March 28, 2024

PCM’s Van Wyk headlines Mustangs on all-Heart of Iowa baseball teams

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