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 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 Thursday, eight different programs placed baseball players at or near the top of the list. Creighton Prep, however, stood out after landing three of its players in this week's Top 10.
Pat Mooney's Junior Jays, the No. 2 team in the latest MaxPreps Nebraska baseball ratings, placed senior Parker Mooney and junior Grant Sommers in the Nos. 8 and 10 spots, respectively, in this week's Top 10. But the fun doesn't stop there for Creighton Prep. The Junior Jays hold the Triple Crown bragging rights going into next season after landing senior Elliott Peterson in the top spot this spring.
Peterson did not achieve the Triple Crown, but he did come close after finishing in the Cornhusker State's Top 20 in batting average, home runs and runs batted in. The senior, who guided the Junior Jays to a strong finish at the state baseball tournament, hit a fifteenth-best .453 for the year, belted a twentieth-best three home runs and knocked in the second-best total of 46 runs.
Mooney hit .435 for the year, produced three round trippers and knocked in another 33 runs for Creighton Prep. Sommers blasted Junior Jay foes by hitting .415, ripping four home runs and knocking in an additional 39 runs.
Beatrice's Tucker Timmerman hit a massive .554 for the year, while adding five home runs and 25 RBIs to his stat line to finish as the state's runner-up for the year. Dalton Bargo of Omaha Westside and Millard South's Camden Kozeal hit .486 and .420 respectively, and sit in the Nos. 3 and 4 spots respectively in this week's Top 10. Gross Catholic's Connor Capece rounds out the Top 5 after hitting .513 earlier this spring.
Grand Island senior Tycen Nelson led Nebraska with a .594 batting average while Jackson Yeager of Omaha Westside and Mount Michael Benedictine's Luke Broderick led the Cornhusker State with seven home runs each. Coby Hatcher of Creighton Prep led Nebraska with 49 runs batted in. None of the state's leaders in the triple crown categories made this week's Top 10.
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.
Korben Rich, Kearney
File photo by Samuel Mfinanga
1. Elliott Peterson, Creighton Prep (Omaha).453 batting average | 3 home runs | 46 RBI
2. Tucker Timmerman, Beatrice.554 batting average | 5 home runs | 25 RBI
3. Dalton Bargo, Omaha Westside (Omaha) .486 batting average | 2 home runs | 37 RBI
4. Camden Kozeal, Millard South (Omaha).420 batting average | 5 home runs | 37 RBI
5. Connor Capece, Gross Catholic (Omaha).513 batting average | 2 home runs | 33 RBI
6. Easton Mains, Elkhorn North (Elkhorn).443 batting average | 3 home runs | 34 RBI
7. Korben Rich, Kearney .506 batting average | 5 home runs | 22 RBI
8. Parker Mooney, Creighton Prep .435 batting average | 3 home runs | 33 RBI
9. Avery Moore, Millard West (Omaha).411 batting average | 6 home runs | 35 RBI
10. Grant Sommers, Creighton Prep.415 batting average | 4 home runs | 39 RBI
