4 Caston, 3 Winamac baseball players named first-team All-Hoosier North

Pioneer’s Guffey, Miller, Culver’s J. McCuen also named to first team

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Carson Harness Noah Herd Logan Mollenkopf

Baseball

Carson Harness, Noah Herd, Elijah Holloway and Logan Mollenkopf from runner-up Caston were named first-team All-Hoosier North in voting done by the conference’s coaches and released to the media Wednesday.

In addition, Winamac’s Brayden Mathias, Brody Wenzler and Addison Allen joined Pioneer’s Eli Guffey and Noah Miller and Culver’s Jonas McCuen on the first team.

Area players earning honorable mention status included Winamac’s Cody Wheeler, Pioneer’s Dawson Eggers, Culver’s Hunter Albert and Argos’ Willie Barenie.

Caston

Harness went 8-2 with a 1.93 ERA on the mound. In 58 innings, he allowed 39 hits and 16 earned runs while walking 31 and striking out 82. He also hit .230 with one homer and 17 RBIs and a .717 OPS.

Herd, a senior first baseman, hit .395 with two homers and a team-high 29 RBIs and a 1.099 OPS. He also went 3-1 with a .728 ERA on the mound and 29 strikeouts in 25 innings.

Holloway, a sophomore shortstop, hit .457 with a team-high 13 doubles, and he also had 24 RBIs and a 1.200 OPS. He also went 2-2 with a 2.78 ERA on the mound and 33 strikeouts in 27 ⅔ innings.

Logan Mollenkopf, a freshman center fielder, hit .397 with 16 RBIs, and he drew a team-high 30 walks to give him a .573 on-base percentage. He finished with a 1.047 OPS. In the field, he committed only two errors. On the mound, the southpaw went 5-2 with a 3.64 ERA and 53 strikeouts in 42 ⅓ innings.

Winamac

Mathias, a senior shortstop, hit .378 with a team-high 31 hits, a team-high 11 stolen bases, 16 RBIs and a .903 OPS. He also went 2-3 with a 5.12 ERA on the mound covering 26 innings. He yielded 29 hits while striking out 41.

Wenzler, a senior lefty, went 5-4 with a 1.86 ERA while allowing just 28 hits in 56 ⅓ innings and fanning 98. He also hit .341 with 14 RBIs at the plate and an .857 OPS.

Allen, a senior center fielder-pitcher, hit .280 with one homer and 22 RBIs and a .746 OPS. He also stole 10 bases. Allen also went 3-1 with a 2.76 ERA as a pitcher with 43 strikeouts in 33 innings.

Pioneer

Guffey, a junior catcher, hit .436 with one homer and 24 RBIs and a 1.061 OPS. He also stole 14 bases.

Miller, a senior, hit .369 with a team-high 25 RBIs and a team-high 19 stolen bases and a .985 OPS. He also went 3-5 with a 5.53 ERA on the mound while striking 49 in a team-high 38 innings.

Eggers, a senior first baseman, hit .283 and capped his career by going 3 for 3 in a sectional semifinal loss to Tri-County May 31. He had one homer, 16 RBIs and an .863 OPS. He also went 2-1 with a 4.05 ERA and 34 strikeouts in 27 ⅔ innings as a pitcher.

Culver

Jonas McCuen hit .500 and led the team in hits (31), homers (two) and RBIs (19) while finishing with a 1.396 OPS. He also went 3-2 with a 2.37 ERA on the mound and struck out 93 in 47 ⅓ innings while allowing just 31 hits.

Albert, a sophomore first baseman, hit .479 with 13 RBIs and an 1.127 OPS.

Argos

Barenie, a junior, led the Argos pitching staff in strikeouts with 35. He also hit .240 with a .627 OPS while tying for the team lead in hits (12) and RBIs (nine).

Four players from conference champion North Miami made the first team, including conference MVP Braylon McIntire.

Hoosier North final standings

North Miami 15-0, CASTON 13-2, WINAMAC 11-5, Triton 10-6, North Judson 8-8, PIONEER 7-9, CULVER 4-12, Oregon-Davis 2-14, ARGOS 1-15

First-team All-Hoosier North

Jake Riley (North Miami), Ryan Meredith (North Miami), Drew Wright (North Miami), Braylon McIntire (North Miami), CARSON HARNESS (CASTON), NOAH HERD (CASTON), ELIJAH HOLLOWAY (CASTON), LOGAN MOLLENKOPF (CASTON), BRAYDEN MATHIAS (WINAMAC), BRODY WENZLER (WINAMAC), ADDISON ALLEN (WINAMAC), Drew Bingamon (Triton), Braxton Kaufman (Triton), Ayson Harper (North Judson), Caleb Ginder (North Judson), ELI GUFFEY (PIONEER), NOAH MILLER (PIONEER), JONAS MCCUEN (CULVER)

Honorable mention

Michael Cleaver (North Miami), Ray Pickett (North Miami), CODY WHEELER (WINAMAC), Levi McFarland (Triton), Max Johnson (Triton), Brock Benson (North Judson), DAWSON EGGERS (PIONEER), HUNTER ALBERT (CULVER), Drew Cooper (Oregon-Davis), WILLIE BARENIE (ARGOS)

Conference MVP – Braylon McIntire (North Miami)