2023 SEC All-Conference baseball selections

The Southeast Conference baseball season once brought baseball fans plenty of drama.

With the season now concluded for the six SEC teams, it’s now time to take a look at the 2023 All-Conference baseball team.

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The SEC had a tough go in the postseason as no team made it to the final round.

Of the three Union area squads, Mt. Pleasant advanced the farthest as the Panthers got past Fairfield in the opening round before losing to state qualifying Marion in the second.

Washington was downed by Davenport Assumption in the first round.

In SEC play, Burlington ran away with the conference crown once again with a 13-1 record.

Fairfield followed with a 9-6 record. Mt. Pleasant finished third at 8-7. Fort Madison and Keokuk went 5-10, while Washington ended 4-10.

The All-SEC teams were reflective of the team finals as Burlington led the way with seven selections.

Fairfield and Mt. Pleasant each had five picks.

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Keokuk had four and Fort Madison three. Washington ended with two selections.

Leading the Union area was Fairfield senior pitcher Tate Allen, who was a first-team selection. Allen not only earned first-team honors, but has been named this year’s Player of the Year.

Allen was one of the top pitchers in the area and got the job done in both the field, mostly playing shortstop, and at the plate.

Allen led the Trojans on the hill, compiling a 5-2 record. With an earned runs average of 2.03, on 45 hits, 17 runs (14 earned) and 57 strikeouts. Allen held opponents to an average of .245.

At the plate, Allen also hit .316 tallying a team-high 28 runs, 31 hits with 17 RBIs and 36 walks.

Also for Fairfield, junior Tallon Bates was a first-team selection in outfield.

Bates hit .315 through the season while posting 28 hits, 27 RBIs and 24 walks. Bates also did quite of bit of pitching for the Trojans. He threw in nine games, with an ERA of 3.42. Through those nine, opponents batted .172 against him as he gave up 20 hits, 24 runs (15 earned) with 31 strikeouts.

On second-team for the Trojans are a trio of players in pitcher and freshman Dain Burkhart.

Junior infielder Landon Nodruft earns a spot of the second-team list.

Fellow junior Caden Allison, who did much of the work at first-base this season was selected as Utility.

Honorable mention’s for the Trojans include freshman Aiden Westercamp and junior Aidan Kreuter.

For Mt. Pleasant, Zerek Venghaus was the lone first-team pick as utility.

Venghaus did a little bit of everything for the Panthers, whether it be pitching, playing in the field for hitting in the box.

Venghaus batted .371 in his final high school season, tallying team-highs in runs, 21, and hits, 26, with 12 RBIs. He was also earned 15 walks.

On the hill, Venghaus threw in nine games and finished with an ERA of 2.07. He allowed 23 hits, 18 runs (eight earned), while strikingout 22.

On second-team, Mt. Pleasant has a quartet of selections, which includes junior pitcher Ben Newton, senior catcher Carter Amos, sophomore outfielder Payton Walker and senior utility Jake Ensminger.

The Panther’s pair of honorable mentions are junior Payson Coleman and sophomore J.C. Sitar.

For Washington, two seniors grace the first-team list.

Ethan Patterson was selected as an infielder.

The senior led the Demons with a batting average of .329 and finished with a team-high 25 hits with 14 runs and seven RBIs.

The final first-team selection for Washington is Isaac Vetter as a utility.

Vetter was not only one of the Demons top batters, but also did a lot of work on the mound as well.

With the bat, Vetter hit .311 on the season, second-best behind Patterson.

He finished with 23 hits, 12 runs and seven RBIs.

On the mound, Vetter finished the season with an ERA of 4.83. He held the opposition to an average of .211. Vetter allowed 32 runs (23 earned) on 35 hits with a team-high of 21 strikeouts.

Washington had no second-team selections.

Juniors Caleb Zieglowsky and Luke Beenblossom were both honorable mention picks.

The full All-SEC lists can be found below, which includes the all-academic team.

ALL-SEC FIRST TEAM

Position Player Class School

P Kyler Schwartz Senior Burlington

P Josh Zahner Junior Burlington

C Bryor Lindner Senior Keokuk

IF Hunter Ford Senior Burlington

IF Ethan Patterson Senior Washington

IF Blake Chase Sophomore Keokuk

IF Kane Williams Senior Fort Madison

OF Moise Cordero Senior Burlington

OF Brennan Ulik Senior Fort Madison

OF Tallon Bates Junior Fairfield

U Isaac Vetter Senior Washington

U Zerek Venghaus Senior Mt. Pleasant

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Tate Allen Senior Fairfield

ALL-SEC SECOND TEAM

Position Player Class School

P Ben Newton Junior Mt. Pleasant

P Alex Fawcett Senior Burlington

P Dain Burkhart Freshman Fairfield

C Carter Amos Senior Mt. Pleasant

IF Landon Nodruft Junior Fairfield

IF Hunter Cresswell Junior Fort Madison

IF Jacob Lantz Junior Keokuk

IF Christos Kantzavelos Junior Burlington

OF Brenton Hoard Sophomore Keokuk

OF Payton Walker Sophomore Mt. Pleasant

OF Logan Messer Sophomore Burlington

U Jake Ensminger Senior Mt. Pleasant

U Caden Allison Junior Fairfield

All-SEC HONORABLE MENTION

Player Class School

Noah Nixon Senior Burlington

Aiden Westercamp Freshman Fairfield

Aidan Kreuter Junior Fairfield

Tatem Schelich Sophomore Fort Madison

Cason Barnes Sophomore Fort Madison

Bennett Church Sophomore Keokuk

Brendan Worster Junior Keokuk

Payson Coleman Junior Mt. Pleasant

J.C. Sitar Sophomore Mt. Pleasant

Caleb Zieglowsky Junior Washington

ALL-SEC ACADEMIC TEAM

BURLINGTON

Moise Cordero

Alex Fawcett

Hunter Ford

Drake Timmerman

Christos Kantzavelos

Josh Zahner

FAIRFIELD

Tate Allen

Caden Allison

Tallen Bates

Nate Konczal

Aidan Kreuter

KEOKUK

Bryor Lindner

Brendan Worster

FORT MADISON

Kane Williams

MT. PLEASANT

Elliott Cook

Zerek Venghaus

WASHINGTON

Luke Beenblossom

Chase Greiner

Noah Greiner

Ethan Patterson

James Strabala

Isaac Vetter