As the Nebraska high school baseball season ended for most schools and headed into state tournament weekend for 24 others, we started crunching the numbers and selecting our Top 10 hitters and pitchers that will step foot into Werner Park, the University of Nebraska-Omaha's Tal Anderson Field, Fricke Field, Omaha Westside and Millard North to compete for state baseball titles beginning this Friday and running through next Friday.
Of the 24 baseball programs that punched their tickets to the state tournament, 12 are represented in this week's Top 10s with Class C's Plattsmouth landing four representatives in our dual Top 10s to lead the way.
But, first things first. Let's look at Nebraska's state tournament big swatters. Wahoo/Bishop Neumann/Lincoln Lutheran's Trenton Barry topped the list by obliterating opposing pitching for a .566 batting average and scoring 41 runs while knocking in 55 RBIs this spring. Mason Wisnieski of Malcolm claimed the No. 2 rung after producing a .556 batting average, scoring 28 Clipper runs and knocking in 27 RBIs.
Plattsmouth's Drew Iverson, who also made the pitching Top 10 this week, sits in the No. 3 spot after hitting .514, scoring 28 runs and using his bat to bring in 32 RBIs. Connor Capece of Omaha Gross Catholic and Elkhorn North's Chris Thiessen round out the Top 5 with .492 and .458 batting averages respectively.
Elkhorn North brings the top two arms to this year's state tournament. Kyler Hanson and Colin Nowaczyk hope to deliver a state title to the Wolves after dominating the regular season with earned run averages of .32 and .39 respectively. A senior, Hanson struckout 33 batters while allowing just five hits and one earned run during regular season and district play. Nowaczyk, meanwhile, fanned 54 hitters and allowed just two earned runs.
Papillion-LaVista South's Brice Wallar claims the No. 3 spot this week after producing a .77 earned run average, striking out 59 batters and giving up a mere four earned runs all season. Tucker Timmerman of Beatrice and Central City/Fullerton/Centura's Bosten Caspersen round out the pitching Top 5 with earned run averages of .80 and 1.03 respectively.
Timmerman is the Top 10's strikeout king with 65 Ks on the season, while Hanson posted the stingiest opponent batting average of .071. Iverson was the only athlete named to both lists.
In order to be eligible for this week's Top 10s, batters had to hit .400 or better and have at least 50 at bats, while pitchers were required to maintain an earned run average below 2.00 and throw at least 20 innings. The statistics used for this week's Top 10 were drawn from MaxPreps' database Tuesday.
Tyson Lewis, Millard West (Photo: Nathaniel George)
.566 BA | 41 Runs | 55 RBI | 20 Extra Base Hits | 79 Total Bases | .632 OBP | 1.065 SLG
2. Mason Wisnieski, Malcolm.556 BA | 28 Runs | 27 RBI | 11 Extra Base Hits | 55 Total Bases | .678 OBP | .873 SLG
3. Drew Iverson, Plattsmouth.514 BA | 28 Runs | 32 RBI | 13 Extra Base Hits | 53 Total Bases | .630 OBP | .757 SLG
4. Connor Capece, Gross Catholic (Omaha).492 BA | 14 Runs | 22 RBI | 16 Extra Base Hits | 53 Total Bases | .612 OBP | .898 SLG
5. Chris Thiessen, Elkhorn North (Elkhorn).458 BA | 21 Runs | 14 RBI | 7 Extra Base Hits | 44 Total Bases | .512 OBP | .611 SLG
6. Tyson Lewis, Millard West (Omaha).451 BA | 34 Runs | 35 RBI | 13 Extra Base Hits | 69 Total Bases | .504 OBP | .610 SLG
7. Hayden Frank, Malcolm.442 BA | 42 Runs | 31 RBI | 15 Extra Base Hits | 61 Total Bases | .531 OBP | .792 SLG
8. Eli Horner, Plattsmouth.429 BA | 19 Runs | 30 RBI | 6 Extra Base Hits | 40 Total Bases | .471 OBP | .519 SLG
9. Conor Booth, Wahoo/Bishop Neumann/Lincoln Lutheran.425 BA | 36 Runs | 20 RBI | 13 Extra Base Hits | 57 Total Bases | .571 OBP | .780 SLG
10. Carter Noakes, Central City/Fullerton/Centura (Central City).419 BA | 41 Runs | 31 RBI | 21 Extra Base Hits | 68 Total Bases | .547 OBP | .918 SLG
Pitchers
1. Kyler Hanson, Elkhorn North0.32 ERA | 21.2 IP | 5 Hits | 1 Earned Run | 14 Walks | 33 Strikeouts | .071 OBA
2. Colin Nowaczyk, Elkhorn North0.39 ERA | 36.1 IP | 19 Hits | 2 Earned Runs | 13 Walks | 54 Strikeouts | .148 OBA
3. Brice Wallar, Papillion-LaVista South (Papillion)0.77 ERA | 36.1 IP | 21 Hits | 4 Earned Runs | 21 Walks | 59 Strikeouts | .158 OBA
4. Tucker Timmerman, Beatrice0.80 ERA | 35 IP | 21 Hits | 4 Earned Runs | 7 Walks | 65 Strikeouts | .160 OBA
5. Bosten Caspersen, Central City/Fullerton/Centura1.03 ERA | 20.1 IP | 18 Hits | 3 Earned Runs | 5 Walks | 21 Strikeouts | .231 OBA
6. Patrick Truscott, Roncalli Catholic (Omaha)1.05 ERA | 20 IP | 10 Hits | 3 Earned Runs | 15 Walks | 24 Strikeouts | .133 OBA
7. Drew Iverson, Plattsmouth1.09 ERA | 38.2 IP | 23 Hits | 6 Earned Runs | 7 Walks | 63 Strikeouts | .163 OBA
8. Drew Grego, Bellevue West (Bellevue)1.13 ERA | 43.1 IP | 39 Hits | 7 Earned Runs | 11 Walks | 36 Strikeouts | .229 OBA
9. Brooks Kneifl, Wayne1.14 ERA | 37 IP | 14 Hits | 6 Earned Runs | 13 Walks | 63 Strikeouts | .113 OBA
10. Gabe Villamonte, Plattsmouth1.27 ERA | 44 IP | 34 Hits | 8 Earned Runs | 6 Walks | 45 Strikeouts | .205 OBA
