Rick O'Brien: Slick fielders, hard hitters among top 15 shortstops

Memorial Day weekend, with barbecues and pickup baseball in full swing, is as good a time as any to present the best baseball shortstops in Southeastern Pennsylvania.

Our top-10 rankings are based on personal observations and coaches' insights. Also, because the area is filled with slick-fielding and hard-hitting shortstops, we cranked up the list to 15.

1. Sean Coyle, Germantown Academy, senior. Coyle, a North Carolina recruit who could be selected early in next month's first-year player draft, was batting .529 (45 for 85) with 50 RBIs, 39 runs, and 12 home runs through Friday.

The 5-foot-9, 180-pounder had 20 stolen bases (in 20 attempts), 17 walks, 12 doubles, and 3 triples.

2. Tyler Young, Malvern Prep, senior. The Louisville-bound Young was hitting .505 with 46 runs, 38 RBIs, 20 stolen bases, and 9 homers. He had 13 triples and a 1.165 slugging percentage.

3. Ian Vasquez, Perkiomen School, senior. Vasquez, headed for Wagner, was batting .528 with 30 RBIs, 12 doubles, 3 triples, and 3 homers.

4. Dylan Tice, Pennridge, junior. In 22 games, the Rams' catalyst hit .597 with 33 runs, 20 RBIs, 8 triples, and 3 homers. He had an .861 slugging percentage and a .701 on-base percentage.

5. Bill Fleming, Council Rock South, junior. Fleming batted .487 with 14 RBIs, 12 stolen bases, 9 doubles, and 2 triples.

6. Jordan Hill, Penncrest, senior. The George Mason signee was batting .431 with 25 runs, 10 walks, 6 doubles, and 2 homers. He had a .706 slugging percentage.

7. Rick Brebner, Neshaminy, senior. Brebner, projected to be a third baseman at Penn, was batting .390 with 26 runs, 17 RBIs, and 14 walks. He had a .661 slugging percentage and .519 on-base percentage.

8. Sean McCormick, West Chester Henderson, senior. McCormick, who pitched a perfect game last month, was hitting .409 with 28 runs, 14 walks, 11 RBIs, and 2 homers. He had a .519 on-base percentage.

9. Mike Douglas, Great Valley, senior. The Pittsburgh recruit's play has been key in the Patriots' drive to the semifinals of the District 1 Class AAAA tournament.

10. Joe DeCarlo, Garnet Valley, sophomore. The up-and-coming DeCarlo, who committed to Georgia, earned first-team all-Central League honors.

11. Kyle McCrossen, Archbishop Wood, junior. From the No. 3 spot, he was batting .516 with 24 RBIs, 22 runs, 11 walks, 9 doubles, 3 homers, and 3 triples.

12. Erich Sirinek, Westtown, senior. Sirinek, who hopes to walk on at USC, hit .413 with 21 RBIs, 16 runs, and 4 doubles. He had a .652 slugging percentage and .492 on-base percentage.

13. Colin Pyne, La Salle, sophomore. The leadoff man and first-team all-Catholic pick had a stellar rookie varsity season, batting .444 with 16 RBIs and 10 stolen bases.

14. Tyler Zeleny, Central Bucks East, sophomore. The 5-10, 145-pounder hit .413 with 23 runs, 22 RBIs, 9 walks, 6 doubles, and 2 homers. He had a .603 slugging percentage.

15. Eric Frain, Archbishop Ryan, junior. In two playoffs games, against La Salle and Wood, the cleanup man went 6 for 8 with four RBIs and three runs.

Others to watch, listed alphabetically: Luke Alba, Downingtown East, junior; Israel Arroyo-Diaz, Frankford, sophomore; Matt Brown, Cheltenham, junior; Greg Corialos, West Chester East, junior; Kyle Davis, New Hope-Solebury, senior; Pete Edgar, North Penn, junior; Eugene Figueroa, Morrisville, senior; Ricky Gorrell, Spring-Ford, junior; Ryan Hartley, Council Rock North, junior; Kurt Johnson, Marple Newtown, junior; Kenny Koplove, Penn Charter, sophomore; A.J. Koscelansky, Kennedy-Kenrick, junior; Brian O'Donnell, Wissahickon, senior; Anthony Ortiz, Roman Catholic, senior; Matt Petrizzi, Conwell-Egan, junior; Jayson Rathgens, Quakertown, senior; Eric Robbins, Upper Darby, senior; Shea Rosadino, Conestoga, junior; John Salvatore, Holy Ghost Prep, senior; Johnny Sciotis, Harry S Truman, senior; Ian Smith, Devon Prep, senior; Marty Venafro, Neumann-Goretti, sophomore; Josh VanHorn, Monsignor Bonner, senior; Connor Wing, Unionville, junior.