Andy Tarpley, head coach at College Park-Pleasant Hill, knew he had at least one constant on his talented baseball team - Joe DeMers.

DeMers went 12-2 on the mound with a 0.65 ERA, with 94 strikeouts, and only nine bases on balls issued. At the plate, he also had 32 RBIs and three home runs, hitting .371 and helping lead the Falcons to an NCS Division II title. For his excellent work on the baseball diamond, Demers has been named Prep2Prep North Coast Section Junior of the Year.

“He looked the same every time out,” Tarpley explained of the junior hurler. “He’s got good 'velo', he throws three pitches for a strike. He’s super composed, super experienced, and he knows how to deal with adversity a little bit.”

DeMers has a fastball that is consistently clocked in the mid-90s, with a very good change-up and slider.

As a sophomore DeMers, who is committed to Washington, helped lead College Park to the 2013 CIF Division II state final. Consistency was a cornerstone of his play.

“Joe tends to get a little attitude up there, but not in a bad way but in a competitive way because that is the type of kid he is. I thought he was great today,” said Tarpley.

Improving his craft is important for DeMers.

“Each outing I’m trying to get a little better as the year goes on,” DeMers said. “I try to throw strikes, let them put it in play and let our defense work. Our team has a bunch of web gems.”

The Falcons, who have seven members of the class of 2015 committed to Division I scholarships, ended the year 27-3 and 11-1 in the tough DVAL league.

"This team was hungry the whole season, and to get that last out was unbelievable," DeMers said. "We set a goal at the beginning of the season, and we fulfilled it."

DeMers is projected to be a top-round draft pick in the 2015 MLB Draft and the defending champion Falcons will be one of the top teams in the nation.

Also considered: Justin Hooper, De La Salle; Trevor Larnach, College Park; Michael McAdoo, De La Salle; Austin Piscotty, Amador Valley; Kasey Wallace, Pinole Valley; Nick Poirier, San Ramon Valley.

NOTE: We would like to thank our readers for all of the nominations you sent in for the season-ending NCS baseball awards. It is a daunting task to narrow down our selections to just the top few as we recognize there are lots of great players who make contributions on the diamond that are not necessarily well-documented but mean a great deal to the success of their teams. We salute all of the players that have made this a wonderful season of NCS baseball.