Mt. Pleasant, IA- The Southeast Conference (SEC) released their All-Conference teams last night and Fairfield led the way with five First Team honorees after winning the conference outright for the first time since 2018 with a 12-3 record.

SEC Player of the Year

Ben Newton, Senior: Mt. Pleasant

First Team Pitchers

Dain Burkhart, Sophomore: Fairfield

Nate Konczal, Senior: Fairfield

Ben Newton, Senior: Mt. Pleasant

First Team Infield

Caden Allsion (Catcher), Senior: Fairfield

Christos Kantzavelos, Senior: Burlington

Blake Chase, Junior: Keokuk

Luke Beenblossom, Senior: Washington

Cason Miller, Junior: Fairfield

First Team Outfield

Gabe Robinson, Senior: Burlington

Aiden Kreuter, Senior: Fairfield

Payson Coleman, Senior: Mt. Pleasant

First Team Utility

Kael Williams, Sophomore: Washington

Hunter Cresswell, Senior: Fort Madison

Breakdown

For Fairfield, Dain Burkhart and Nate Konczal were named All-Conference First Team pitchers along with their battery mate and senior Caden Allison. This trio helped Fairfield finish second in the SEC with a 4.06 ERA and a conference best 1.57 WHIP.

Konczal led the SEC with a 1.82 ERA, holding his opponents to a 0.199 batting average. Burkhart finished the season with a 4.31 ERA and 29 strikeouts to capture five wins. Caden Allison caught four batters stealing while batting 0.337 with an SEC-best 32 RBIs.

Cason Miller had a fine season with a 0.333/0.456/0.459 slash line, including a triple and 26 RBIs, while committing only 13 errors. Aiden Kreuter finished with one of the best batting averages in the SEC with a 0.397 average along with the third best on-base percentage of 0.505.

Mt. Pleasant took second in the conference standings with a 10-4 record with Payson Coleman garnering First Team All-Conference outfielder honors. The senior finished the season with a batting average of 0.333 and collected 14 RBIs with a home run. Additionally, he was 6^th in the SEC in steals with 15 and 3^rd in runs scored with 32.

Ben Newton was named First Team pitcher as he finished the year with a 9-1 record with 55 strikeouts and an ERA of 3.66. Newton picked up a complete game postseason win as well against Fort Madison. Along with his stellar play on the mound, the senior also batted 0.366 for the season with a home run and 26 RBIs to help him finish as the SEC Player of the Year.

Burlington finished with an 8-6 conference record, which placed them in third. Cristos Kantzavelos was a big reason for the Grayhounds success with a 0.376 batting average and his fourth best 31 runs scored. His 0.525 slugging percentage also ranked second in the SEC. Moreover, his 18 steals were tops in the conference.

Gabe Robinson collected a batting average of 0.321, while totaling 15 walks. He tied with Kantzavelos and Payton Hagans for the conference lead in triples with two, while knocking home 22 runs.

Hunter Cresswell was the ultimate definition of a utility player for Fort Madison as the senior batted 0.304 with two home runs and 13 RBIs. The senior was also the ace with a 3.45 ERA and an SEC-best 57 strikeouts. He would bounce in between the corner infield spots on defense.

Despite his limited stats, Blake Chase was a top hitter in the SEC for Keokuk. In his 19 games of stats provided, he had a slash line of 0.491/0.600/0.912 with four home runs and 28 RBIs with 10 doubles, which was 3^rd in the SEC.

Washington’s Kael Williams was a quality utility player for the Demons this year, as the sophomore hit 0.320 on the season while scoring 24 runs. His 17 steals tied him for second with fellow Demon Luke Beenblossom.

Second Team Pitchers

Evan Hecox, Junior: Burlington

Brenton Hoard, Junior: Keokuk

Payton Hagans, Senior: Mt. Pleasant

Second Team Infield

Caleb Zieglowsky (Catcher), Senior: Washington

Luke Konczal, Junior: Fairfield

Brayton Hutson, Junior: Mt. Pleasant

Josh Zahner, Senior: Burlington

J.C. Sitar, Junior: Mt. Pleasant

Second Team Outfield

Conner Leyden, Junior: Washington

Tallon Bates, Senior: Fairfield

Ian Mason, Junior: Burlington

Second Team Utility

Aiden Westercamp, Sophomore: Fairfield

Noah Krieger, Sophomore: Burlington

Honorable Mentions

Fairfield: Landon Nodurft and Sam Weaton.

Washington: Richardson and Brady Krantz.

Fort Madison: Reece Huey and Luke Hellige.

Keokuk: Drake Anderson and Jacob Lantz.

Burlington: Logan Messer.

Mt. Pleasant: Zach Newton and Payton Walker.

Academic All-Conference

Player Team

Christos Kantzavelos Burlington

Ian Mason Burlington

Dylan Chenoweth Burlington

Josh Zahner Burlington

Matthew Mercer Burlington

Evan Hecox Burlington

Cade Allison Fairfield

Luke Konczal Fairfield

Nate Konczal Fairfield

Aidan Kreuter Fairfield

Cason Miller Fairfield

Tallon Bates Fairfield

Antonio Manning Fairfield

Ethan Cass Fairfield

Hunter Cresswell Ft. Madison

Brody Cashman Ft. Madison

Luke Hellige Ft. Madison

Brenden Worster Keokuk

Drake Anderson Keokuk

Blake Chase Keokuk

Brenton Hoard Keokuk

Owen Baker Mt. Pleasant

Payton Walker Mt. Pleasant

Nathaniel Edmonds Washington

Conner Leyden Washington

Joel Meyer Washington

Mason Morgan Washington

Luke Schieber Washington

Luke Beenblossom Washington

High School Postseason Baseball

The Class 1A state qualifiers are Akron-Westfield, Remsen St. Mary’s, Newman Catholic, South Winneshiek, North Linn, Sigourney, Lynnville-Sully, and Bedford. 

The Class 2A state qualifiers are Unity Christian, Aplington-Parkersburg, New Hampton, Wilton, Sumner-Fredericksburg, Pleasantville, Chariton, and Underwood.

In Class 3A Substate 5, Central DeWitt’s bats punched their ticket to the state tournament as the Sabers downed Assumption 10-2. 

The other Class 3A state qualifiers are Bishop Heelan, North Polk, Center Point-Urbana, Wahlert Catholic, Marion, Pella, and Harlan Community.

Claiming a spot in the state tournament for Class 4A are Waukee, Dallas Center-Grimes, Johnston, Dowling Catholic, Cedar Rapids Kennedy, Waukee Northwest, Iowa City High, and Pleasant Valley.

The Class 1A and 2A state tournaments will take place in Carroll, while Class 3A and 4A will play in Cedar Rapids.

SEC Baseball All-Conference Teams

The Southeast Conference released their All-Conference teams last night and Fairfield leads the way with five First Team honorees, while Mt. Pleasant, Washington, and Burlington all tout two.

For Fairfield, who won the conference with a 12-3 record, Dain Burkhart and Nate Konczal were named All-Conference First Team pitchers along with their battery mate and senior Caden Allison. Cason Miller was a First Team infielder and Aidan Kreuter nabbed First Team outfielder.

Luke Konczal, Tallon Bates, and Aiden Westercamp were named All-Conference Second Team. Landon Nodurft and Sam Weaton were Honorable Mentions.

Mt. Pleasant took second in the conference standings with a 10-4 record with Payson Coleman garnering First Team All-Conference outfielder honors. The senior finished the season with a batting average north of 0.320 and collected 14 RBIs. Ben Newton was named First Team pitcher as he finished the year with a 9-1 record with 55 strikeouts and an ERA of 3.66.

Brayton Hutson, J.C. Sitar, and Payton Hagans were named Second Team All-Conference. Zach Newton and Payton Walker were Honorable Mentions.

Burlington finished with an 8-6 conference record, which placed them in third place. Seniors Cristos Kantzavelos was named First Team All-Conference infielder and Gabe Robinson made the First Team for the outfield.

Evan Hecox, Josh Zahner, Ian Mason, and Noah Krieger were named to the Second Team. Logan Messer was an Honorable Mention.

Hunter Cresswell was the lone First Team nomination for Fort Madison as the senior claimed a utility spot. Reece Huey and Luke Hellige took home Honorable Mention.

Keokuk finished conference play with a 4-11 record and Blake Chase grabbed First Team All-Conference infielder. Brenton Hoard tabbed Second Team honors. Drake Anderson and Jacob Lantz were Honorable Mentions.

Kael Williams was First Team All-Conference utility for Washington. Caleb Zieglowsky and Conner Leyden were Second Team honorees. Blayze Richardson and Brady Krantz made the Honorable Mention list.

Lastly, the SEC Player of the Year was Mt. Pleasant’s Ben Newton. Along with his stellar play on the mound, the senior also batted above 0.350 for the season with a home run and 26 RBIs.

High School Postseason Softball

The state tournament for all five classes will take place at Fort Dodge with Class 5A kicking off the action on Monday at 10 am. Here’s a look at Monday’s action. 

In Class 5A, #1 Valley will face off against #8 Prairie at 10 am. #4 Waukee Northwest will take on #5 Ankeny. #2 Pleasant Valley will square off against #7 Waukee and #3 Muscatine will compete against #6 Urbandale at 12:45 pm.

In Class 4A, #2 Dallas Center-Grimes will take on Carlisle at 2:30 pm. #3 Norwalk will compete against #6 North Scott. #1 North Polk will tango with #8 Western Dubuque at 4:45 pm and #4 ADM will face off against #5 Fort Dodge at 5:15 pm.

Lastly, the top half of the Class 3A bracket is schedule to round out the day with #2 Williamsburg taking on #7 PCM and #3 Wahlert Catholic facing off against #6 Sumner-Fredericksburg with the matchups expected to start at 7 pm and 7:30 pm, respectively. 

SEC Softball All-Conference

The Southeast Conference released their All-Conference teams and Burlington leads the way with four First Team selections followed by Fort Madison with three.

Saydee Plummer led a ranked Burlington squad from the circle with an 0.76 ERA to go along with over 174 strikeouts, earning her First Team honors. Lilly Hand, who led the team in RBIs, Kierah Wiseman, and Kylee Hill, who smacked five home runs, were also named First Team All-Conference. 

Madison Taeger, Ava Brandenburg, and Ava Fawcett were named to the All-Conference Second Team. Sophie Brown and Gemma Plummer were Honorable Mentions. The Grayhounds lost just one conference matchup this season.

Interestingly, Fort Madison finished third in conference but had the second most First Team selections. Seniors Gabrielle Ruble and Lauryn Helmick made the All-Conference First Team as did Freshman Alivia Holmes. Brylie Lorence was the lone Second Team edition for the Bloodhounds. Taylor Johnson and Olivia Buckner were Honorable Mentions. 

Washington had Leighton Salazar and Bella Salazar claim a spot on the All-Conference First Team list as these two helped the Demons stay in the top 15 for Class 3A. Ella Greiner, Alyvia Anderson, and Colbie Greiner were All-Conference Second Team honorees. Emery Walton and Kendall Hinrichsen were honorable mentions.

Ada Wood and Suzie Whitaker helped lead Keokuk to a 7-8 conference record, earning them All-Conference First Team. Gracie Thompson made the Second Team. Kylie Sisk and Kenadi Ames were Honorable Mentions. 

Faith Jones was the lone First Team selection for Fairfield as the Trojans grabbed a 4-11 conference record. Savannah Hollander was named to the Second Team, while Laney Norris and Olivia Hollander grabbed Honorable Mention.

Senior Emma Starr finished her Mt. Pleasant career with a First Team All-Conference nod. Starr finished the season with a 0.341 average, 9 RBIs, two triples, and a team leading seven doubles and the team’s only home run. 

Keagyn Coleman was named to the Second Team for the Panthers with a team leading 12 RBIs and a 0.288 batting average. The freshman also caught three runners from behind the plate. Lila Cook and Myah Starr were named Honorable Mentions.

The SEC Player of the Year, for the second consecutive year, was Saydee Plummer. To go along with her otherworldly pitching stats, the senior batted 0.433 with three home runs and 16 RBIs.

Prospect League

The Burlington Bees narrowly defeated the Springfield Lucky Horseshoes last night 9-8. Christian Dunn finished the night with two RBIs. The Bees will host the Jackson Rockabillys tonight at 6:30 pm. 

The Clinton LumberKings fell to the Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp last night 8-4. The LumberKings will compete in a doubleheader tonight against the Alton River Dragons with game one at 5:30 pm at home. 

This Day in Sports History

1914 – MLB Boston Braves start ‘miracle’ move from last place to become World Series champs.

1927 – Ty Cobb nabs his 4,000th MLB career hit.

1959 – William ‘Bill’ Wright becomes the first African American to win a major golf tournament (U.S. Amateur Public Links Championships).