The postseason awards continue to roll in for baseball and softball, and the South Central Conference is the latest to release its All-Conference baseball teams.
The first team is led by five senior players from Knoxville, who finished the season #5 in Class 3A. Tony Salato was selected as the catcher. He’s joined by first baseman Jake Kendall, second baseman Kevin Woodhouse, outfielder Jared McClung, and utility player Nolan Wallace. Also on the first team is a pair from Class 2A State Qualifier Davis County.
Senior Jacob Jones was honored as the pitcher on the first team. He’s joined by senior third baseman Saban Goodson. Albia also had a pair of honorees on the first team in juniors Bryce Leshen and Tyler Maddison. Leshen was named to the outfield and Maddison was listed as a utility player. The remaining two spots on the first team went to a pair from Chariton: junior shortstop Aaron Cain and sophomore outfielder Kobey Riechmann.
Knoxville’s Kendall and Woodhouse, Davis County’s Goodson, and Albia’s Leshen were all unanimous selections to the first team.
On the second team, Davis County and Centerville each had a trio honored. For the Mustangs, it was sophomore catcher Zach Houf, senior first baseman Mac Chilton, and sophomore outfielder Stone Sample getting honored. The Big Reds had junior shortstop Hunter Cowan, junior outfielder Jacob Hargrove, and sophomore utility player Treye Rinehart honored.
Albia added a pair with senior pitcher Nate Haveman and junior utility player Gannon Osing. Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont got into the mix with senior second baseman Jackson Voyles getting named to the second team. The last two spots on the second team went to Clarke’s senior outfielder Dustan Van Loon and Chariton’s senior utility player Charlie Palmer. Third base was unoccupied on the second team.
Six of the seven teams in the conference also had multiple honorable mentions. Davis County was the lone school without a representative on the honorable mention list.
Albia had the trio of sophomore Cobi Thomas, senior Jacob Lenger, and junior Ryan Romanco. Clarke was represented by juniors Gable Reece and Zach Harmsen, along with senior Reed Kale. Knoxville had senior Austin Little and sophomore Blake McClung added to the list. Centerville had three underclassmen on the list from their very young squad: sophomores Tommy Mattly and Brett Kauzlaurich, and freshman Daniel Hargrove. EBF had juniors Andrew Hart and Treg Van Dorin honored. And finally, Chariton added senior Drew Derringer.
Knoxville won the South Central Conference on the field with a 17-1 conference record. They finished the regular year 27-5 overall, but lost in the district semifinals to Norwalk. Davis County finished in second at 15-3 en route to a 22-7 regular season record and a nice run into the semifinals of the Class 2A State Baseball Tournament at Principal Park in Des Moines. Albia came in third, and they were followed by Chariton, EBF, Centerville, and Clarke in the 2015 conference standings.
