Before their senior seasons began, Centennial baseball player Tyler Painton and golfer Manav Shah made a pact that they'd each win All-Area Player of the Year honors.

Two weeks ago, the friends walked into The Californian's downtown office together, mission accomplished.

For Painton, the award is the culmination of a terrific senior season and a dramatic career turnaround.

The left-hander was 11-1 with a 2.55 ERA and 87 strikeouts, and he hit .440 with 11 doubles and six home runs while splitting time at first base.

"I think I really stepped it up between last year and this year," Painton said. "Last year, I went in not very confident in myself, and this year, every day after school, I'd go hit, do my exercises at night. I've just been stepping up and being more mature about it."

It paid off, in the end, with the Toronto Blue Jays' 13th-round pick in the MLB Draft earlier this month. Painton has until Aug. 16 to sign; if he doesn't, he said he'll likely go to Bakersfield College to play for his dad, Tim, before hoping to re-enter the draft next year.

Either way, Tyler Painton has come a long way in two years. As a sophomore, he was forced out of Centennial to North High because of disciplinary problems. He finished the semester at North before returning to Centennial.

"I'm a believer in second chances," Golden Hawks coach Randy Roberts said. "I don't like to slap kids down. Sometimes that third chance isn't there, but that second one, he took it and he ran with it."

Painton had a solid junior year and then a better summer, wowing college and pro scouts at the Area Code Games in Los Angeles. When he got back, he had his first four-year scholarship offers -- and even more perspective.

"I just kept progressing, kept progressing," Painton said. "I was just really shocked to be honest. Never did I think I would have scholarship offers and get drafted (out of high school)."

Painton also became one of the Golden Hawks' most vocal and active leaders. That meant taking instructions from Roberts during first period, when Painton was the coach's aide, and then getting started on field maintenance before coaches even arrived at practice.

"I thought he grew up as a young man," Roberts said. "A lot of kids might have taken advantage of being an aide, but every morning, first period, he was there. Then I'd show up at 3 (at practice) and the kids were working. He helped lead all that."

Then Painton roared through the regular season with what Roberts says is ferocious competitiveness. He tied for the Kern County lead with the 87 Ks and won his last 10 starts, including a shutout of Fresno-Central and wins against Liberty and Division II section champion Frontier.

He helped the Golden Hawks all the way to the Division I semifinals, where they fell in extra innings to Clovis-Buchanan. That heartbreak was alleviated a couple of weeks later by the draft news.

"I wouldn't say I had given up on the dream, but I expected it to come later in life," Painton said. "I wanted to have fun in high school, hang out with friends. But once I heard (scouts) talking, I knew this dream can become a reality. And it surely has."

And the 6-foot-5 Painton, who already throws his fastball in the low 90s (mph), might not be done yet.

"He's going to grow; he's got that height, and he's going to gain weight," Roberts said. "He's a late bloomer. He'll gain 30 pounds and be a stud. He's got everything it takes to be a better pitcher.

"... It's pretty neat. It is a storybook for him. Hopefully he can go out and make us all happy."