Sometimes a little luck goes a long way toward producing state championships. Great coaches have been known to mold pretty good baseball teams into champions as well.
But nothing beats talent.
As the Nebraska state baseball tournament came to a conclusion a few weeks ago, MaxPreps began taking a look at which Nebraska prep pitchers made the year's strongest run toward the Triple Crown (leading the state in earned run average, wins and strikeouts).
After running through the numbers on MaxPreps' statistics database, we discovered that nine different baseball programs placed at least one pitcher at or near the top of the list this spring. Class B state champion Elkhorn North and Plattsmouth, however, stood out after placing two athletes each in this week's Top 10.
Elkhorn North pitchers Colin Nowaczyk and Ryan Harrahill ran away with the competition while guiding the Wolves to the Class B state championship last month to finish the season strong.
Although he did not produce a triple crown, Nowaczyk finished in the Top 5 in all three triple crown categories to claim the top spot. The junior earned victories in both of his state tournament starts and finished the season with nine wins, the second-best win total in Nebraska. Nowaczyk also concluded the season fourth in strikeouts, with 72, and produced a fourth-best ERA of 0.39.
Finishing in the No. 2 spot, Harrahill was victorious in his only state tournament start and placed in the Top 15 in wins, strikeouts and earned run average. The senior's seven wins were third best in Nebraska. Harrahill struck out 79 batters to rank second in the state and produced a 14th-best ERA of 1.03.
Papillion-LaVista South's Brice Wallar, Carter Mick of Class A state champion Lincoln East and Plattsmouth's Drew Iverson all finished the season in the Top 10 in two of the three categories to round out the Top 5 in the Nos. 3-4-5 spots respectively.
Lincoln East's Paul Shortridge missed the Top 10 despite reaching a state-leading 10 wins this spring. Brooks Kneifl of Wayne sits No. 8 this week after leading the Cornhusker State with 83 strikeouts while Elkhorn South's Michael Meckna threw Nebraska's top earned run average of 0.00, but missed the cut.
In order to be considered this week, a baseball player had to make the Top 50 in at least one of the three triple crown categories according to MaxPreps' statistics database. Then, once we logged in each of the athlete's numbers, a point system was used to calculate the Top 10. The statistics for this week's Top 10 were pulled from MaxPreps' statistics database Tuesday.
Nebraska's Top 10 Triple Crown pitchers1.
Colin Nowaczyk,
Elkhorn North (Elkhorn, Neb.)9 Wins | 72 Strikeouts | 0.39 Earned Run Average
2.
Ryan Harrahill, Elkhorn North
7 Wins | 79 Strikeouts | 1.03 Earned Run Average
3.
Brice Wallar,
Papillion-LaVista South (Papillion, Neb.)6 Wins | 59 Strikeouts | 0.77 Earned Run Average
4.
Carter Mick,
Lincoln East (Lincoln, Neb.)7 Wins | 72 Strikeouts | 1.47 Earned Run Average
5.
Drew Iverson,
Plattsmouth (Plattsmouth, Neb.)5 Wins | 72 Strikeouts | 1.58 Earned Run Average
6.
Ryan Bokelmann,
Wahoo/Bishop Neumann/Lincoln Lutheran (Wahoo, Neb.)5 Wins | 59 Strikeouts | 1.51 Earned Run Average
7.
Gabe Villamonte, Plattsmouth
6 Wins | 50 Strikeouts | 1.39 Earned Run Average
8.
Brooks Kneifl,
Wayne (Wayne, Neb.)6 Wins | 83 Strikeouts | 1.92 Earned Run Average
9.
Harrison Hoiekvam,
Omaha Central (Omaha, Neb.)5 Wins | 68 Strikeouts | 1.92 Earned Run Average
10. (tie)
Sam Bespoyasny,
Creighton Prep (Omaha, Neb.)6 Wins | 46 Strikeouts | 1.55 Earned Run Average
10. (tie)
Drew Deremer,
Millard West (Omaha, Neb.)7 Wins | 44 Strikeouts | 1.48 Earned Run Average
