A pair of Park Hill graduates brought home awards during the Ban Johnson Collegiate Baseball League banquet held last week at the Marriott in Overland Park, Kansas.
Trever Guzzo - who is a junior at Park University - was the winner of the Hustle Award, while former high school teammate Joe Daneff - a junior at Emporia State - won the Frank White Award for Fielding Excellence. Guzzo was the team MVP for the Creche Innovation Stars and the team hustle award winner as well before bringing home the league Hustle Award.
“He showed up every day and wanted to start every game,” said Stars’ coach Kyle Clifton, who was an All-American at Park. “He always offered and was willing to do what the team needed to be successful.”
Guzzo hit .376 and had 32 hits, the most in the league this summer. He also drew more walks (16) than strikeouts (14) and had nine doubles; he also stole five bases.
“Some people see summer ball as a way to get reps but I don’t; I see it as I play hard every day,” Guzzo said to emcee Tod Palmer from KSHB 41. “Just growing up it always stuck (playing hard), I play the same way. That is the only way I know how to play.”
White, who is a Jackson County executive, announced Daneff’s award via video. The former Royals star and a Ban Johnson Hall of Fame member, read off some of the accomplishments of Daneff this summer.
Former Park Hill standout and current Park outfielder Trever Guzzo (center) was the winner of the Ban Johnson College Baseball League Hustle Award for the 2021 season. Joining him are former winners Jake Bradshaw (left) and Chris Halford.
Daneff had only six errors in 107 chances, while having 72 assists and 29 putouts. He also helped turn 12 double plays for the Stars. Daneff started his college career at Dodge City (Kan.) Community College before transferring to Emporia State this summer.
He was one of two Park Hill graduates up for the award, the other was Regal Plastic shortstop Ryan Kiser, who plays at Rockhurst. The third finalist was Smithville’s Karsen Reid, who played for the BJ Raiders.
Kiser had 46 assists, 22 putouts, three errors and turned 10 doubles playing for Regal, coached by former Park assistant coach Clint Culbertson. The fourth former Trojan up for an award was Carter Jensen, the 2021 graduate that was a third-round draft pick of the Kansas City Royals.
Jensen was one of three finalists for the Bob Allison Offensive Player of the Year Award, named after the former Ban Johnson and Minnesota Twin Hall of Famer. The award went to Josh Patrick, who won the triple crown for the league this summer.
Jensen played in 14 games for the Ban Johnson League champions, BJ Raiders, but had a big impact before getting drafted. The all-state catcher for Park Hill hit .375 with two home runs, six extra base hits and he drove in 18 runs, and in one of his final games for the Raiders he had a walk-off game-winning hit.
“It was huge to be able to go out there and get my reps in and not have to worry, just play and relax,” Jensen said of playing in the league, which hosted games at the Creekside Baseball Park in Parkville. “It helped leading up to the draft and all the workouts I was going to this past summer. It definitely helped me stay on top of things while waiting for the draft.”
Jensen bypassed a chance to play for LSU and signed with the Royals on July 21. He hit .281 with a home run, seven RBIs and had a .388 on-base percentage for the Royals’ Arizona Complex League team.
He heads to Arizona soon for spring training, where he will await his assignment for his first full year of pro baseball. He could be sent back to the ACL or land in South Carolina or Iowa for the organization’s ‘A’ ball affiliates.