30 Shelby County athletes honored by ASWA

Published 1:28 pm Monday, June 8, 2015

30 athletes in baseball and softball combined from Shelby County were named to the ASWA All-State baseball lists in their respective classifications. (File)

30 athletes in baseball and softball combined from Shelby County were named to the ASWA All-State baseball lists in their respective classifications. (File)

By BAKER ELLIS / Sports Editor

The Alabama Sports Writers Association released its All-State baseball and softball teams for 1A-7A along with its AISA All-State teams, and a number of Shelby County athletes fell somewhere on these lists. Seventeen baseball and 13 softball players, to be precise, were selected to either the First, Second, or Honorable Mention teams in their respective classifications. There were also two Coaches of the Year, two Pitchers of the Year and one Hitter of the Year selected from Shelby County as well.

Mason Duke, a senior from Spain Park, and Haley Crumpton, a senior from Thompson, were named the 7A Pitcher of the Year for baseball and softball, respectively. Crumpton was also the Player of the Year in Shelby County and her incredible season and career have been talked about in full, but still bear repeating. Crumpton threw 114 games in high school and finished her career with a 77-35-2 mark. She pitched 46 of those games in her senior season and finished her 2015 campaign with a 32-14 record and an ERA of 0.90. Mason Duke was the Spain Park ace responsible in part for keeping the Jaguars in the top five of class 7A all season, and finished with a 7-2 record in 2015, pitching 60 innings, racking up 77 strikeouts and registering an ERA of 1.40 ERA.

The Shelby County Coach of the Year, P.J. Guy, was also named the 5A Coach of the Year by the ASWA, and Pat Hamrick, the head coach of the Thompson Warriors, was named the 7A Coach of the Year. Guy, the head coach of the Helena Huskies, took the first year program on quite a ride, as Helena laid upset-riddled waste to the 5A playoff field on their way to a surprising and exciting state finals appearance. Hamrick also led his Warriors to the cusp of a championship as Thompson rolled through an incredibly tough early portion of the 7A state tournament before falling to Smiths Station in the 7A finals.

In addition to having Duke be named the 7A Pitcher of the Year, Spain Park also laid claim to the 7A softball Hitter of the Year in Mary Katherine Bonamy. Bonamy, a first-base commit to Notre Dame, smacked 12 home runs, had a whopping 55 RBIs and 64 hits, and finished with a .478 batting average and a .878 slugging percentage.

The rest of the athletes nominated are as follows:

Baseball

7A First Team– Duke; Colin Lillie, Thompson, pitcher; Rodney Anderson, Spain Park, first base; Heath Haskins, Thompson, OF.

7A Second Team – Stephan Poplin, Thompson, UTL.

7A Honorable Mention – Blake Schilleci, Oak Mountain, pitcher.

 

6A First Team – Connor Radcliff, Pelham, pitcher; Hunter Stovall, Pelham, catcher; Sam Finnerty, Pelham, UTL.

6A Second Team – Carson Eddy, Briarwood, OF.

6A Honorable Mention – Logan Brashier, Pelham, first base; Harrison Cain, Briarwood, third base.

 

5A Second Team – Sam Praytor, Helena, DH.

 

4A Second Team – Hunter Nabors, Montevallo, catcher.

4A Honorable Mention – Jonathan Pintaro, Montevallo, second base.

 

2A Honorable Mention – Jordan Smith, Vincent, catcher.

 

AISA Honorable Mention – Stephen Cullen, Evangel Christian, shortstop.

 

Softball

7A First Team – Crumpton; Bonamy; Jenna Olszewski, Spain Park, DH.

7A Second Team – Kelsey Edwards, Thompson, second base; Carmyn Greenwood, Oak Mountain, OF; Mary Katherine Tedder, Spain Park DH; Destini England, Spain Park, UTL.

 

6A Second Team – Allie Miller, Chelsea, second base.

6A Honorable Mention – Madison Chambers, Briarwood, third base.

 

5A Second Team – Katie Lively, Helena, OF; Shelby Wright, Calera, DH.

5A Honorable Mention – Charley Clark, Calera, catcher; Mehki Mayfield, Helena, UTL.