Baxter’s baseball team took positive steps in 2019. The Bolts improved on their win total from the first season as a team and even won a postseason game.
Baxter completed its Iowa Star Conference season with a record of 5-9 and the improvement allowed five Bolts to earn all-conference honors.
Headlining the all-conference team for the Bolts were senior Derrick Klemme and junior Carter Nelsen, who were both first-team selections.
Junior Cole Damman and freshman Rory Heer both landed on the second team and eighth-grader Cody Damman was picked as the honorable mention choice.
Klemme, who earned first-team honors as an outfielder, led the Bolts in batting with an average of .500 and his on-base percentage was .541. He finished with 10 runs, four doubles, one triple, 19 RBIs, eight walks and nine steals. He had a fielding percentage of .947.
In conference play, he batted .512 and had an OBP of .560. He finished with six runs, four doubles, one triple, 16 RBIs, seven walks and six steals. He did not commit an error in the outfield.
Nelsen made the first team as an infielder. He batted .394 overall and had an OBP of .446. He finished with seven runs, 10 doubles, 27 RBIs and six steals. His fielding percentage was .965.
In conference play, Nelsen batted .432 and had an OBP of .458. He finished with five runs, seven doubles, 21 RBIs and six steals. His fielding percentage was in conference games was .946.
Cole Damman made the second team as an infielder. Overall, he batted . 397 and had an OBP of .500. He finished with 24 runs, four doubles, 15 RBIs, nine walks and 18 steals. His fielding percentage was .930.
In conference play, Cole Damman hit .378 and had an OBP of .481. He finished with 17 runs, two doubles, nine RBIs, five walks and 13 steals. His fielding percentage in conference games was .913.
Her earned second-team honors as an outfielder. Her batted .255 overall and had an OBP of .444. He finished with 22 runs, one double, seven RBIs, 15 walks and 20 stolen bases. He did not commit an error in the outfield all season.
In conference play, Heer improved his batting average to .333 and had an OBP of .538. He scored 16 runs, doubled once, had three RBIs, walked 11 times and stole 13 bases.
Cody Damman played most his first high school innings at catcher for the Bolts. Overall, he batted .309 and had an OBP of .441. He finished with 11 runs, two RBIs, 12 walks and five stolen bases. He did not commit an error.
In conference play, Cody Damman improved his average to .313 and had an OBP of .488. He finished with eight runs, one RBI, 10 walks and two steals.
Iowa Star Conference
2019 Baseball All-Conference Teams
First Team
Pitcher: Ryan McLean, jr., North Tama.
Catcher: Blaze Krull, sr., GMG
Infielders: Carter Nelsen, jr., Baxter; Aaron Fleming, sr., GMG; Kolton Gill, sr., GMG; Skyler Staker, jr., North Tama.
Outfielders: Derrick Klemme, sr., Baxter; Kelly Gray, sr., Colo-NESCO; Tate Payne, jr., North Tama.
Utility: Hale Hume, sr., North Tama; Brighton Clatt, sr., Colo-NESCO.
Second Team
Pitcher: Izach Hansen, sr., North Tama.
Catcher: Luke Huntrods, 8th, Collins-Maxwell.
Infielders: Cole Damman, jr., Baxter; Seth Burgess, junior, GMG; Gabe Kopriva, fr., North Tama; Spencer Hansen, 8th, Colo-NESCO.
Outfielders: Rory Heer, fr., Baxter; Brock Baldazo, sr., GMG; Tyler Morrison, sr., North Tama.
Honorable Mention
Cody Damman, 8th, Baxter; Caleb Dvorak, 8th, Collins-Maxwell; Shawn Gilbert, jr., Colo-NESCO; Logan Anderson, sr., GMG; Luke Pennell, jr., North Tama.
Coach of the Year: Dan Kopriva, North Tama; Brandon Frohwein, Colo-NESCO.
Player of the Year: Ryan McLean, jr., North Tama
Iowa Star Conference
South Division
2019 Final Baseball Standings
Team Conf. Overall
North Tama 11-3 21-10
GMG 10-4 12-14
Colo-NESCO 9-5 11-12
Baxter 5-9 7-17
Collins-Maxwell 0-14 1-17
Contact Troy Hyde at
641-792-3121 ext. 6536 or
thyde@newtondailynews.com