The intense scrutiny of Kyle Skipworth this season could have done zany things to both Skipworth and his baseball team. The sight of tall baseball men wearing wraparound shades, toting notebooks and using terms like "plus arm" could have sent Skipworth into a self-conscious tailspin. His coaches and teammates could have crumbled to a similar pressure, or, at their worst, been ripped apart by an inherent jealousy.

But none of that happened. Skipworth withstood the pressures associated with being a high draft selection and his team -- with the help of Coach Tim Kleveno -- did the same.

For that, Skipworth has been chosen the Riverside County player of the year by The Press-Enterprise. Kleveno was selected as coach of the year.

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David Bauman / The Press-Enterprise

Patriot catcher Kyle Skipworth was under intense scrutiny before the season even started. He responded by hitting .543 with a slugging percentage of 1.117 as the Warriors went 27-3.

Honors and accomplishments came easily this season for Skipworth, who batted .543 with 51 runs, 47 RBI, 13 home runs, 11 doubles and a slugging percentage of 1.117.

Earlier this season, he set a state record with 18 consecutive hits. Gatorade chose him as the state baseball player of the year, then, a week later, gave him its national player of the year honor. The Florida Marlins drafted him with the No. 6 overall pick. Along the way he earned The Press-Enterprise's boys athlete of the year award.

But the team grew with him. The Warriors won 27 of the 30 games they played this season and took home the Sunkist League championship. They earned the No. 2 seed in the CIF Division 4 bracket and advanced to the semifinals before falling to Pomona Diamond Ranch, 5-3.

Their experience proved anything but typical.

The scouts appeared from the outset, even before Patriot had played an official varsity game. Forty scouts came to watch a preseason scrimmage. Nearly 20 watched Skipworth take batting practice one afternoon. Athletic Director Ray Marisnick learned the only way to keep scouts from creeping onto the baseball diamond during pregame warmups was to lock the gates.

"To keep those kids focused on what they were trying to do, to make a semifinal game -- in a game they easily could have won -- I thought Tim did a great job," said Riverside North coach Steve Madril.

But Kleveno's duties didn't end there. He played an integral part in promoting Skipworth to major league organizations. He fielded calls from scouts and journalists. At the request of major league teams, Kleveno organized extra hitting sessions for Skipworth after varsity games -- then he threw his catcher batting practice.

"Here's the thing that coaches don't understand until you have a high-profile player," said Redlands East Valley coach Steve Hernandez, who coached his own draft prospect in Tyler Chatwood. "You have to deal with scouts, where you don't normally have to deal with those on an everyday basis. There will be scouts at every game. You have to deal with that. Everybody is going to want a piece of the pie, of Skipworth. I'm sure he has people asking for interviews. Those are all distractions. You have to fill out that paperwork during the day.

"If you just have the normal nine guys, you don't have to deal with that. You've got to answer a lot of phone calls. There are so many more distractions. Then you have to deal with high-profile players, making sure that everybody understands that these guys are not bigger than the team but then don't get jealous of the team. That's the toughest part."

Kleveno and Skipworth both handled that responsibility with aplomb.