TENNERTON– Zach Calef-Boring was named the 2023 winner of the John L. Tenney Memorial Baseball Award which is presented annually to a Buckhannon-Upshur High School senior baseball player who displays athletic ability, character and leadership skills.
It was the 15th year the award has been presented and is selected on by members of the Buckhannon-Upshur baseball coaching staff.
The award is named in honor of John L. Tenney, father of long-time Buckhannon-Upshur head baseball coach Mickey Tenney and long-time West Virginia Wesleyan head baseball coach Randy Tenney.
Mickey Tenney presented the award to Calef-Boring during a ceremony at William E. Phillips Memorial Field Friday morning.
“It means a lot to win this award,” said Calef-Boring. “A lot of hard work has been put into this. It means so much to win an award that honors the Tenney family. It is a great baseball name in this town, and I have heard a lot of great stories about them. I am just glad to be a part of it.”
Calef-Boring joins his brother Nick as a Tenney Award winner as Nick won it in 2019.
“It was a goal I had in mind this year,” joked Calef-Boring. “My brother won it and I wanted to be better than him.”
During his senior season, Calef-Boring led the Bucs in both hitting and pitching this past season.
At the plate, he led the team with a .433 average getting 39 hits in 90 at-bats with eight doubles, two triples and two home runs.
He scored a team best 40 runs while knocking in 28 from his lead-off spot in the order.
On the mound, he posted an impressive 2.29 earned-run-average with a 2-1 record. He threw a team-high 45 2/3 innings striking out 45.
“Pitching-wise, I just went out there and tried to compete in each game,” stated Calef-Boring. “I just wanted to go out there and throw strikes and help my team win. At the plate, it is just a mindset. You are done before you go up there if you don’t think you are going to be successful. Staying positive at the plate has helped me this year. I struggled a little last year at the plate so I came in this year to not get upset at bad results and just being the best teammate I could be and help the team win games.”
He was recently named to the Big 10 First Team All-Conference squad and was selected to play in this weekend’s West Virginia North-South All-Star baseball games at George Washington High School.
“Zach is such a consistent ball player with a strong work ethic,” noted Buckhannon-Upshur head coach Adam Squires. “If you look at our line-up and say who is the one guy we can’t do without, it would be Zach. I really appreciate the Tenney family for sponsoring this award. I played for coach (Mickey) Tenney and baseball and the name of Tenney in this town just go hand-in-hand.”
Calef-Boring will continue his baseball career after signing to play at Davis & Elkins College this fall.
“One of my goals when I first started playing baseball in high school was to play at the collegiate level,” remarked Calef-Boring. “It didn’t matter at what level, I just wanted to keep playing baseball.”
A plaque honoring the past winners of the John L. Tenney Award, and now with Calef-Boring’s name on it, resides inside Buckhannon-Upshur High School.
