A handful of local baseball players were recently selected for the 2010 South Texas Pre-Season High School All- Star Team, which features 32 players from 19 area schools. Athletes from Kingsville and Riviera-Kaufer Independent School District were named for either the large or small school all-star roster.

H.M. King High School Senior Vando Gonzalez (who batted .380, stole 15 bases and hit a home run last year) was selected for the all-star team, as a center-fielder, in the large school division.

Brahma Baseball Coach Rick Soliz said Gonzalez’s accolade is a result of his nononsense blue-collar work ethic.

“Everything has been falling in place; it started off with the Under Armour tryout in Round Rock (in November) where Vando qualified and then went on to a camp in Florida (December) where he performed very well,” Soliz said. “He is a very dedicated individual who works over at Macareno’s Signs where they have weights, so he works out a lot. Vando is a very strong individual, the broadcaster from the Corpus Christi Hooks asked me about him and I had to say he was our Golden Boy; Vando is a very serious and hardworking person who will fight you to the very end.”

Also, picked for the small school all-star team were Riviera-Kaufer High School Junior Second Baseman J.D. Moya and Senior Outfielder Ricky Falcon.

Moya hit .386, batted in 29 runs, and was selected as District 32-2A’s Defensive Most Valuable Player last season.

“J.D. is the best all around defensive player we have in the infield,” Seahawk skipper Joseph R. Pickens said. “He is a great contact hitter who only struck out seven times last year. He is coming into his own and put up a pretty good season in his sophomore year.”

Falcon hit .459 (including 12 doubles, four triples and six home runs), stole 12 bases and batted in 32 runs last season.

“Ricky was pretty much our team leader all of last year and coming into this season,” Pickens said. “He is the spark plug - and all around better player - on this team and the kind of guy everyone looks to get things started. Ricky is a hard worker, has an excellent work ethic and it is great to coach kids like these.”

Receiving Honorable Mention were H.M. King senior infielders Ryan Martinez and Mark Trevino. Also receiving votes were David Robles (H.M. King, junior) and Jacob Salinas (Riviera-Kaufer, senior).

All of the honorees will be recognized at the Sixth Annual South Texas Winter Baseball Banquet at 6:30 p.m. at the Omni Bayfront Hotel in downtown Corpus Christi on Thursday.

Twenty-two high school baseball coaches throughout South Texas cast their votes for the all-star teams.

Tickets for the Feb. 4 event cost $75 and are available by calling the Hooks at 361-561- HOOK (4665).

Corporate table sponsorships for the banquet are also available and proceeds from the event benefit Hooks Help and the club’s Field of Dreams program.