Poway Baseball Star Named MVP of Florida League

Poway High grad Ray Filiberti spent part of the summer among other elite baseball players at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., playing in the Wood Bat League. At the end of the six-week season, not only was Filiberti the batting champion, he was named league Most Valuable Player as well.

While these two awards are usually reserved for two separate players, there was little doubt that Filiberti deserved both. He was a consistent force throughout the season, leading the league in virtually every category: batting average (.472), RBI (27), OPS (1.195) and slugging percentage (.679.).

Filiberti occupied the clean-up spot for a majority of the season, helping lead his team, the Hurricanes, to a championship. While the season ended great for Filiberti, it got off to a rocky start before IMG Academy coaches helped him with the mental side of his game.

“I started the season going 1-8,” says Filiberti. “I worked really hard on having a game plan every time I stepped up to the plate and started to figure out what pitch was going to be thrown and when.”

It is safe to say that Filiberti’s mental game was as sharp as anybody’s, as he also led the league in quality at-bats. Filiberti’s great season ended with the perfect cherry on top when the Hurricanes won the WBL title with a walk-off win on Friday.

Immediately following the game, the usually stern-faced Filiberti cracked a smile and said, “This is exciting, it was really a team effort and it’s a great end to the season.”

-IMG Academy