Decatur Herald & Review All-area baseball, softball, boys and girls track teams released
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Tuscola’s Flenner boys track and field athlete of the year
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 Arcola’s Brevyn Whisman and Arthur Lovington Atwood Hammond’s Will Hilligoss. On the nine-member second team was Tuscola’s Connor Musgrave. Making the nine member third team were Arcola’s Brody Phillps and ALAH’s Marcus Otto. On the 24 member honorable mention team were Donovan Vanausdoll of ALAH; Jackson Griffith of Arcola and Evan Englehardt along with Jon Pettry of Tuscola.
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 were ALAH’s Sophie Monts and Kinzie Cleland of Tuscola. Earring a spot on the 21-member honorable mention team were: Tuscola’s Alaina Smith and Ava Whitson.
The player of the year was Meridian’s Shelby Renfro, while the coach of the year was Meridian’s Greg Streeval.
In boys track and field Tuscola’s Kamden Fleener was the athlete of the year and was the only one from the County Chronicle area to win athlete of the year or player of the year in the four spring sports.
The Tuscola 4×200 was one of two relays named. That team was Calvin Cook, Bradlee Washington and Sawyer Beachy along with Fleener. Two of the four throwers were from Tuscola in Brayden Weaver and Trey Waldrop.
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.
Klaire Eighner of Maroa-Forsyth was the athlete of the year in girls track and field, while Tuscola’s Kate Foltz was listed as a distance runner; ALAH’s Bella Romine as a jumper and Cerro Gordo/Bement’s Maddie Willard was listed as pole vaulter.
BASEBALL
Whisman, a recent grad of Arcola, batted .541 with a .649 on-base percentage, 40 hits, eight home runs, 39 runs batted in with 36 runs (second). The stats, except for runs scored, led the Purple Riders, coached by Mike Phillips, to an 11-11 overall season and a third place finish in the Lincoln Prairie Conference at 7-3. On the mound, the Quincy University bound player, pitched a team-high 47 ⅓ innings, started in 8 games also a team-high and had 91 strikeouts (led the team), 38 walks and was second in earned run average at 1.92. Opponents batted .159 against Whisman.
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).
Tuscola’s Musgrave, a junior, hit .385 to lead coach Caleb Englehardt’s team that went 18-15 overall and 5-5 in the Central Illinois Conference. He led in hits with 40, runs batted in with 36, doubles with 11 and home runs with five. He also led in stolen bases (12). He was third in earned run average at 2.24, going 4-1 and appearing in 11 games. He allowed 11 walks in 34 ⅓ innings and had 41 (third) strikeouts.
Phillips, a junior, hit .342 (third on the team) third in doubles with seven, led the team in triples with three and first in runs scored (37), second in walks with 21 and a team-high 28 stolen bases. On the mound he was in a team-high 14 games and allowed just six runs in 33 innings 62 strikeouts (second) and 16 walks (tied for season-low). He led the team in earned run average at 1.27 and was 5-1.
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.
Cleland, who is headed to Parkland College, led the 10-17 Lady Warriors, who were 1-6 in the CIC, with a team-high .396 batting average. She had a team-high 36 hits with eight doubles. She led the team in lowest earned run average at 3.66, appearing in 24 games, with 105 ⅓ innings thrown, 55 earned runs with 109 strikeouts and just 20 walks. The Lady Warriors are coached by Halle Kerns.
BOYS TRACK AND FIELD
Flenner earned IHSA Class 1A state medals in all four of his events. The recent graduate of Tuscola, was second in the 200 (21.35), fourth in the 100 (10.73) and anchored the 4×200 to second place (1:28.21) and the 4×100 to sixth place (42.84). His 10.39 earlier in the season was the best mark in 1A. He helped coach Ryan Hornaday’s team place fourth overall.
The 4×200 relay and the 4×100 also consisted of recent graduate Calvin Cook, junior Bradlee Washington and sophomore Sawyer Beachy. The 1:28.21 was a season-best.
Weaver, a sophomore, finished eighth in the shot put (52-5 ½) and 15th in the discus 148-5. His season bests were 54-11 ¼ and 155-4 respectively.
Recent Tuscola grad Waldrop was 15th in the shot put (50-6) and 29th in the discus (139-2). His season-best in the shot put of 55-0 was the fifth best in Class 1A and his best in the discus was 152-10.
GIRLS TRACK AND FIELD
Foltz, a recent graduate of Tuscola, will be running at the University of Illinois. Foltz was fifth in the 3,200 with a season-best 11:01.21. She was also 12th in the 1,600 with a time of 5:21.82 in the finals for coach Drew Sterkel. Her best time this season in the 1,600 was 5:13.41.
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.