Mt. Pleasant, IA- The baseball teams of the Southeast Conference (SEC) are done for the 2025 season with Fairfield advancing the furthest in the postseason, falling in the Substate semifinals. The end of the season brings reflections and the presentation of the All-SEC Teams.

Burlington appeared poised to reclaim the conference crown after going undefeated in the first half of conference play, but losses to Fort Madison and Mt. Pleasant led to a duel for the crown in Fairfield. The Trojans clawed away with their second consecutive SEC title in a 3-2 final, going 13-2 in conference play.

Appropriately, Fairfield led the conference in 1^st Team members and housed the SEC Player of the Year.

SEC Player of the Year

Mt. Pleasant head coach Brent Broeker said Fairfield’s Dain Burkhart was a named to look out for at the start of the season and the junior displayed why after leading the conference with eight wins and tossing the third lowest ERA with a 2.18.

To help along with his efforts was a superb infield glove and a slash line of 0.391/0.496/0.427 as he pushed across 24 runs to run away with the honor. Burkhart was the one to nab the postseason victory over the Panthers in a pitching duel against another 1^st Team pitcher.

Fairfield

Joining Burkhart (pitcher) on the 1^st Team was Luke Konczal and Cason Miller for the infield. Konczal led the conference with a 0.481 batting average and an 0.673 slugging percentage, clouting a league-high 12 doubles and Miller also touted a 0.600 slugging percentage with five doubles, two triples, and a home run as he knocked in 18 runs.

In the outfield, Aiden Westercamp took home 1^st Team honors after producing a league high 40 RBIs on nine doubles and a triple. Moreover, he also threw a dart home from right field to tag Mt. Pleasant’s Brayton Hutson out at home to keep the game tied in their postseason showdown.

Lastly, Dayson Workman made the 1^st Team as he yielded 29 walks for the 3^rd highest on-base percentage in the conference of 0.559. He also hit his first career home run for the season and knocked in 24 RBIs.

Voss Richardson (pitcher), Zandrik Allison (catcher), and Ethan Bisgard (outfielder) were named to the 2nd Team, while Archer Kreuter and Jacob Crew were named Honorable Mentions.

Richardson threw 24.2 innings for a 2.27 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP with 30 strikeouts compared to 21 walks, Allison threw out five runners and had a 0.971 fielding percentage, and Bisgard smacked two home runs for a 0.333 average.

Burlington

The Grayhounds finished a respectable 18-14 and 12-3 in the conference despite the tough finish to close out the season. Still, four members of the squad managed to find a spot on the 1^st Team.

On the mound, Evan Hecox posted the second-best ERA in the league with a 2.08 mark, including 42 strikeouts as he amassed three wins in 37 innings thrown.

Logan Messer, a senior, earned 1^st Team All-SEC honors for the infield. The senior finished second in the conference with a 0.423 batting average, slapping six doubles and scoring 24 runs himself. He also had an 0.568 on-base percentage.

Ian Mason and Caden Zaugg populated the 1^st Team outfield for the Purple and Gray. Mason provided a bit more power with one home run and five doubles with 21 RBIs, while Zaugg had five doubles of his own with a 0.397 batting average.

For the 2^nd Team, freshman Cohen Schroeder, who started the year by throwing back-to-back no-hitters and Michael Kantzavelos, who batted 0.389, found a spot for the Grayhounds. Austin Donahoe and Noah Krieger were named 2^nd Team utilities.

Brody Guernsey and DeAndre Taylor were All-SEC Honorable Mentions.

Mt. Pleasant

The Panthers finished 3^rd in the conference, sweeping Fort Madison, Washington, and Keokuk and knocking off Burlington to go 10-5 in the conference and 17-12 overall. The highlight of the season was a 7-2 win over Class 1A’s #2 Sigourney at Mapleleaf.

Mt. Pleasant was headlined by sophomore 1st Team pitcher Grayson Lowery. Despite the limited experience entering the season, Lowery quickly grabbed onto the team’s ace status with a 1.98 ERA, conference best, striking out 41 and earning six wins.

Lowery also batted 0.326 with 20 RBIs with three doubles, while earning more walks (13) than strikeouts (8).

Payton Walker was named 1st Team catcher as he turned in a 0.386 season average with a 0.545 on-base percentage due to his 20 hit-by-pitches taken, leaving him two shy of the Mt. Pleasant career school record of 54 held by Blake Heitmeier, who is the head coach of the state bound Carlisle Wildcats. He also hosed five runners on the basepath.

Walker also had a 3.46 ERA in 26.1 innings with 23 strikeouts, while ranking second on the team with 26 RBIs.

After a slow start to the season, J.C. Sitar caught fire and finished the season with two home runs on a 0.411 batting average, 0.500 on-base percentage, and a 0.589 slugging percentage. He also collected 39 RBIs and 11 doubles, both ranked second in the conference.

Sitar did not register an RBI until the fifth game of the season, when he hit a monster two-run home run against Muscatine. The senior did not stop there as he went on two different stretches of tabbing at least RBI in a game of six and eight. He collected 10 RBIs and 18 RBIs during those streaks, respectively.

Zach Newton (pitcher) and Brayton Hutson (infielder) were named to the 2nd Team, while Liam Marshall and Cooper Coleman were named Honorable Mentions.

Newton finished with a 4.29 ERA for the season with 45 strikeouts and five wins on the mounds, while Hutson led the team in batting average with a mark of 0.414. Helping Hutson were hit streaks of 11 and eight.

Fort Madison

The Bloodhounds was the first squad to defeat Burlington for the season but struggled against the upper brass of the SEC, accruing a 1-8 mark against the top three teams in the conference to finish 7-8 and 7-22 overall. The clutch gene was the biggest factor with just a 2-7 mark in games decided by three runs or less.

Senior Tateum Schlich (utility) was the lone member of the 1^st Team as he swatted a slash line of 0.359/0.378/0.410 with 10 RBIs, striking out just 10 times for the season.

Owen Huffman, a freshman, provides a glimpse into the future for Fort Madison as he took home 2^nd Team honors as a pitcher. Huffman’s 2.86 ERA ranked 6^th in the conference as he allowed only a 0.209 opponent batting average, while forcing 38 whiffs.

Reece Huey and Brody Cashman were named Honorable Mentions.

Washington

The Demons finished 2-13 in the conference and 4-23 overall.

Conner Leyden found a spot on the All-SEC 2^nd Team in the outfield. Leyden led the team with a 0.295 batting average as he tabbed 12 RBIs with six doubles.

Nate Edmonds and Blayze Richardson found a spot on the Honorable Mention list.

Keokuk

The Chiefs won in the clutch twice this season, beating Van Buren County 1-0 and Washington 5-4, concluding the season with a 2-21 overall record and a 1-14 conference record.

Bennett Church (infield) and Lincoln Wray (outfield) earned a spot on the All-SEC 2^nd Team. Church’s eight RBIs led the team as he had one of the team’s eight doubles. Wray led the team in batting average as he was the only Chief to bat over 0.300, smacking three doubles and the team’s only triple.

Mason Claus was named All-SEC Honorable Mention.

Full List

1^st Team

P Grayson Lowery 10 Mt. Pleasant

P Evan Hecox 12 Burlington

P Dain Burkhart 11 Fairfield

C Payton Walker 12 Mt. Pleasant

IF Luke Konczal 12 Fairfield

IF Cason Miller 12 Fairfield

IF J.C. Sitar 12 Mt. Pleasant

IF Logan Messer 12 Burlington

OF Ian Mason 12 Burlington

OF Caden Zaugg 10 Burlington

OF Aiden Westercamp 11 Fairfield

UTL Dayson Workman 11 Fairfield

UTL Tateum Schelich 12 Ft. Madison

2^nd Team

P Owen Huffman 9 Ft. Madison

P Zach Newton 12 Mt. Pleasant

P Voss Richardson 10 Fairfield

C Zandrick Allison 10 Fairfield

IF Cohen Schroeder 9 Burlington

IF Michael Kantzavelos 11 Burlington

IF Brayton Hutson 12 Mt. Pleasant

IF Bennett Church 12 Keokuk

OF Ethan Bisgard 10 Fairfield

OF Conner Leyden 12 Washington

OF Lincoln Wray 10 Keokuk

UTL Austin Donahoe 11 Burlington

UTL Noah Krieger 11 Burlington

Honorable Mention

Brody Guernsey 12 Burlington

DeAndre Taylor 10 Burlington

Archer Kreuter 11 Fairfield

Jacob Crew 11 Fairfield

Reece Huey 9 Fort Madison

Brody Cashman 12 Fort Madison

Mason Claus 11 Keokuk

Liam Marshall 12 Mount Pleasant

Cooper Coleman 12 Mount Pleasant

Nate Edmonds 12 Washington

Blayze Richardson 10 Washington

Academic All-Conference

Ian Mason Burlington

Noah Krieger Burlington

Michael Kantzavelos Burlington

Kohl Lair Burlington

Dylan Chenoweth Burlington

Matt Mercer Burlington

Evan Hecox Burlington

Adrian Perez-Hall Burlington

Austin Donahoe Burlington

Luke Konczal Fairfield

Cason Miller Fairfield

Dain Burkhart Fairfield

Aiden Westercamp Fairfield

Jacob Crew Fairfield

Carson Elmore Fairfield

Archer Kreuter Fairfield

Spencer McCready Fairfield

Dayson Workman Fairfield

Tateum Schelich Fort Madison

Karson Dixon Fort Madison

Hunter Cook Fort Madison

Luke Hellige Fort Madison

Mason Claus Keokuk

Payton Walker Mt. Pleasant

Owen Baker Mt. Pleasant

Colton Syfert Mt. Pleasant

Kellen Kohorst Mt. Pleasant

Jaymisen Rich Mt. Pleasant

Nate Edmonds Washington

Kael Williams Washington

Luke Schiebel Washington