Vintage two-sport star Porter to continue baseball career at University of San Francisco after high school

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By Kyle Foster

kfost91197@gmail.com

Twitter/X: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews 

Some things make an athlete stand out. But then, when you watch the game, you notice it’s more than just the ability that makes a player different. 

For Blake Porter, he has the moxie and ability to make himself a standout. This is one of the many things that led him to sign a National Letter of Intent to continue playing baseball at the University of San Francisco. 

Throughout his high school career at Vintage, Porter has been a multi-sport athlete as the quarterback for football and the third baseman on the baseball team, while hitting in the top third of the lineup. 

On the football field, the accolades speak for themselves. He is a two-time Big Game MVP, and he also won the Great American Rivalry Series MVP of this year’s contest. Porter has also been a three-year starter under center and a captain in his last two seasons on the gridiron. 

Football also helped Porter excel on the baseball diamond. Between the weight room and his leadership, it truly showed what he could do in key situations that baseball is known for. 

“Football brings out the best in a person, and it helps in all other sports,” Vintage head baseball coach Billy Smith explained. “Like I said, his confidence is just super high, and it’s, it’s a moxie that he carries that you see his confidence, and then a lot of people can’t handle that, and especially on the other team, and that draws the attention, so it makes him on alert a little bit more.”

By playing football, he also got to be very much involved in game decisions and help sculpt the offense to make the team better. But the conditioning part of it also helped him on the baseball field. 

“Football helps with mainly being in the weight room,” Porter explained. “When you’re in the weight room, you’re gonna get stronger, and you’re gonna hit the ball harder, and you’re gonna grow up, you’re gonna mature. Then, just getting disciplined. From football, you get a lot of discipline, and discipline is the main thing, and a lot of sports, and it’s just, it’s, it’s a great experience playing football and learning from football and creating a better person of yourself.” 

The commonality between Porter on the baseball and football field is that he brought the moxy and confidence needed to excel when he was a sophomore. This has continued all the way through to his senior year. 

“For us, one of the easiest decisions I made was his sophomore year,” Vintage head football coach Dylan Leach said at the signing ceremony. “It was pulling him up to varsity, I believe, after week two. And I don’t know if he knows this, but I didn’t pull him up because of his football prowess or how good he was at football, because I didn’t know how good he would be at that point. But I pulled him up because of his moxie and what he brought to the table. And I pulled him up because I knew those guys would follow, and that’s why I brought him up.” 

He was also brought up to both as a sophomore, and immediately showed he had what it took to be a mainstay at the varsity level. He was thrown into the fire to see what he could do. What he did was impress the coaches so much, he couldn’t be taken out of the lineup.  

But on the diamond has always been his main sport to shine. He has been a three-year varsity player there, too. He was also voted the Vine Valley Athletic League first-team all-league last season, and as a sophomore, he was a second-team selection. 

The one thing that always stands out about Porter’s game is his ability to play all over the diamond. He’s been the third baseman but can play anywhere from catcher to second or shortstop if needed. He has played stellar defense in his time at Vintage. Porter has a .906 fielding percentage and has only made 13 errors in that span, making him one of the most trustworthy gloves on the team.

This lineup versatility makes him such an asset. Speaking of the lineup, Porter has been a top third of the lineup player wherever he’s been. This is because he can do a lot of things with the bat. After all, he has a .375 batting average in his time on varsity. He also has 16 doubles, 2 triples, and 2 home runs in that span to go along with 30 RBIs. His career 1.054 OPS is also a number that will show how valuable he is. After all, this means he is not only a getting on base machine but adds some power to that, too.  

Throughout his time playing baseball in town, Porter has played for Napa Little League, Napa Valley Nationals, and Napa Valley Baseball Club. 

Another thing that has helped Porter get to this point is the fact that he’s been around sports his whole life. His entire family is all Vintage alums, with each making their own impact on his sporting life. 

“They’ve been awesome,” Porter said. “They’ve guided me every day, basically, and I’ve just gotten better and better every day. They’ve given me goals, and I’m going to stick to the goals. Big shout-out to Michael Crandall, my hitting coach. I’ve been working with him since I was eight years old. He’s upped my game a lot, and he knows what he’s talking about, and he’s amazing. Just all the mentorship that I’ve had is just, it’s unbelievable. It means so much to me.”  

When Porter gets to the University of San Francisco, he’ll be majoring in something involving sports. He’s doing this so he can still be involved even if his playing career comes to an end.   

Last season, the Dons went 26-30 with a 9-15 mark in West Coast Conference play. That was 6th in the conference. 

When Porter gets to USF, he will have many chances to play against his former Vintage teammates. After all, the Dons are in the WCC with Saint Mary’s, where Daria Freschi plays. They also play California in a split-season series during the season, which is where Miles Tenscher is playing.    

“It’ll be awesome,” Porter said of playing against some of his former teammates at the next level. “I can’t wait for that. I know a few guys that are going to different schools, and Dario is my boy, and I’m excited to play against him. It’s gonna be weird not being on the same team, but it’s gonna be awesome once, once it’s all said and done.” 

But maybe the biggest and most important thing about this is the fact that Porter will be a little over an hour away from home, meaning he can come home easily, and his family can watch him regularly. 

“It’s awesome,” Porter added. “My parents can come out to the games whenever they can make it. It’s an hour drive. I get to come down, see all my buddies, and see my family and everything like that. So it’s just awesome being so close and playing at such a great school.”