With a Tuesday loss in the Class 2A State Baseball Tournament quarterfinals, Roland-Story (Story City) became the last Heart of Iowa Activities Conference school to ends its 2015 season, so all-conference selections can now be announced. Gilbert won the conference title with Greene County and Saydel (Des Moines) tying for second place.
The Rams were 19-11 overall and 14-14 in HOIAC games, and they had seven players receive recognition of some kind from league coaches. Senior pitcher Riah Nelsen, senior catcher Jordan Challen, and junior outfielder Daric Whipple were first team selections. Senior infielder Jordan Hostetler and junior outfielder Tyler Beger were both on the second team, with seniors Colton Fitzpatrick and Alex Rasmussen on the honorable mention list.
Nelsen went 7-2 for the season with a 1.28 earned run average. He 75 strikeouts and just 26 walks in 49-1/3 innings. Nelsen also batted .430 with one home run and 20 runs batted in. Challen had a .315 batting average with 13 runs batted in. He was also credited with throwing out 12 of 28 runners attempting to steal. Whipple played center field and batted leadoff. He had a .440 batting average with one home run, 18 RBI, and he was 38 for 40 stealing bases.
Hostetler played third base and he hit .381, doubling his batting average from 2014. He drove in 14 runs. Beger hit .394 from the number nine position in the lineup with 14 RBI, and he played right field.
Fitpatrick played second base and pitched. He went 3-4 on the mound with a 1.20 ERA. In 52-1/3 innings, he struck out 56 batters and walked just 20. At the plate, Fitzpatrick batted .253 with a team best 25 RBI. Rasmussen played first base and had two HR with 23 batted in. He hit .311 overall and his glove saved numerous errors by teammates.
Heart of Iowa Activities Conference baseball first team (senior unless noted):
Pitchers- Riah Nelsen, Greene County; Evan Johnson, Gilbert
Catchers- Jordan Challen, Greene County; Zach Paul, Gilbert
Infield- Jared Gescheidler, Gilbert (Unanimous); Devin Porter, Saydel, soph.; Joe Seuferer, Saydel, jr.; Tyler Hovick, Roland-Story, jr.
Outfield- Nick Day, Gilbert (Unanimous), jr; Daric Whipple, Greene County, jr.; Clay Cooper, PCM, jr.
Utility- Rece Martin, Saydel, jr.; Dax Hatfield, Gilbert
Second team:
Pitchers- Brady Stover, CMB, jr.; Wes Greder, Gilbert.
Catchers- Jerod DeVries, PCM; Joe Boehler, Saydel, soph.
Infield- Jacob Adams, Gilbert; Jordan Hostetler, Greene County; Alex Muhlenburg, R-S; Seth Balke, CMB.
Outfield- Blake Brauer, North Polk; Tyler Beger, Greene County, jr.; Traye Pelzer, Nevada; Blake Barquist, South Hamilton, soph.
Utility- Brett Haun, NP, jr.; Matt Antle, NP, soph.