Velazquez hit, pitched and fielded for the Celts, who went on to win a CIF title in May.

This spring, no player impacted winning more than Diego Velazquez.

The underclassman hit, pitched and fielded when called on. He performed when he needed to. And helped Crespi win its first CIF Southern Section title since 2009 when the Celts erased a three-run deficit in the bottom of the seventh inning to beat South Hills in the Division 2 final, 6-5, on May 20 at Blair Field in Long Beach.

“He’s done just about everything for us this season,” Crespi coach Mike Glendenning said of Velazquez.

Velazquez was the lead-off hitter in Crespi’s CIF final and delivered an RBI single to start things in the dramatic seventh inning before Ethan Kodama’s two-run RBI tied the game and Chris Arce later scampered home on a South Hills error to win the game in walk-off fashion.

“I want to do anything that helps put my team in the best position to win,” Velazquez said.

 Crespi finished the season 23-8-3 overall and 11-7-3 in the Mission League (third place). Velazquez hit .354 with 35 hits, 15 RBI, eight doubles, two triples and two homeruns. He scored 28 runs, drew 21 walks, had an OPS of 1.027 and stole 18 bases. He led his team in hits, doubles, triples, homers, walks and stolen bases.

The USC commit was stellar from the mound, too. That’s where Velazquez sets himself apart from any other player in the area when it came to the impact he had on his team. He was 5-0 in 11 appearances with an ERA of 1.39 and struck out a team-high 47 batters in 50 1/3 innings. He earned wins over Birmingham, Chaminade, Loyola, Harvard-Westlake and Simi Valley.

Velaszquez, who’s a lanky 6-foot-2, played the role of designated hitter quite a bit this season. But when he played in the field (if he wasn’t pitching) he was in the middle infield. He played a lot of second base while senior Chris Arce played shortstop. Velazquez had a 91% fielding percentage, helped to turn three double plays and recorded 55 putouts in 64 chances.

“It’s possible he’s our starting shortstop next year,” Glendenning said. “We’ll see.”

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