Mid-Prairie dominant in All-RVC baseball selections

Mid-Prairie had an outstanding season, winning the River Valley Conference South Division for the second straight year. The league’s baseball coaches saw the superior play as evident in the number of Golden Hawks recognized by the RVC in naming its Elite Team and Division Teams.

Almost the entire starting lineup was honored at some level by the league. First-year coach Kyle Mullett was the Coach of the Year. There were four selections to the RVC Elite team in Aidan Rath, Vinnie Bowlin, Karson Grout and Keegan Gingerich.

The South Division team had Cain Brown and Kayden Reinier from Mid-Prairie. Will Cavanagh garnered honorable mention.

The Golden Hawks were an elite hitting team with the top two in number of hits, four of the top six, six of the top 15, seven of best 19 and eight of the top 22. They are Rath (42), Grout (41), Gingerich (37), Reinier (35), Bowlin (29), Brown (28), Cavanagh (23) and Collin Miller (22).

Rath, who led Class 2A in home runs with 12, was picked as a pitcher. He was second in the RVC South in the following categories: 63 strikeouts, opponents batting average at .103, 11 hits, five wins. He was third in both earned run average at 1.60 and walks plus hits per innings pitched (WHIP) at 1.08.

Rath led the league with 94 total bases, 32 more than second and his league leading slugging percentage of 1.106 was .279 more than second at 0.827. His on base percentage of .598 was first and Grout’s .500 was fifth.

Rath (. 494), Grout (. 432) and Gingerich (. 398) were third, fourth and fifth in the South in batting average. Rath (40), Grout (33) and Gingerich (27) were first, third and fifth in runs batted in and Bowlin was ninth with 19.

Grout, Bowlin and Cavanagh were three of the five RVC South players who struck out seven times or less. Bowlin, Gingerich, Rath and Reinier all tied for second in triples. Rath was second in doubles and Grout third. Gingerich was first with 33 singles, Reinier second at 31, Grout third with 30 and Brown tied for sixth with 25. Bowlin and Cavanagh tied for 11th with 22 each.

Reinier led the league in stolen bases with 31, Brown was second with 23 and Gingerich tied for fourth with 16.

Bowlin (. 969) and Brown (. 976) were eighth and seventh in the league in fielding percentage.

Gingerich had a WHIP of 1.54 and Grout 1.71. Grout struck out 31 but walked 24 and opponents batted .189. Opponents batted .186 against Gingerich, who fanned 28 and walked 19. Reinier whiffed 29 with just seven walks, a WHIP of 1.54 and ERA at 3.5.

2021 River Valley Conference Baseball All-Conference Teams

ELITE TEAM

Pitcher — Aidan Rath, Mid-Prairie

Pitcher — Eli Green, Cascade

Pitcher — Nate Dierickx, Durant

Pitcher — Caleb Wulf, West Liberty

Catcher — Cade Rausch, Cascade

Catcher — Vinnie Bowlin, Mid-Prairie

Infield — Karson Grout, Mid-Prairie

Infield — Mike Delzell, Camanche

Infield — Ben Orr, Durant

Infield — Sam Wilt, Anamosa

Outfield — Jack Menster, Cascade

Outfield — Tucker Dickherber, Camanche

Outfield — Nolan DeLong, Durant

Outfield — Justin Recker, Monticello

Utility — Mason Otting, Cascade

Utility — Keegan Gingerich, Mid-Prairie

Utility — Eli Lehrman, Anamosa

SOUTH DIVISION TEAM

Pitcher — Karson Willey, Wilton

Pitcher — Lucas Pierce, West Branch

Pitcher — Adam Connell, Regina

Pitcher — Brady Connor, Tipton

Catcher — Jackson Hull, Wilton

Catcher — Gage Gingerich, West Branch

Infield — Gage Hagen, Wilton

Infield — Cain Brown, Mid-Prairie

Infield — Kayden Reinier, Mid-Prairie

Infield — Keagen Head, Durant

Outfield — Aydin Flockhart, Durant

Outfield — Colby Sawvell, Wilton

Outfield — Sean Nugent, Regina

Outfield — Danny Gavin, Regina

Utility — Ethan Gast, Durant

Utility — Drake Collins, West Liberty

Utility — Davis Webb, Tipton

Coach of the Year — Kyle Mullet, Mid-Prairie

NORTH DIVISION TEAM

Pitcher — Jack Carr, Cascade

Pitcher — Dylan Roher, Monticello

Pitcher — Cade Hughes, Northeast

Pitcher — Zach Erwin, Camanche

Catcher — Mason Byrns, Camanche

Catcher — Caleb Gillmore, Monticello

Infield — Kyle DeWeerdt, Camanche

Infield — Tadan Lange, North Cedar

Infield — Preston Ries, Monticello

Infield — Sam Moraetes, Northeast

Outfield — Nolan McLean, Anamosa

Outfield — Caleb Gruhn, Northeast

Outfield — Tyler Jackson, North Cedar

Utility — Brayden Lodge, Camanche

Utility — Caleb Sauser, Monticello

Utility — Tate Petersen, Monticello

Utility — Kael Parson, Northeast

Coach of the Year — Darryl Cochran, Camanche

HONORABLE MENTION

North Division

Tyler Luensman, Monticello

Alijah Dopson, Northeast

Gage Wallshire, North Cedar

Jensen Wedeking, Bellevue

Grahm Humpal, Anamosa

Morgan Butt, Camanche

Ted Weber, Cascade

South Division

Lake Newton, West Liberty

Nolan Townsend, Wilton

Cam Lehman, Regina

Gavin Hierseman, West Branch

Caden Schmidt, Tipton

Koby Paulsen, Durant

Will Cavanagh, Mid-Prairie

RIVER VALLEY CONFERENCE FINAL STANDINGS

SOUTH DIVISION

Team RVC record Overall

Mid-Prairie 14-4 19-8

Durant 14-5 18-8

Wilton 12-9 17-11

Regina 10-8 14-15

West Liberty 8-11 10-15

Tipton 4-15 7-23

West Branch 4-18 5-26

NORTH DIVISION

Team RVC record Overall

Camanche 16-3 24-6

Cascade 16-3 19-10

Monticello 13-5 16-14

Anamosa 11-8 20-20

Northeast 9-10 12-15

Bellevue 2-17 2-20

North Cedar 1-17 2-20