Clipboard: CSUMB alum Koenig pitching for the Brewers in the postseason

His road to the majors is about as unorthodox as it can get. The sacrifices to keep a dream alive were endless, laboring with independent teams for four years.

Yet, nine years after pitching his last collegiate game for Cal State Monterey Bay, Jared Koenig has landed on one of Major League Baseball’s biggest stages.

The former Aptos High left-handed pitcher is part of the Milwaukee Brewers bullpen, having appeared in the team’s first three playoff games in a five-game series win over the Cubs, setting up an NLCS meeting with the Dodgers

Koenig, whose professional career began in 2017 with the Monterey Amberjacks, went 6-1 this past year for the Brewers in the regular season, with two saves and a 2.88 earned run average.

Undrafted out of CSUMB in 2016, the 31-year-old made 72 appearances for Milwaukee, striking out 68 hitters in 66 innings.

In two seasons with the Brewers, Koenig has appeared in 127 games, mostly as a set-up man out of the bullpen, having won 15 games, while picking up three saves, striking out 133 hitters in 128 innings.

Originally signed by the Athletics’ international scout while in Australia in 2019, Koenig made his major league debut in 2022, going 1-3 when the franchise was still in Oakland.

Blessed with a fastball that has hit the century mark in the postseason, Koenig spent a season in the Padres organization before Milwaukee signed him to their Double-A affiliate in 2023.

Since being called up in 2024, Koenig has been one of the Brewers’ most reliable relievers. During the postseason, he’s allowed three hits, with a strikeout in three innings of relief.

Koenig spent one season pitching for head coach Walt White and the Otters after playing at Old Dominion, going 3-1 with 63 strikeouts in 61 innings in 14 starts.

While pitching in the Independent Pacific Association, he was the Pitcher of the Year in 2018. The following year, Koenig posted a 2.24 ERA with 133 strikeouts in the Frontier League.

While pitching for the A’s Double-A team in Midland after losing the 2020 season to COVID, Koenig was the Pitcher of the Year in 2021, earning a call-up to the A’s in 2022, where he appeared in 10 games, winning one of his five starts.

Keonig was a two-time Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League all-league selection, striking out a career-high 10 in a five-inning outing in 2012.

Soledad’s Freeman has career game

Former Hartnell College all-state receiver Josiah Freeman put together his second straight two-touchdown game for Fresno State, finishing with a college career high seven catches for 89 yards in a loss last Saturday to Colorado State.

Freeman, who elected to return to the Bulldogs after originally entering the transfer portal, leads the team in receiving yards with 300 and touchdowns with four.

On the season, the 6-foot-3 Soledad High graduate has 24 catches, averaging nearly 13 yards per reception. He has caught at least three passes in each of the six games he’s played in for 5-2 Fresno State.

In three seasons at Fresno State, the senior has 51 catches for 644 yards and seven touchdowns. The 24 catches this fall are three receptions shy of breaking his career totals since arriving on campus.

During his only season at Hartnell, Freeman led the state in receiving yards per game at 108.3, with 10 of his 50 catches going for touchdowns. He also earned all-county honors as a receiver at Soledad.

Salinas’ Hunter coming off his best outing

Nyziah Hunter followed up a four-catch, 93-yard receiving effort with a career night last Saturday, catching five passes for 125 yards and two touchdowns in helping Nebraska to a 34-31 win over Maryland

The former Salinas High multi-sport standout has four touchdown catches this season for the Cornhuskers, who are 5-1n.

The 6-foot-2, 205-pound Hunter is second on the team in receiving yards with 415, averaging 17.1 yards per reception.

Having transferred to Nebraska after spending last season at Cal, the redshirt sophomore has 57 catches for nearly 900 yards and seven touchdowns in 17 career college games.

Hunter caught 58 passes for over 1,000 yards and a school record 16 touchdown catches during his senior season at Salinas.

He also started on the basketball team and broke the school record in the 100 meters, reaching the state track and field championships as a junior in 2022.

Carmel’s Iandoli western ranch riding

Elizabeth Iandoli helped her West Texas A&M western ranch riding team to a season-opening win in College Station, Texas.

Competing against Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas Tech, the defending national champion Buffaloes made a statement against some of the best riding teams in the nation.

Iandoli, who prepped at Carmel, took sixth individually out of 39 riders in her division in her college debut.

An equine industry and business major, Iandoli and her teammates will compete in the Intercollegiate Ranch and Stock Horse Association College Show in Oklahoma.

Officials needed

Peninsula Sports Incorporate is looking for high school and middle school officials for all sports this season. Varsity officials are paid $100 a game.

There is an immediate need for officials in the winter for boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer and boys and girls wrestling. Training is provided. Call Tom Emery at (831) 241-1101.