Western Slope All-Conference baseball stars square off in 3A/4A game
The top high school baseball players in the Western Slope League 3A and 4A ranks got a chance to play one more game this season in an all-star matchup Wednesday at Rifle’s Deerfield Park.
The 4A vs. 3A game featured the recently selected All-Conference players from Rifle, Glenwood Springs, Palisade, Eagle Valley, Battle Mountain, Summit and Steamboat Springs in 4A, and for 3A from Roaring Fork, Coal Ridge, Basalt, Aspen, North Fork, Gunnison, Moffat County and Delta.
The 3A team bested its upper-classification counterparts, 9-2.
Among the 4A All-Conference selections, as determined by league coaches, Palisade senior Ryder Mancusco was named Player of the Year, and Mancusco and Rifle junior Austin Bowlan shared Pitcher of the Year honors.
Chelsea Self / Post Independent
Bowlan went 9-1 on the season, with 12 appearances, 68 strikeouts and an earned run average (ERA) of 0.92, according to statistics posted to Maxpreps Colorado. He also had a batting average of .349 with 31 runs batted in (RBI) and three home runs.
Longtime Rifle head baseball coach Troy Phillips and Summit’s Patrick Stehler were picked as co-Coaches of the Year.
Joining Bowlan on the first team from Garfield County high schools were Rifle teammates Logan Gross, Kade Street and Gavin Peterson, and Evan Heyl from Glenwood Springs.
Class 3A first team picks among Roaring Fork Valley and Garfield County schools were, from Coal Ridge: infielder Alexis Serna, outfielder Brandon Short and pitcher Ben Simons; from Roaring Fork: utility player David Good; from Basalt: infielder Chaney Morris and outfielder Cooper Crawford; and from Aspen: outfielder Ben Godomsky and pitcher Lucas Lee.
Player of the Year was Gunnison’s Sky Wild, and Coach of the Year was North Fork’s Dakota Coats.
Only the first-team picks played in the All-Conference game on Wednesday.
Honorable mentions went to, for 4A: Easton Phillips, Trey Caldwell, Broc Caldwell and Conner Abbott from Rifle, and Braxton Mims from Glenwood Springs; and for 3A: Logan Harlow from Coal Ridge, Mason Smith from Roaring Fork, and Gage Balderson and Kade Schneider from Basalt.
Senior Reporter/Managing Editor John Stroud can be reached at 970-384-9160 or jstroud@postindependent.com.
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