Fleener Named Decatur H&R Coach of Year, Belleville Earns Player of the Year

Teutopolis High School's Justin Fleener earned the Decatur Herald & Review Baseball Coach of the Year honor.

Fleener guided his team to a Class 3A state championship this season, their third under Fleener. Fleener has been named the Decatur Herald & Review Coach of the Year seven times in his 17 year career at Teutopolis. Other years were 2003, 2004, 2005, 2010, 2011, and 2013.

The Shoes finished the spring season with a 31-6 record.

T-town's Lane Belleville was named the Player of the Year. He led the Wooden Shoes with a .438 batting average and had 11 doubles and five home runs. He went 7-0 on the mound, going 49 innings and striking out 59.

Two other Teutopolis players earned First Team honors. Those included Eric Kremer, a junior pitcher, who had an 8-0 record, a 1.17 ERA and 66 strikeouts in 48 innings and Carson Hartke, a senior shortstop who had a .404 average with 14 doubles and five home runs.

Effingham's Lane Koenig and Effingham St. Anthony's Drew Gibson also earned First Team honors.

Koenig, a senior pitcher, finished with a 5-0 record, a 1.82 ERA and 39 strikeouts in 34 2/3 innings. He came up big in the regional championship earning the Hearts a win over Charleston.

Gibson, a senior first baseman, hit .542 with 18 extra base hits and nine stolen bases.

Another area player was Newton's Mitch Bierman, a senior catcher. Bierman had a .436 batting average.

Other players were Vandalia's Richie Well, a senior shortstop/pitcher, Monticello's Luke Stokowski, a junior rightfielder/pitcher, Okaw Valley's Garrett Fritz, a junior catcher/pitcher, Tuscola's Dalton Hoel, a junior shortstop and Central A&M's Keaton Garner, a senior shortstop.

Four more area players were named to the Second Team. Those included St. Anthony's Adam Levitt, a junior, who had a 1.10 ERA with 41 strikeouts in 38 1/2 innings; Effingham's Brent Beals, a pitcher who also hit big with 17 doubles and four home runs; T-town's Cody Jansen,a catcher, with a 99.2 fielding percent and hit six home runs and Neoga's Caleb Hill, a junior, who hit .486 with six doubles and five home runs.

Other players named were Tuscola's Noah Pierce and Andrew Erickson, Shelbyville's Payton Howell, Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond's Marcus Vanausdoll, Sullivan's Brett Tuttle, Taylorville's Nic Lavin, Clinton's Mac Hickman and Charleston's Sam Gubbins.

Area players who earned Honorable Mention were Justin Brown, sophomore, Cumberland; Brock Bueker, senior, Teutopolis; Brant Bueker, senior,  Teutopolis; Christian Grissom, junior, Cumberland; Mitch Jansen, senior, Newton; Hayden Kanizer, senior, Cumberland; Zach Lee, sophomore, Effingham; Nate Meinhart, senior, Newton; Caden Miller, senior, Altamont; Kaleb Whitt, Altamont and Justin Yurs, senior, Neoga.