BASEBALL: Berg, Steeve make all-POI

The Wolverine baseball squad caps the season with two of their top performers from the summer season on all-conference teams within the Pride of Iowa Conference.

Senior infielder Paul Berg made second team all-conference while junior catcher Keyin Steeve made honorable mention.

Nodaway Valley/OM was ninth in the POI, finishing 2-12 in league play, but 4-16 overall.

Conference champion Martensdale-St. Marys finished as Class 1A state runners-up while Lenox was second, facing the Blue Devils in a substate final earlier this month. Mount Ayr took third and Southeast Warren fourth. East Union, Southwest Valley, Wayne and Central Decatur round out the final conference pecking order.

A lefty batter who throws right-handed, Berg was solid at the plate this year, finishing second-best on the team with a .339 average. He drove in a team-best 15 runs and scored the same amount of runs. Because of how lanky he is an his baseball knowledge, Berg was a reliable infielder for the team, able to make some really solid plays on the diamond.

“It’s his length, but it seems like he has a go-go-gadget arm sometimes where he can just go out and get it,” NV/OM head coach Dan Jameson said. “I don’t know how many times we had a ground ball and a runner at second base, and he pump fakes it a little and gets the kid out at third base, trying to get that lead runner when we can. He was kind of the general on the field.”

Steeve caught almost every inning for the Wolverines. He hit .259 and was salty on the base paths, stealing 14 bases on the year — only behind freshman Titan Foster (20), who led the team in hitting (.400), runs scored (21), hits (22) and several other offensive categories.

Steeve proved to be lethal with his arm from behind the dish, throwing out 13 runners trying to steal.

“Keyin was valuable at catcher, so we had to make sure he was ready to go there. You have three, four or five games a week,” Jameson said. “You don’t think about the catcher position throwing a lot, but they’re throwing a lot of balls back to the pitcher and it takes a lot out of him. He did a really nice job throwing people out this year.”

Eli Harris, Christian Putney and Trent Warner were the team’s three other seniors. Putney started at first base and Harris at second, while Warner was designated hitter for the team.

Jameson remembers Harris’ willingness to play whatever position and said Harris got “robbed” of several hits this year that went right to fielders. Putney “did a nice job with the glove” in his role. Warner, who came back out after a year away, had a good baseball mind that will be missed and was good at getting on base, even if it wasn’t with a hit.

“You hate losing the seniors, but it’s a cycle you always have. The kids we have coming back, we just have to keep working. The more time you put into it, it’ll pay off. If you want to be good you have to put time into it,” Jameson said. “There’s a lot of sports going on at a school our size, so you need everyone to participate, but anything we can do [in the offseason] to work on our craft is good.”

Pride of Iowa All-Conference Baseball

First Team

Pitcher - Travis White (MStM), Jr.; Brody Crow (SEW), Sr.; Laramie Stoaks (Lenox), Jr.; Trevin Victor (Mount Ayr), Sr.

Catcher - Caden Carruthers (SEW), Sr.

Infield - Dawson Evans (Lenox), Jr.; Trey Wight (MStM), Sr.; Rowan Sackett (Mount Ayr), Jr.; Gavin Wetzel (SWV), Jr.

Outfield - Gabe Funk (Lenox), Sr.; Cole Morrow (MStM), Sr.; Drake Steil (SEW), Sr.

Utility - Austin Ledlie (SEW), Sr.; Colton Wight (MStM), Jr.

Second Team

Pitcher - Dalton Spear (SEW), So.; Colby Holbrook (Wayne), Jr.; Jaxsen Walter (Mount Ayr), So.; Taylon Squire (MStM), Sr.

Catcher - Cooper Hamilton (MStM), Fr.

Infield - Adler Reed (Mount Ayr), So.; Walker Bissell (SWV), So.; Landry Johnson (CD), Fr.; Paul Berg (NV/OM), Sr.; Braden Werts (Wayne), Jr.

Outfield - Tate Dugan (Mount Ayr), Jr.; Jason Fugate (MStM), Sr.; Coltyn Kelley (EU), 8th; Wyatt Mendenhall (SWV), Jr.

Utility: Wylie Brokaw (Lenox), Fr.

Honorable Mention

Cody Burton (CD), Fr.; Braden Kelley (EU), Fr.; Brody Brokaw (Lenox), Sr.; Jack Gavin (MStM), Jr.; Hayes Stogdill (Mount Ayr), So.; Keyin Steeve (NV/OM), Jr.; Luke Boozell (SEW), Sr.; Brody Crozier (SWV), So.; Gage Swan (Wayne), Jr.