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 6th in the SEC in steals with 15 and 3rd 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 3rd 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