ILS Baseball Lands Two on All-District Team

May 11, 2021

The ILS baseball team recently completed another successful season of play, and now the post-season awards have come in. Two Royal Lions baseball players, senior Sebastian Paz and junior Santiago Cid, made the 2021 3A-15 All-District Team. One year after having their play cut short, these two players came back with solid seasons for ILS.

Paz, who played first base and outfield this season, led the district in batting average. He hit an incredible .580 on the season. That figure put him Top-2 in the nation.

“What a phenomenal year for an impressive young man,” said ILS head baseball coach Nate Gomez. “Sebastian was our leader on the diamond all year long and a winning record in 2021 could not have been possible without his individual ability and more importantly his sacrifice has a captain.”

Paz finished the season with a slash line of .580/.604/.800. He led the Royal Lions with 18 RBI and seven doubles. He scored 15 runs this season.

Paz plans to continue his baseball career in college, starting at the JuCo level. From there, he’ll transfer to a Division 1 school to play.

Santiago Cid excelled as a junior and expects to be a team leader next year as a senior. Cid hit .436 with 12 runs scored and five doubles. He was top-3 in every offensive category for the Royal Lions this season and played a solid second base.

“Santiago is also our spark plug and the heartbeat of the team,” said Coach Gomez. “He is the one everyone turns to when we need a spark of energy or when things get negative out there on the diamond. He is ready to wear the C next year as our team captain in 2022.”

Another notable player from this season’s squad was senior Dominic Sorondo. Although he didn’t make All-District first team, Sorondo provided leadership and heart throughout the season. He was a key cog in the offense and led the pitching staff as the team’s catcher.

In his final season with the Royal Lions, Sorondo hit an impressive .432 with one home run, five doubles, 13 RBI and a team-leading 16 runs scored.

The Royal Lions baseball team finished the 2021 season 9-8. They were a dominant home team, winning seven of nine games as the home team. ILS pushed into the district playoffs, but ultimately lost in heartbreaking, walk-off fashion.