Local Baseball Players Named to All-Area Team

Several area players were named to the Decatur Herald & Review All-Area Baseball Teams.

Effingham High School's Mason Hull and Zach Lee and Teutopolis High School's Cody Jansen and Eric Kremer were all named to the First Team.

Hull, a senior shortstop, had a .571 batting average with seven home runs.

Lee, a junior pitcher, reached 94 miles per hour on the rarar gun, struck out 62 batters in 44 2/3 innings and had an .078 ERA. He has commited to attending the University of Kentucky.

Jansen, a senior infielder and pitcher, hit .411 with nine home runs and 30 RBI. He was 8-1 on the pitching mound with a 2.22 ERA and 61 strikeouts.

Kremer, a senior pitcher/infielder, had a .404 batting average with three home runs and 28 RBI. On the mound he struck out 78 batters in 41 1/3 innings.

Other members of the First Team were Garrett Fritz, senior catcher/pitcher for Okaw Valley, Dalton Hoel, senior shortstop for Tuscola, Luke Stokowski, senior outfielder/pitcher for Monticello, Andrew Erickson, senior utitlity player from Tuscola, Garrett Branson, senior utility player for Mattoon, Austin Harshman, senior outfielder/pitcher for Okaw Valley and Noah Pierce, senior pitcher for Tuscola.

T-town's Lee Hardiek and Drew Thoele and Newton's Noah Wagy were named to the Second Team.

Hardiek played infield and was a pitcher. The senior hit .336 and had a 2.18 ERA with 45 strikeouts.

Thoele was versatile as he played both infield and outfield and caught for the Shoes. The senior hit .327 with three home runs and drove in 38 runs, 20 came with two outs.

Wagy, a senior outfielder, hit .520 with nine home runs, 10 doubles and had 25 RBI.

Other members of the Second Team were Ben Fricke, a junior catcher from Mount Pulaski, Tyler Meinhold, a senior infielder from Tuscola, Cody Drake, a senior outfielder from Okaw Valley, Alek Bundy, a junior outfielder from Monticello, Payton Howell, a senior utility player from Shelbyville, Mac Hick, a senior pitcher from Clinton, Tanner Coleman, senior pitcher from Okaw Valley and Brayden VonLanken, a junior first baseman/pitcher from Tuscola.

Named to the Third Team were Effingham's Ryan Sandifer (senior outfielder), Effingham St. Anthony's Joe Kabbes (senior utility player), Effingham St. Anthony's Colin Koester (junior pitcher), Effingham St. Anthony's Adam Levitt (pitcher), Altamont's Kaleb Whitt (senior catcher/pitcher) made the Third Team along with North Clay's Jordan Bloemer (senior infielder), Windsor/Stewardson-Strasburg's Issac Kramer (senior infielder) and Newton's Zach Jansen (senior pitcher).

Other members of the Third Team are Quinny Martz, a senior infielder from Shelbyville, Drew Martin, a freshman utility player from Mount Pulaski and Sam Hagerman, a utility player from Okaw Valley.

Local players named Honorable Mention were Dalton Armes (Windsor/Stew-Stras), Kendall Ballman (Effingham), Gavin Braunecker (Effingham St. Anthony), Justin Brown (Cumberland), Lewis Brown (Brownstown/St. Elmo), Ryley Brown (Cumberland), Brennyn Cutts (Cumberland), Bryson Cutts (Cumberland), Michael Flier (Cumberland), Evan Fritcher (Neoga), Reid Mathenia (Cumberland), Alex Talley (Cumberland) and Noah Teasley (Altamont).