Can't do any better than that. He's allowed just five hits in 21 1/3 innings with 23 strikeouts.

"Sam is highly competitive," Nekoba said. "It definitely helps to have his physical attributes, but he also has worked with (pitching) coach Mark Allen in understanding how to pitch and utilize his strengths. He's becoming more of a pitcher and less of a thrower."

Senior Casey Cornwell (2-2, 2.85 ERA, 22 strikeouts) and Nolan Imus (1-0, 2.74, three saves) are other pitchers who have excelled. Nekoba credits Allen for a large part of his team's pitching success.

"He has done a phenomenal job in working with our pitchers and developing them into pitchers versus throwers," he said. "Our guys have been able to locate and have command of all their pitches and hitting spots.

"Our defense has also made the plays that they need to and kept our mental errors to a minimum."

That has helped the pitchers maintain confidence, as they have gained a "trust in their defense to go out and make plays behind them."

The team is hitting .260 and has scored 54 runs with Ryan Hill leading the way. The junior is hitting .455 with 15 hits, including five doubles.

"His approach at the plate allows him to be successful," Nekoba said. "He rarely gets cheated and is able to hit to all fields, which makes it very tough to pitch to him."

Other top hitters have been Rob Valentine (.406) and Nolan Lafallette (.333), who is also a standout pitcher.

"We believe that there is still more that Rob will be able to do for us this year," Nekoba said. "He's making some minor adjustments and is getting more comfortable with it day-by-day.

"Nolan also made some changes to his swing and approach earlier this spring and experienced early success with it. Once he really gets comfortable with the changes, we expect him to be a key component to our success."

Nekoba was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii and graduated from Hilo High in 1991. He's been on the Beaverton staff since 2001 and started as a freshman team assistant before working his way up the ranks.

He took over permanently as head varsity coach in 2009.

Nekoba led the Beavers to Metro co-titles in 2010 and 2014, and the state quarterfinals in 2012.

Of the team's four losses this season, three have been by one run and two have come to teams from Colorado. The Beavers are No. 8 in the MaxPreps computer rankings.