INLAND FIELDHOUSE

Davidson hit .510 with 18 2Bs, and 34 RBI in '11. / MaxPreps.com

Behemoth. It’s the only word seemingly accurate enough to represent the kind of season senior Kevin Davidson had for Yucaipa High School.

The 6-foot-4, 220-pound right-handed pitcher/first baseman was a force on the field no matter where he played. That’s why he has been chosen the 2011 FOMB Prep Baseball Player Of The Year.

Before illustrating Davidson’s season en totale, let’s get his monster batting stats out of the way:

.510 BA, 50 H, 24 R, 98 ABs, 11 BBs, .556 OBP, 18 2Bs, 1 3B, 2 HRs, 34 RBI, .776 SLG

He accounted for a team-high 58 of the Thunderbirds’ Inland Area-leading 249 runs — that’s 23.3 percent of the offense — while batting at either the top or the middle of Yucaipa’s lineup. For a senior run-producer on an offensive team, he produced at or exceeding his capabilities at the plate.

Davidson had 16 multiple-hit games — including a three-hit performance in his final game — and was unstoppable over a four-game stretch during the middle of April, going 14 for 18 with eight doubles and 14 RBI as his team rolled off four consecutive victories.

Now, his pitching stats:

8 W, 1 L, 1 S, 2.13 ERA, 62 Ks, 62.1 IP, .216 OPP BA, 9 GS, 3 CG, 3 SO

Let’s face it — Davidson was one of the most feared pitchers in the Inland Area the last two seasons. No batter wanted to face him, and most did poorly against him. He struck out seven or more batters five times — including a season-high 10 K performance in his first start of ’11 — and allowed opposing offenses on base at just a .246 clip.

He earned his only career playoff victory in a gutsy second round performance against West Torrance in which he allowed just two earned runs while striking out four and walking one. Oddly, he was called for his only two balks of the season in the game, a 5-3 victory for Yucaipa.

It takes a special kind of season to outshine some of the best players in the Inland Area. Corona Santiago’s Brandon Martin (first round draft pick of Tampa Bay Rays) and Riverside Poly’s Chris Rabago (headed to UC Irvine on scholarship) were the Area’s elite at shortstop, a position typically at a premium.

But Davidson’s season was as complete as anyone in recent memory, and that includes his older brother Matt Davidson, who was taken in the first round Major League Baseball’s amateur draft two years ago.

Behemoth. That’s the kind of player Kevin Davidson is, and it was the kind of season he had.

FEATURE PHOTO by STAM LIM / THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE