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Washington Evening Journal
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Ravens, Hawks highlight All-Union team
Small school baseball squad has 3 from Hillcrest, Mid-Prairie
The 2024 small school baseball season was filled with parity, as several key conference games went down to the wire, especially in the Southeast Iowa Super Conference North Division, which hosts the most of the Union area’s small school.
This season saw a conference championship for Hillcrest Academy in the SEISC North and Mid-Prairie won the River Valley South.
Highland and Pekin both battled for the North Division title, but only the teams in Kalona and Wellman could bring home a conference title, and the All-Union squad reflects that.
Six of the 14 names on the 2024 small school team wore either Hillcrest Academy or Mid-Prairie colors this summer.
Coach: Danny Hershberger, Hillcrest Academy
The Hillcrest Academy baseball team lost just five games for the second-straight season under Coach Danny Hershberger, who earns our nod for coach.
The Ravens went 16-5 overall this season and 9-2 in North Division play, narrowly edging rival Highland for the conference championship.
Hershberger’s crew won one game in the Substate tournament, holding on to beat HLV 5-4 before falling in a nail-biting 7-6 loss in the second round. That tied the mark for the furthest postseason run of any of our small school teams.
Captain: Tatem Telfer, junior, Mid-Prairie
It’s no surprise why Mid-Prairie’s Tatem Telfer was the Union area’s lone All-State baseball player in 2024. He was one of the best at the plate and on the mound in the entire area.
Telfer led the Golden Hawks with a .382 batting average this fall and also smashed a team-leading five home runs. He paced the Golden Hwaks with 31 RBIs, and added four doubles as well.
Our 2024 All-Union captain was brilliant on the mound. He finished the year with a 1.95 era, holding opponents to an anemic .024 batting average. He went 5-1 on the year with 70 strikeouts.
P: Rowan Miller, sophomore, Hillcrest Academy
Hillcrest’s conference championship was helped out by a strong group of arms. One of them was Rowan Miller, a sophomore who went 5-0 on the bump this season.
Miller finished the year with a 2.03 ERA, and struck out 34 opposing batters, to lead the team.
He was also fantastic at the plate, leading the Ravens with a .407 batting average and 23 RBIs on the year.
P: Brady Weber, junior, Mid-Prairie
Mid-Prairie had some of the best arms in the River Valley, and sophomore Brady Weber ws one of the best.
Weber went 3-2 on the mound this season, finishing with a 1.78 ERA and 45 strikeouts.
At the plate, Weber hit .318 on the year with 17 RBIs.
C: Liam Schrock, junior, Hillcrest Academy
One of the top catchers in Southeast Iowa again was junior Liam Schrock, who hit .364 for Hillcrest Academy, the second-best mark on the team.
Schrock led the Ravens with three home runs on the season, and also finished with six doubles, one triple and 14 RBIs. He had the best on base percentage on the squad, thanks in part to 19 drawn walks and getting hit by five pitches.
INF: Gavin Menke-Bailey, junior, New London
There aren’t many players in the SEISC South that can say they did what Gavin Menke-Bailey did this season.
The New London junior hit .435 this season with five doubles, three home runs and a triple. All of those marks led the team, and he co-led the squad with 14 RBIs.
INF: William Dunbar, junior, Highland
Highland’s William Dunbar bursted up the SEISC North hitting list this season, leading the Huskies by a full 40 points in batting average, with a .373.
Dunbar hit a team-leading eight doubles this year, sent one ball over the fence and finished second on the squad with 17 RBIs.
INF: Lucas Fett, senior, Van Buren County
One of the top players on last year’s state tournament team, senior Lucas Fett had some more magic in him this summer.
Fett led Van Buren County with a .400 batting average this season. He hit five doubles and 12 RBIs, while also drawing 16 walks, putting his OPS over a thousand, and 1.081.
INF: Tanner Waterhouse, senior, Keota
Rounding out the infield is Keota’s Tanner Waterhouse, who had himself quite the senior season.
Waterhouse hit .419 this year, the only Eagle above .400. He finished the season with four doubles, one triple and 11 RBIs, while drawing a team-high 14 walks.
OF: Riley Kaalberg, junior, Columbus/WMU
It took a lot to try and keep junior outfielder Riley Kaalberg off the bases this year for Columbus/Winfield-Mount Union.
Kaalberg hit an impressive .431 on the season to lead his team. He had five doubles at the plate and one home run, the only bomb for the Wolves this summer.
OF: Henry Adam, freshman, Pekin
The lone freshman on the 2024 small school baseball squad is Pekin’s Henry Adam.
Adam ws one of the toughest players in the entire SEISC to get out, hitting .369 this season. One-third of his hits went for two bases, as he led the Panthers with eight doubles, and also knocked in seven RBIs.
OF: Logan McFarland, junior, Highland
Highland’s Logan McFarland had a strong year at the plate for the Huskies, hitting .333 and leading the team with 18 RBIs.
The junior outfielder had four doubles on the year, and hit one of only two Highland triples this season.
UTIL: Cayden Courtney, sophomore, Cardinal
Cardinal’s Cayden Courtney showed he was one of the best underclassmen in thee South Central Conference this year, hitting a scolding-hot .413 to lead the Comets.
Courtney finished the year with a team-leading nine doubles and knocked in 11 runs, a major reason Cardinal doubled their season win total from last season.
UTIL: Bowen Burmeister, senior, Mid-Prairie
Golden Hawk senior Bowen Burmeister was the ultimate utility man the year, doing it all for the team on both offense and defense.
Burmeister hit .360 this season and was one of three Mid-Prairie players to go over 20 RBIs, finishing the summer with 22 runs batted in, to go along with six doubles and one triple.
Burmister ate up innings on the mound as well, going 4-2 on the season with a 4.14 ERA and 28 strikeouts.
