Hornet Baseball Awards Handed Out
The Hornet baseball team handed out the team awards from the 2017 season this past week. Pictured is NCHS Baseball Coach Chad Malawy with the seniors from last year’s squad. Athletes pictured are: Hayden Heggemeier, Cody Bauza, Jake Heck, Brogan Kemp, Ryan Brink, Trevor Meier, Cole Pedtke, Cade Krueger, Austin Anderson, and Andrew Kash.
By Brent Huelsmann
The 2017 NCHS Hornet Baseball season was one of the best in school history. This past week, the team got together to hand out awards from the season. The Hornets finished the season with a 30-7 record, and advanced to the Super-Sectional, where they fell to Teutopolis. The Hornets won the SIRR Conference Mississippi Division, the IHSA Class 2A Red Bud Regional, and the IHSA Class 2A Benton Sectional.
All of the individual awards were given to seniors from last year’s team. Ryan Brink won the Nelson Hutchings Batting Average Award, the Top Offensive Award, Co-Top Pitcher, and the Team MVP Award. Brogan Kemp and Trevor Meier were named Most-Improved. Cody Bauza was given the Jody Gajewski Award, and was the Co-Top Defensive Player. Austin Anderson was also given the Top Pitcher Award, and Hayden Heggemeier was also give the Top Defensive Player Award.
All-Conference players for Nashville were: Brink, Kemp, Anderson, Andrew Kash, Meier, Heggemeier, Bauza, and Cameron Parker. Bauza, Brink, Anderson, and Heggemeier were named All-South. Coach Chad Malawy was named the SICA All-South Class 2A Coach of the Year.
Brink finished the year leading the team in batting average, home runs, and RBIs. Brink batted .366 with six home runs and 32 RBIs. Brink also was one of the team leaders on the mound. Brink led Nashville in innings, games pitched, games started, wins, and strikeouts this past season. Brink went 10-0 on the mound and struck out 95 batters on the year.
Anderson finished the season 8-1, and pitched 60 innings on the year. Anderson was second on the team with 83 strikeouts, and led the team with a .933 ERA and a .767 WHIP on the year.
Bauza was behind the plate for the Hornets this past season. Bauza tied for the team lead with one triple. Bauza was third on the team with 38 hits. Bauza hit three home runs on the year and drove in 28. Defensively, Bauza committed just one error in 328 chances this past season.
Heggemeier led the Hornets in plate appearances, at bats, hits, singles, doubles, and runs scored last season at the top of the lineup. Heggemeier finished with 45 hits, 28 of which were singles, 16 of which were doubles. Heggemeier scored 38 runs for Nashville. On the mound, Heggemeier finished with 2 wins in nine games pitched for Nashville. Defensively, Heggemeier did not commit any errors in center field.
Kemp finished the year with a .325 average on the season. Kemp finished second on the team in home runs this past year with five, and drove in 22 runs for the Hornets. On the mound, Kemp finished with five wins and 50 strikeouts this past year.
Meier played in all 37 games for the Hornets this season, finishing with a .314 average. Meier tied for the team lead with one triple, and drove in 23 runs for the Hornets.
