Sometimes a little luck goes a long way toward producing state championships. Great coaches have also been known to mold pretty good baseball teams into title grabbers.
But nothing beats talent.
As the Nebraska state baseball tournament came to a conclusion earlier this month, MaxPreps began taking a look at which Nebraska prep baseball players made the year's strongest run toward the Triple Crown (leading the state in batting average, home runs registered and runs batted in).
After pouring through the numbers on MaxPreps statistics database Wednesday, eight different baseball programs placed athletes at or near the top of the list. Class C state champion Malcolm, however, stood out after landing three of its players in this week's Top 10.
But first things first. Once again, there weren't any Nebraska prep baseball players that achieved the triple crown, according to our statistics database. But Wahoo/Bishop Neumann/Lincoln Lutheran's Trenton Barry came as close as a player can without achieving the rare feat.
After pouring through the Cornhusker State's statistics database, Barry had produced a .542 batting average – second to Malcolm's Mason Wisnieski who hit .556 – eight home runs and 55 runs batted in. Those final two numbers were tops in the entire state of Nebraska.
Zach Wehner's Clippers, the No. 1 team in the latest MaxPreps Nebraska Class C baseball ratings, placed Wisnieski and Hayden Frank in the Top 5 at the Nos. 2 and No. 4 spots, respectively. But the fun doesn't stop there for Malcolm. The Clippers also placed Derek Erickson in the No. 10 slot.
The Clipper trio all hit .377 or better and combined for 14 home runs and 98 runs batted in. Frank led the Clipper trio with six round trippers while Wisnieski knocked in 34 scores.
Millard South's Camden Kozeal and Connor Capece of Omaha Gross Catholic also placed in the Top 5 at the No. 3 and No. 5 spots after bashing the ball for batting averages of .433 and .521 respectively. Both hit 5 home runs and Kozeal knocked in 33 runs to 25 for Capece.
In order to be considered for this week's Top 10, a baseball player had to make the Top 50 in at least one of the three categories according to MaxPreps' statistics database. Then, after we logged each athlete's numbers in each category, a point system was used to calculate the Top 10.
Nebraska's Top 10 triple crown hitters1. Trenton Barry, Wahoo/Bishop Neumann/Lincoln Lutheran (Wahoo).542 Batting Average | 8 Home Runs | 55 Runs Batted In
2. Mason Wisnieski, Malcolm.556 Batting Average | 4 Home Runs | 34 Runs Batted In
3. Camden Kozeal, Millard South (Omaha).433 Batting Average | 5 Home Runs | 33 Runs Batted In
4. Hayden Frank, Malcolm.433 Batting Average | 6 Home Runs | 32 Runs Batted In
5. Connor Capece, Gross Catholic (Omaha).521 Batting Average | 5 Home Runs | 25 Runs Batted In
6. Tyson Lewis, Millard West (Omaha).460 Batting Average | 2 Home Runs | 37 Runs Batted In
7. Carter Noakes, Central City/Fullerton/Centura (Central City).398 Batting Average | 5 Home Runs | 32 Runs Batted In
8. Alex Draper, Platteview (Springfield).390 Batting Average | 4 Home Runs | 37 Runs Batted In
9. Sloan Pelican, Nebraska City.458 Batting Average | 3 Home Runs | 24 Runs Batted In
10. Derek Erickson, Malcolm.377 Batting Average | 4 Home Runs | 32 Runs Batted In
