Today, it’s time to take a look at who excelled on the baseball diamond in Class 1A and 2A and earned All-District nominations from the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association.
In Class 1A, all of our honorees fell into the Southeast District.
On the First Team, Twin Cedars senior pitcher Trace Embray made the team after going 7-2 in 2017. Embray wraps up an impressive career that began as an important piece to an undefeated championship team in 2014.
Joining him on the First Team is a pair of Moravia Mohawks, also out of the Bluegrass Conference. Junior Tucker Babbitt batted .419 and was named as the First Team 3rd baseman, while Mateo Varese hit .403, went 5-2 on the mound, and was listed as a utility player on the top squad.
To wrap up our area players on the First Team, three players representing three different schools out of the South Iowa Cedar League were honored. Sigourney’s Avery Moore and BGM’s Keegan James were both outstanding this season and both were listed in outfield spots, while Lynnville-Sully’s Tyler Van Zante had a good all-around year at the plate and on the mound en route to being named to a utility player spot.
On the Second Team, there is a huge chunk of players from the area.
Pekin leads the way with four honorees. Senior pitcher Garrett Greiner, sophomore shortstop Tanner Bainbridge, senior outfielder Jake Huff, and junior utility player Torell Washington all were named to the Second Team for the Panthers.
Moravia, Sigourney, BGM, and Lynnville-Sully had more honorees on the Second Team as well.
Moravia’s junior pitcher Griffin Cosgrove went 5-0 on the mound and was nominated to the second squad.
The Sigourney duo of sophomore catcher Carson Crawford and sophomore outfielder Mac Conrad also made the cut for the Savages who reached a district final.
BGM had a trio of nominations. Senior catcher Dylan Shafbuch, senior 3rd baseman Eric Weiss, and junior utility player Kyle Doty all made the second team.
Rounding out our listening area athletes in Class 1A is a tandem of Lynnville-Sully upperclassmen. Senior outfielder Caden Dunsbergen and junior utility player Elijah Collins have starred in multiple sports for the Hawks and that continued on the diamond with Second Team All-Southeast District honors in 2017.
In Class 2A, only three area players made lists, and all three were listed in different districts.
The lone First Team honoree is Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont junior KJ McCrea, who was listed as the Southeast District shortstop after batting .436 this season.
In the Central District, PCM junior pitcher Noah Henkenius went 6-1 and was named to the Second Team, while Pleasantville’s sophomore catcher Cael Lester hit .429 en route to being named to the Second Team of the Southwest District.
It was an extremely successful baseball season for our listening area, and that was directly reflected by the amount of players that were named by the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association as All-District athletes.
