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Every once in a while, a student-athlete comes along that seems to say and do all the right things. <\/span>Wilson senior Tanner Perkins is that rare kind of kid, that even at 18-years of age, seems to prioritize and value the things that really matter.<\/p>\n \n None of Perkins’ numbers will jump off of a stat sheet at you, but it’s all the little things he does so well that makes Bruins’ coach Andy Hall call him their likely MVP. <\/span>Perkins is hitting .316 with 25 hits and 11 RBI’s. He’s scored 16 runs, but it’s his play behind the plate, in the outfield and his leadership that is so revered amongst even his rivals.<\/p>\n “He is the best teammate to be around and is a leader on and off the field,” Poly ace and former Little League teammate Mario Gordon said. “He is a workhorse, a great competitor and plays the game the way it’s supposed to be played.”<\/p>\n Perkins was a solid soccer player for the Bruins and playing both sports is something he wishes he’d never have to give up.<\/p>\n If that weren’t enough, Perkins is a 3.8 grade-point student with honors classes, plays the Saxophone and does some acting.<\/p>\n “Tanner is a phenomenal kid, who comes from a great family and is one of those rare kids who is willing to do anything he can to put his team above himself,” Hall said. “He came in after soccer and started the season down in our lineup and has worked his way all the way up to No. 2 and does anything he can to help us win.”<\/p>\n Hall credits Perkins with being the only guy who could ever competently catch the hard-throwing and sometimes wild Aaron Hicks last season.<\/p>\n “I took it as a challenge to make Aaron look as good as I possibly could,” Perkins said. “I told him I will do anything I can in my power to help you and it was my honor to catch him.”<\/p>\n It’s that attitude that his current and former teammates admire.<\/p>\n “Tanner is a great teammate who will literally do anything we need, and he doesn’t care who gets the credit for it,” former Bruins star and current Arizona State third baseman Zach Wilson said. <\/span>“He is great guy and a very good soccer player as well.”<\/p>\n Perkins knows another 20-win season wouldn’t have been possible without quality production from teammates Tommy Nance, Lester Salcedo, Bryan Haver, J.T. Mazalewski, Daniel Juarez, Phil Visico, Chirs Hubbard, Blake Cooper and Cody Harris, just to name a few.<\/p>\n “The best part of our success over the past couple years is that I got to do it with kids I’ve grown up with and built lasting friendships,” Perkins said.<\/p>\n Said Nance: “Tanner is someone who even when he isn’t playing, is up on the top step cheering everybody on. He is also a great friend that I know I can talk to about baseball, life or school and know that I can trust him.”<\/p>\n Perkins gives all the credit to his parents, Bill and Phyllis, for his high character.<\/p>\n “They are such different personalities, but they are the reason I have become the person I am,” Perkins said. “My parents have raised my brothers and me to be humble and respectful people and I love them so much.”<\/p>\n With Perkins in the lineup the last two seasons, Wilson has won 48 games and despite finishing fourth in the Moore League this season, the Bruins expect to make a playoff run.<\/p>\n “If you look at our schedule, we have played and beaten some really good teams and we expect to do well,” he said. “If everyone plays to their capability, I think we can play with anyone.<\/p>\n Perkins begrudgingly accepts that his days of playing both soccer and baseball have probably come to an end, but would love to continue playing baseball next season somewhere.<\/p>\n It is likely that Perkins will stick around Southern California to play ball next year at Orange Coast College, and with Newport Beach just a bike ride away, it should be pretty fun for Wilson’s version of Zack Morris.<\/p>\n It is usually pretty obvious to a seasoned reporter when a coach or athlete is saying something that just sounds good, but with Perkins, you truly believe it’s from his heart.<\/p>\n Said Perkins: “I wouldn’t give up my time at Wilson for anything. I’ve met some of the greatest people at school and in soccer and baseball. I love these guys and have loved my time here.”<\/p>\n For Hall, it will be tough to see Perkins go.<\/p>\n “It’s hard to see a kid you wish you could have nine of leave, but I know Tanner will be successful at whatever he decides to do,” Hall said. “I will truly miss him and couldn’t appreciate him more than I do.<\/p>\n Recently Hall made an overture that meant the world to Perkins.<\/p>\n “It was at the end of practice recently and Coach Hall was watering the field and I was about to leave and he called me aside and said ‘Tanner, I hope you I know I appreciate everything you do,’ and that one sentence made any frustration I ever had about not catching every day disappear. It meant so much to me that my coach knew I put my team first.”<\/p>\n The Wilson class of 2009 will boast two of the classiest kids ever to graduate in the same year with Perkins and basketball-volleyball star Mike Wilder.<\/p>\n Whether the season ends tomorrow or at Dodger Stadium, Perkins has left his mark and hopes to be remembered for one thing.<\/p>\n “I’d like to be known as a pretty good player, but it means so much more when people think of me as a better person.”<\/p>\n \n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The two-sport athlete is admired and respected by his teammates and coaches.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-3845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3845"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3845\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3845"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=3845"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=3845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}