Eight Bolts land on Iowa Star South all-conference baseball team

Sophomore Colton Moffit led the Iowa Star Conference South Division in pitching starts, earned run average, innings pitched and strikeouts and he ranked in the top six in opponents’ batting average against.

All of that helped Moffit earn Player of the Year honors in the conference and he was joined by three other Baxter baseball players on the all-conference first team.

Senior Ben Richardson, junior Perrin Sulzle, sophomore Cael Wishman and Moffit all earned first-team recognition. Eighth-graders Hayden Burdess and Liam Trent and junior Aiden Johnson were second-team selections and sophomore Cody Spurgeon was the honorable mention pick.

All-conference honors are based on statistics inside conference play only. The Bolts finished in a tie for second in the South Division with a league record of 8-7.

Moffit was 5-1 and led the conference with an ERA of 1.27. His 67 strikeouts and 44 innings also led the league and he made a conference-most nine starts. The five wins ranked second in the conference.

Moffit walked 17, ranked sixth in the Iowa Star South with an opponents batting average against of .199 and his .972 fielding percentage also ranked eighth in the league.

At the plate, Moffit batted .275 and had an on-base percentage of .356. He finished with 11 hits, two runs, four RBIs, five walks and 11 total bases.

Richardson was a first-team infielder after ranking fifth in the conference with a .400 batting average. He had an OBP of .431, led the conference with 22 hits and tied for third with four doubles and 26 total bases.

He also led the Bolts and tied for the conference lead with 20 runs and added six RBIs, three walks and 10 steals. His fielding percentage was .922.

Sulzle was a first-team outfielder. He ranked fourth in the conference with a .408 batting average and was second in the league with an OBP of .532.

His 17 runs ranked fifth in the conference and he was tied for third in the league with 20 hits, 26 total bases and four doubles. Sulzle also ranked tied for fifth in the conference with six hit by pitches, tied for ninth with seven walks and sixth with 14 stolen bases.

He added 10 RBIs and his fielding percentage was .917.

Wishman was a first-teamer at utility. He ranked fourth in the conference with an OBP of .509 and ranked tied for 10th with a batting average of .366. His 17 RBIs tied for the league lead and his 13 runs ranked ninth, his three doubles tied for ninth and his 23 total bases were seventh.

Wishman also ranked fifth with nine walks and tied for ninth with five hit by pitches. He added 15 hits, nine steals and had a fielding percentage of .917.

Burdess was a second-team catcher. He led the Bolts and ranked second in the conference with a .444 batting average. His .500 OBP was fifth and his 20 hits ranked tied for third.

Burdess added 10 runs, nine RBIs, five walks, 20 total bases and 10 steals and his .977 fielding percentage ranked sixth in the conference.

Johnson’s second-team selection came as an infielder. He tied for fourth in the conference with 14 RBIs and tied for ninth with three doubles and seven walks.

Johnson batted .255, had an OBP of .339 and finished with 12 hits, four runs and 15 total bases and his fielding percentage was .840.

Trent was a second-team outfielder after ranking third in the conference with an OBP of .527, fourth with 10 walks and tied for sixth with 12 RBIs.

He also tied for 10th in the league with a .366 batting average and finished with 15 hits, 11 runs, 17 total bases, three steals and four hit by pitches and his fielding percentage was .857.

Spurgeon made nine starts and took 23 at-bats but tied for the conference lead with nine hit by pitches. He batted .222 but his OBP was .533 and he finished with four hits, two runs, three RBIs, three walks and four total bases.

Iowa Star Conference

South Division

Final Standings

Team     Conference     Overall

North Tama   10-5   15-12

Baxter  8-7  10-13

Collins-Maxwell 8-7  8-13

BCLUW 6-9 8-13

Colo-NESCO 5-10  8-15

GMG  4-11  6-18

Player of the Year

Colton Moffit, so., Baxter

Coach of the Year

Matt Zoske, BCLUW

All-Conference

First Team

Pitcher — Moffit, Baxter.

Catcher — Kolt Knaack, jr., North Tama

Infielders — Ben Richardson, sr., Baxter; Cooper Wierson, so., Collins-Maxwell; Cael Keller, sr., BCLUW; Colin Teske, jr., GMG.

Outfielders — Perrin Sulzle, jr., Baxter; Kayler Morris, so., North Tama; Josef Dvorak, jr., Collins-Maxwell.

Utility — Cael Wishman, so., Baxter; Drew Banks, sr., Colo-NESCO; Calvin Zoske, sr., BCLUW.

Second Team

Pitcher — Josh Dostal, jr., North Tama.

Catcher — Hayden Burdess, 8th, Baxter.

Infielders — Aiden Johnson, jr., Baxter; Gavin Rausch, jr., North Tama; Henry Hansen, sr., North Tama; Landon Gjerde, so., Colo-NESCO.

Outfielders — Liam Trent, 8th, Baxter; Lane Oswalt, sr., Collins-Maxwell; Ethan Petermeier, fr., BCLUW.

Honorable Mention

Cody Spurgeon, so., Baxter; Tyler Popelka, sr., North Tama; Austin Boege, so., Collins-Maxwell; Owen Meyers, jr., BCLUW; Trenton Beard, sr., Colo-NESCO; Rider Kupka, so., GMG.