Decatur Herald & Review All-area baseball, softball, boys and girls track teams released

By Mike Monahan

DECATUR – The Decatur Herald & Review released its baseball, softball, boys track and girls track area teams.

On the nine-member first team baseball was Arthur Lovington Atwood Hammond’s Will Hilligoss. Making the nine member third team was ALAH’s Marcus Otto. On the 24 member honorable mention team was Donovan Vanausdoll of ALAH along with Cerro Gordo/Bement’s Kayden Waterhouse and Cole Giberson.

The player of the year was Connor Fox of Mount Zion, while the coach of the year was Maroa-Forsyth’s Luke Azzarelli.

In softball no one from the County Chronicle was on the nine-member first team, but on the nine-member second team was ALAH’s Sophie Monts.

The player of the year was Meridian’s Shelby Renfro, while the coach of the year was Meridian’s Greg Streeval.

There were a total of 20 on the first team, including three sprinters, three distance runners, three hurdlers, and two pole vaulters. It was the same for the girls track and field.

No one from the Record-Herald News was on the boys track and field, where Tuscola’s Kamden Flenner was named the Athlete of the Year.

Klaire Eighner of Maroa-Forsyth was the athlete of the year in girls track and field, while ALAH’s Bella Romine was listed as a jumper and Cerro Gordo/Bement’s Maddie Willard was listed as pole vaulter.

BASEBALL
Hilligoss, a recent grad of ALAH, helped the Knights, coached by David McGrath, go 21-10 overall and 9-1 in the LPC, good for second place. Hilligoss led the team with a .472 batting average and was tops in hits (50), extra base hits (16-seven doubles, five triples, four home runs), second in runs batted in with 33 and second in runs (40). Second in stolen bases (26). The Knights won its first Class 1A regional and second-ever regional (winning Class A in 2005 as Arthur-Lovington co-op).

Otto hit .394 with a .512 on-base percentage with 39 hits (second), and a team-high 28 singles and was third in runs scored with 36; second in walks with 22 and third in stolen bases with 18. He pitched a team-high 41 ⅔ innings, started a team-high nine games with a 3.36 earned run average.

SOFTBALL
Monts, who missed half of the season with an injury (played in 19 of the 28 games), finished her junior year with a team-high .603 batting average, 41 hits, third in runs batted in with 23, struck out just three times and was tops in stolen bases with 16. She also pitched 19 ⅔ innings and was in eight games. She had an earned run average of 3.20, to lead the team.

GIRLS TRACK AND FIELD
Romine, coached by Ryan Jefferson, and a sophomore, had never done the long or triple jump before this season. She earned seventh place in the long jump and 20th in the triple with jumps of 16-1 and a season-best 35-8 respectively. Her best long jump was 17-3 ¾ in the Shelbyville Sectional.

Willard, a freshman, coached by Chris Ridgeway, placed ninth in the state Class 1A meet in the pole vault going a season-best 10-0.