Prairie City-Monroe junior Preston Van Wyk led the Heart of Iowa Conference in hitting and was top five in three other categories this past season.
For his efforts, Van Wyk earned first-team all-conference honors by the league’s coaches. The Mustangs, who finished 3-11 in conference play, had four all-conference players.
Senior Noah Henkenius was a second-team selection, and junior Reed Worth and sophomore Dane Owens were both honorable mention choices.
Van Wyk was a steady presence at the top of the Mustangs’ lineup this past season. In conference play, Van Wyk had a HOIC-best .455 batting average and league-best 20 hits. He also was tied for fifth with 13 runs, tied for fifth with an on base percentage of .520 and third in stolen bases with 14.
Van Wyk also had one triple, five RBIs and six walks.
He was 1-0 as a pitcher in conference games and his earned run average was 1.31 in 5 1/3 innings. Opponents only hit .111 against him, and he also made only two errors in 29 chances in center field for a fielding percentage of .931.
Overall, Van Wyk batted .489, had an OBP of .549 and scored 32 runs, which were all team-highs. He hit two doubles, three triples, walked 11 times, collected 14 RBIs and stole 22 bases. He committed three errors in 56 chances for a fielding percentage of .946.
Henkenius was the Mustangs’ top pitcher this past season. In conference play, the PCM senior was 1-3 with a 3.14 ERA in seven starts and 42 1/3 innings. He struck out 19 and walked eight.
At the plate, Henkenius batted .268, scored five runs, drove in four runs, walked three times and stole six bases. Defensively, he had just two errors in 36 chances for a fielding percentage of .944.
Overall, Henkenius hit .298, scored 13 runs, had 16 RBIs, hit two doubles, walked five times and stole 13 bases. He was 3-3 on the mound with an ERA of 3.58 in 10 starts and 58 2/3 innings. Henkenius struck out 27 and walked 12.
Worth was an honorable mention selection partly because he was the Mustangs’ most versatile player. He played multiple positions in the field and batted at the top of the order for PCM.
In conference play, Worth hit .222, had an OBP of .294, scored 10 runs, collected three doubles and one triple, had two RBIs, walked three times and stole four bases. He only committed two errors in 47 chances in conference games.
Overall, Worth batted .247, had an OBP of .361 and scored 26 runs, which ranked second on the team. He had four doubles, one triple, four RBIs, 11 walks and 14 steals.
Owens earned all-conference recognition after ranking second on the team in batting average in HOIC games. Owens hit .278, had an OBP of .350, scored three runs, had five RBIs and walked four times. He committed three errors in 89 chances for a fielding percentage of .966.
Overall, Owens batted .250 with an OBP of .289. He scored seven runs, had two doubles, one home run, 10 RBIs and four walks. He committed six errors in 142 chances for a fielding percentage of .958.
Conference champion North Polk, which finished 12-2, had four first-team players and four second-team players. Runner-up Saydel (10-4) had four first-team players and no second-team players.
Heart of Iowa Conference
Final Baseball Standings
North Polk 12-2
Saydel 10-4
Gilbert 8-5
Greene County 7-7
Roland-Story 7-7
Nevada 5-9
South Hamilton 3-10
PCM 3-11
First Team
Preston Van Wyk, jr., PCM
Jake Johnson, sr., North Polk
Sam Kvidera, jr., North Polk
Colby Cupp, sr., North Polk
Colton Parkins, jr., North Polk
Maxx Stanton, jr., Saydel
Cal Gebhart, so., Saydel
Craig Garrison, sr., Saydel
Cash Lee, jr., Saydel
Nathan Chasey, sr., Gilbert
Mateo Balderas, sr., South Hamilton
Zach Shadlow, sr., Roland-Story
Ben Wilkins, sr., Greene County
Second Team
Noah Henkenius, sr., PCM
Sutton Sears, jr., North Polk
Payton Johnson, sr., North Polk
Reid Summers, sr., North Polk
Mason Russell, sr., North Polk
Easton Johnson, fr., Gilbert
Matt Barragy, jr., Gilbert
Ben Simodynes, jr., Gilbert
CJ Hewitt, sr., South Hamilton
DJ Klonglan, jr., South Hamilton
Cole Berg, jr., South Hamilton
Zeke Balderas, jr., South Hamilton
Nathan Bell, jr., Roland-Story
Honorable Mention
Reed Worth, jr., PCM
Dane Owens, so., PCM
Mark Cox, so., North Polk
Jeff Lamp, jr., North Polk
TJ Stephenson, sr., Saydel
Austin Pyles, so., Saydel
Garrison Holck, sr., Gilbert
Michael Hart, sr., Gilbert
Nick Breon, so., Greene County
Bryce Hoyle, jr., Greene County
Colby Gray, jr., Roland-Story
Dylan Matheason, jr., Roland-Story
Jack Higgins, sr., Nevada
Trent Stahl, sr., Nevada
Sam Lewis, jr., South Hamilton
Cade Balvanz, so., South Hamilton