GRANGER — Five players from the Woodward-Granger baseball team earned All-District honors recently, with eight Hawks collecting All-West Central Activities Conference recognition.
Woodward-Granger began their season 25-0 and reached a ranking as high as fourth in Class 2A. The Hawks were fifth in the final poll and finished 29-6 after falling in their substate final.
Three seniors — pitcher Spencer Hanson, catcher Brady Aunspach and third baseman Matt Rhodes — were chosen for All-District First Team honors, with junior pitcher Cole Theisen and freshman shortstop Reese Jamison selected for the Second Team.
Hanson set a new school record for wins in a season by finishing 10-1 on the bump. He threw 66 innings, allowing 15 walks while striking out 70. Hanson finished with a 1.06 ERA and allowed opposing batters to hit just .177.
Aunspach was on the other end of Hanson’s deliveries. He batted .395 with 47 hits, including 11 doubles. Aunspach scored 31 times, drove in 22 runs and was 16-of-17 on stolen base attempts while striking out only seven times in 136 visits to the batter’s box.
Rhodes drove in 49 runs — tied for best in 2A following the regular season — on 45 hits, 11 of which were doubles. He scored 37 runs and was safe on 19-of-20 steal attempts.
Theisen finished 6-2 on the mound with a miniscule .074 ERA after yielding only six total runs (five earned) in 47-1/3 innings on the hill. He also had a save and struck out 38 while walking only five. The opposition hit just .193 off the lefty.
Jamison had 45 hits and 42 RBIs (besting, as did Rhodes, the old school record for RBIs in a season, which was 38). He hit .417 with seven doubles, four triples and two home runs and stole 13-of-14 bases.
All-District teams take into account player statistics from all regular season games, while All-WCAC considers the numbers produced only in league games. W-G was 15-1 in winning the WCAC title.
Hanson, Rhodes and Jamison were First Team All-WCAC. Aunspach, named First Team All-District, was somehow relegated to Second Team along with Theisen and senior second baseman Marcus McConahay. Junior utillity player Matt Buch and freshman pitcher Brandon Worley were both Honorable Mention additions.
Hanson was 5-2 in 32 innings in WCAC play. He allowed just two earned runs for a 0.44 ERA while striking out 31 and walking six.
Rhodes and 28 hits (four doubles), drove in 33 runs and scored 27 and finished with a .583 average. Jamison hit .528 with 28 hits (four doubles and a triple) while scoring 18 runs and driving home 34.
