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All East Bay baseball player of the year, J.R. Graham of Livermore High School, at the school in Livermore, Calif. on Thursday, June 26, 2008. (Dean Coppola/Contra Costa Times)
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Over the past two seasons, the Livermore High School baseball team made one of the most remarkable turnarounds the East Bay has seen in a long time.

Not since 1979 had the Cowboys won a league title, but after sharing the East Bay Athletic League crown in 2007, the program reached even greater heights this year.

To many it was somewhat of a shock, but to Livermore shortstop/relief pitcher J.R. Graham, this was a long time coming.

"None of the success came as a surprise because we've all been playing together since little league and we've always beaten teams from the other areas," Graham said.

The Santa Clara-bound do-it-all player was the centerpiece of a team that went 24-3, won the outright EBAL title, landed the top-seed for the North Coast Section 3A East Bay playoffs, and was briefly ranked No. 1 in the state and No. 16 in the nation by the Rivals.com network.

The EBAL MVP finished the year with a .357 batting average, four home runs, 23 RBIs, 12 stolen bases and was just as good on the mound, where he finished with 1.42 ERA, nine saves, and a 4-0 record.

For his efforts, Graham has been named the 2008 East Bay baseball Player of the Year.

"We wanted to win league, we wanted to win NCS and I just wanted to be the best player I could be," he said. "We didn't win NCS, but we'll have to settle for being the best Livermore High team ever."

After a standout junior campaign

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— his first full year on varsity — Graham started to catch the eyes of area scouts and was on the radar of many major league teams this past year.

With a scholarship to Santa Clara waiting, Graham made it clear to the scouts his intentions were to honor that, but it didn't stop the Oakland Athletics from drafting him in the 46th round of the First-Year Player Draft on June 6.

"It went from me not really knowing any teams were interested to having five or six scouts at most of our games," Graham said. "Then having the A's draft me was awesome. They're my favorite team so it made it even better."

Graham is expected to continue doubling as an infielder and pitcher next Spring at Santa Clara and is excited about the talented incoming class of recruits the Broncos picked up. He chose Santa Clara over Cal Poly, but also considered Cal, Long Beach State and Arizona State.