Six Hawks earn 1A all-district baseball honors

Lynnville-Sully senior Corder Noun Harder just might have been the best player in Class 1A this season.

Senior Lucas Sieck and junior Carson Maston were two of the best pitchers in the class, too.

Throw in plenty of other talented players, and it’s easy to see how the L-S baseball team won its first state championship since 1988 last month.

Noun Harder, Sieck and Maston all earned first-team honors in the 1A Southeast District and the Hawk trio was joined by senior CJ Nikkel.

Junior Lannon Montgomery and sophomore Jaiden Richards also earned a spot on the all-district second team.

The Hawks were ranked in the top five all season and finished with a record of 29-3. And none of those losses came against a 1A program.

Noun Harder was a first-team all-district catcher after ranking second in 1A with a batting average of .545 and his .647 on-base percentage ranked fourth in the class.

He led all of 1A with eight homers and 90 total bases, tied for third with five triples, tied for fourth with 48 hits and tied for eighth with 45 runs.

Noun Harder’s 29 steals also tied for 20th and he added eight doubles, 28 RBIs, three hit by pitches and a team-most 24 walks. He only struck out five times in 88 at-bats.

The Hawk senior’s fielding percentage was .992 and he threw out six players trying to steal a base.

Sieck and Maston both made the all-district team as pitchers.

Sieck made a 1A-most 16 starts, ranked fourth with 70 2/3 innings and was fifth with 102 strikeouts.

Sieck was 12-1 with an earned run average of 1.19 and opponents batted only .130 against him. The 12 wins led all of 1A and his fielding percentage was .759.

Maston was 9-0 and the nine wins tied for the second most in the class. He also registered three saves, which tied for fifth in 1A.

Maston made 10 starts and his ERA was .97. Opponents batted .128 against him and he tied for seventh in 1A with 98 strikeouts over 58 innings. His fielding percentage was .939.

Nikkel was a first-team all-district outfielder after batting .307 and posting an OBP of .466. He tallied 27 hits, 40 runs, three doubles, 30 RBIs, 23 walks, 33 total bases and five hit by pitches. He stole 20 bases and Nikkel’s fielding percentage was .864.

Montgomery’s second team all-district nod came as an outfielder. He ranked tied for eighth in 1A with 37 RBIs and added 39 hits, 27 runs, six doubles, three homers, 14 walks, 56 total bases and four steals.

Montgomery batted .368, posted an OBP of .443 and had a fielding percentage of .981.

Richards was a second team all-district choice as an infielder. He batted .318 and had a .448 OBP.

Richards tallied 27 hits, 28 runs, 23 RBIs, 12 walks, 28 total bases, 13 steals and was hit by a team-most eight pitches. His fielding percentage was .932.

The 1A Southeast District first team also featured Sigourney’s Caden Clarahan and Reid Molyneux, HLV’s Boston York, BGM’s Beau Burns, Iowa Valley’s Caleb Haack, five players from Burlington Notre Dame and three from Moravia.

Sigourney’s Chase Clarahan, BGM’s Cael Coburn, Mason Maschmann and Dominic Coleman, Belle Plaine’s Ty Alcott, North Mahaska’s Jack Kelderman and Iowa Valley’s Mason Hoyt were included on the second team.