SCOTTS VALLEY >> For the second time in four years, a high school baseball player from Santa Cruz County has received special honors on the All-West Catholic Athletic League team.

Valley Christian High senior Brock Ketelsen, a Scotts Valley resident who is committed to Stanford University and is top prospect in the upcoming MLB Draft, was named Pitcher of the Year after leading the Warriors to a successful 2025 campaign.

“It means a lot,” said Ketelsen, of the honor. “The WCAL is such a great league and there’s so many great teams and great players, so it’s truly an honor to win that award.”

The 6-foot-4, 202-pound left-handed pitcher and outfielder helped the Warriors (25-8-1 overall) finish second behind Junipero Serra in the WCAL, reach the Central Coast Section Division I title game, a 3-2 setback to the Padres, and advance to the CIF NorCal Regional playoffs.

The Warriors’ season came to a close with their 3-2 loss to St. Mary’s of Stockton in the D-I regional quarterfinals on Tuesday.

Ketelsen had a breakout season on the mound.

“Pitching is kinda a new thing for me,” he said. “I threw 11 innings last year, so over the summer it was fine-tune everything. It’s not just working on one pitch, it’s becoming more honed in all of my skills, and learn how to be a better pitcher every day.”

Ketelsen thanked Matt Rossignol, the owner of Rossy’s Training in Scotts Valley, for contributing to his improvement over the past seven years. “He has helped me so much,” Ketelsen said.On the mound this season, Ketelsen posted a 5-1 record with three saves over 14 appearances, including seven starts. He posted a 1.23 ERA over 51 1/3 innings and allowed 23 hits and 31 walks while striking out 90 batters.

Ketelsen was equally dangerous in the batter’s box. He batted .311 (33 for 106) with 19 extra-base hits, including five home runs. He finished with 23 RBI, second on the team to Stanford-bound outfielder Quinten Marsh (30), stole 10 bases, and scored a team-high 32 runs.

He also shined on defense, posting a 1.000 fielding percentage over 32 chances.

“Brock’s been awesome all year long,” Warriors coach John Diatte said. “He’s been one of those guys who come around every once in a while; we have a few of those guys on this team. First of all, it’s his athleticism, and then the character of the kid, and then his competitiveness. If I was going to rank those, obviously, I’d say the character of the kid. Brock’s just a high quality character kid. And then his athletic ability is God given. God blessed him with that. And his competitiveness on the back end of that makes him very, very, very good.

“He’s a plus arm, obviously, he’s a plus run, and has plus power at the plate. Those combinations, they don’t come around a lot. When he’s in the outfield, he’s our best outfielder. When he’s on the mound, he’s been our hardest thrower. He has the ability to leg hits out on balls that he mishits. He also has the ability to double. It’s just a good mix of athletic ability and character.”

Ketelsen played for Scotts Valley High as a freshman. He said he was “shell-shocked” after seeing the talent gathered during Warriors’ tryouts as a sophomore, but noted that over that season, he made the biggest strides in his career.

“You want to compete with people who are better than you, for sure,” he said.

Ketelsen is competing for the Corvallis Knights, whose West Coast League season began Tuesday and runs through mid-August.

He’s ranked No. 161 in the country among MLB Draft eligible prospects and will likely participate at the 2025 MLB Draft Combine at Chase Field in Phoenix, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks, on June 17-21.

“I’m looking forward to Stanford, but whatever happens happens,” Ketelsen said of the draft.

Scotts Valley’s Jacob Hudson was the last player to receive a special honors during all-WCAL voting. He was named the league’s Most Valuable Player as a junior in 2022.