Area players dominate NCC baseball lists
Five WC players unanimous; Gaels’ Heldorfer recognized
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.