St. Pius X ruled the small schools side of the Jefferson County Activities Association in baseball this spring. The Lancers went 5-0 and outscored their opponents 46-1.
Not surprisingly, Pius landed four players – seniors Sean McDowell and Zac Meyer and sophomores Eli Dale and Jeremy Isenman– on the 2017 all-conference first team.
The league coaches tapped Lancer skipper Jerry Woods and Herculaneum’s Zac Bone as co-coaches of the year.
“That was one of our goals,” Woods said of the conference title. “Winning conference usually sets you up well in districts.”
The Lancers (14-6) were seeded second in Class 3 District 3, but were upset 3-2 by JCAA rival Jefferson, which was 10-11 going into the game and had lost to St. Pius 4-1 two weeks earlier.
“Whoever plays better in one game in districts – it’s baseball,” Woods said. “I know the other (conference) coaches hope we don’t repeat what we did this year. We had a special group. At the beginning of the season, we had to get the team chemistry going but people stared believing and it turned out well for us.”
Here is a look at this year’s all-JCAA small schools first team.
Both Meyer and Isenman received votes for most valuable player, with the honor going to Jefferson’s Blain Prater.
Meyer, who will play at Jefferson College next year, threw out six of eight base runners on attempted steals and allowed just four passed balls. He led the Lancers with a .510 batting average and had 10 doubles and 21 RBIs.
“Zac’s a great leader,” Woods said, adding that Meyer’s knowledge helped his younger, less-experienced teammates. “Our starter (Isenman) and closer (Dale) are both sophomores and our setup guy (Luke Lampros) was a senior but was new to the school. Zac did a great job during the game and in between innings for us. He’s a solid ballplayer and his fielding was outstanding.”
Isenman posted eight wins and two complete games in 15 starts. He struck out 79 batters in 53 innings and had a miniscule earned-run average of 0.53. Woods said because of new pitch count rules in place, he entered the season with the plan to start Isenman, use Lampros in middle relief and Dale in the late innings.
“(Isenman) throws strikes and that’s what we preach to him,” Woods said. “He’s very coachable. He’s not overpowering with his fastball but he can use it to get outs.”
Dale, when he wasn’t on the mound, played shortstop for the Lancers and was voted onto the first team as an infielder. He made only two errors – in the same game against Valle Catholic – and posted a .963 fielding percentage. He hit .345 batting second in the lineup.
“He’s fundamentally sound and pretty talented – but two errors (all season), I didn’t expect that,” Woods said.
McDowell patrolled right field and was chosen a first-team outfielder. He will attend Southeast Missouri State University this fall but doesn’t plan to play baseball there. He batted .434 with 10 doubles, a triple and a home run. He also reached base nine times after being hit by a pitch.
“He’s always dangerous with the bat,” Woods said. “He has some pop and knows the strike zone well. He crowds the plate and he won’t get cheated in his at-bats.”
Infielders Prater and Zach Richardson and outfielder Gunnison Heine made the first team for Jefferson. All three – Prater (.491), Richardson (.481) and Heine (.421) – swung potent bats for the Blue Jays.
Richardson played first base and head coach Robert Kuehnle said he had a breakout season his junior year, leading the Blue Jays with 26 RBIs.
“He’s a born hitter and a tireless worker,” Kuehnle said. “He does everything right all the time. He was (previously) an outfielder and worked hard to be the best first baseman he could be, and by the end of the year it looked like he’d been scooping balls since he was in diapers.”
Kuehnle said Heine, who along with Prater just graduated, was one of the deadliest No. 9 hitters in the JCAA.
“He’s a guy who did high school the true way,” Kuehnle said. “He had some back issues, but he rested up and he hit the cover off the ball and made all the plays in the outfield.”
Prater, the Blue Jays’ top pitcher, was selected to the first team in the infield and led Jefferson with 19 stolen bases. He also had eight extra base hits. Like the Lancers’ Meyer, he will join the Jefferson College Vikings next year.
No team started the season hotter than Herculaneum. The Blackcats opened with seven wins in eight games and finished 14-4-1 for their most successful campaign in years. Blackcat senior Austin Bearden (utility) and freshman Jordan Duncan (infield) were voted onto the first team.
Bearden hit .340 with eight doubles and 16 RBIs. Duncan, Herky’s shortstop, led the club with 20 stolen bases and batted .407 with seven doubles and 15 runs driven in.
“He’s played a lot of baseball already and is very savvy,” Bone said of Duncan.
Bone added that he appreciates sharing the coaching award with Woods.
“He’s a good coach and an even better man,” Bone said. “This award is about your players and assistant coaches, and I’ve got three of the best (assistants) you can ask for. The kids put us in position to win a lot of games.”