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Area players dominate NCC baseball lists

Five WC players unanimous; Gaels’ Heldorfer recognized

Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: Grant Heldorfer of St. Edmond was named a first team all-NCC baseball player for 2021.

Ten Messengerland baseball players landed on the North Central Conference’s first team recently, including St. Edmond senior Grant Heldorfer.

NCC champion Webster City had five of its athletes — seniors Tyler Olson and Chase Rattenborg, junior Devon Stoakes and sophomores Ty McKinney and CJ Hisler — garner unanimous honors. Humboldt’s Caden Matson was also a unanimous selection.

Cade Witzke of Humboldt and Algona teammates Wyatt Streit and Aaron Weringa landed on the first team as well.

Heldorfer was a jack of all trades for the Gaels this season, batting a team-best .442. The 2021 Griffey Award winner at the school also led St. Edmond in hits, doubles, triples, runs scored, total bases, on-base percentage and slugging percentage.

“Grant had a huge year for us. He played the role of setting the table from the lead-off position to near perfection,” SEHS head coach Mike Szalat said. “He did whatever it took to get on base and get us going offensively. And he was a very good outfielder, too. Just an outstanding overall season, and really, an impressive senior year start to finish as a student-athlete. He did everything the right way.”

Gael senior Peyton Scott landed on the third squad. Scott, a three-year starter, batted .400 and was again one of St. Edmond’s primary pitching options in the rotation.

“Peyton was a true utility guy. He was an outfielder early in his career, but this season, he pitched and played second and short(stop),” Szalat said. “He really had a great career start to finish. Never got too high or too low emotionally. And he went up against some of the best competition we faced (as a starting pitcher). He had a very productive year at the plate.”

Webster City completely dominated the league landscape for a third consecutive season. The Lynx, who haven’t dropped an NCC contest since 2019, were 14-0 in the conference and 25-2 overall.

Olson hit .410 and dominated again on the mound with an 8-0 record and an 0.37 earned run average. Rattenborg batted .321 and went 7-0 pitching.

Stoakes, a catcher, carried a .344 average. McKinney hit .418 with a team-best 45 runs scored and 19 stolen bases. Hisler sported a club-high .462 average while driving in 38, also a Webster City best.

Matson, a junior, hit .316 with seven home runs and 24 RBI for Humboldt. He also stole 40 bases — the best in Class 3A.

Witzke went 6-4 with a 2.61 ERA in his senior campaign for the Wildcats, while also batting .330 with 22 RBI.

Weringa carried a .415 average for Algona, with 22 steals and 31 runs scored. Streit hit .404 with four homers and 36 RBI. Both were seniors.

ALL-NCC BASEBALL

First Team

Pitcher — *Tyler Olson, sr, Webster City; *Jett Neuberger, jr, Clear Lake; Cade Witzke, sr, Humboldt.

Catcher — *Devon Stoakes, jr, Webster City.

Infield — *Ty McKinney, soph, Webster City; *Caden Matson, jr, Humboldt; Mario De La Cruz, sr, Hampton-Dumont/CAL; Aaron Weringa, sr, Algona.

Outfield — *CJ Hisler, soph, Webster City; Grant Heldorfer, sr, St. Edmond; Austin Warnke, sr, Clear Lake.

Utility/DH — *Chase Rattenborg, sr, Webster City; Wyatt Streit, sr, Algona.

*Denotes unanimous selection

Second Team

Pitcher — Trey Lyons, sr, Webster City; Cameren Rindone, sr, Algona; Eric Ritter, sr, Clear Lake.

Catcher — Cal Heeren, jr, Hampton-Dumont/CAL.

Infield — Dylan Madden, sr, Iowa Falls-Alden; Cael Chase, jr, Clarion-Goldfield-Dows; Marco Guerrero, soph, Hampton-Dumont/CAL; Joshua Thurm, soph, Humboldt.

Outfield — Sean Carver, sr, Webster City; Connor Hanson, soph, Webster City; Stren Crouch, jr, Algona.

Utility/DH — Beau Klaver, jr, Webster City; Colby Clarken, sr, Humboldt; Kortland Nehring, jr, Iowa Falls-Alden.

Third Team

Zach Dyvig, jr, Webster City; Luke Kloetzer, sr, Iowa Falls-Alden; Mateo Martinez, sr, Clarion-Goldfield-Dows; Sam Off, sr, Iowa Falls-Alden; Peyton Scott, sr, St. Edmond; Hayden Holm, jr, Humboldt; Tyler Manske, jr, Algona; Levi Newton, jr, Humboldt; Kyle Helmke, soph, Hampton-Dumont/CAL.

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