Graduations take a big swing at Woodward-Granger baseball roster

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W-G catcher Michael Connor hangs on for an out after a collision with Madrid's Eli Groufe, who was trying to score on an infield ground ball during their WCC battle July 10. Connor is one of 10 seniors leaving the Hawks.

GRANGER — Few baseball teams across the state will take the hit that Woodward-Granger’s will next year, as the Hawks have lost 10 players to graduation from their 2015 squad.

“They stuck it out,” Hawk skipper Eric Evans said. “When they started in the eighth grade it was also my first year as head coach here. We struggled that first year or two and it would have been easy for them to just walk away, but they didn’t.

Third baseman Austin Scharlau (24) and center fielder Race Brant (1) watch as shortstop Dylan Garland fires across the diamond to record an out.
Third baseman Austin Scharlau (24) and center fielder Race Brant (1) watch as shortstop Dylan Garland fires across the diamond to record an out.

“To show you just how far each one of them came all you have to do is look at the numbers,” he added. “Every senior had their best year offensively, and that is something they can be proud of, that they went out with their best effort.”

Alex Bodermann, Mason Burkhart, Michael Connor, Dylan Garland, Ryan Hodges, Ben Krehbiel, Logan Lande, Tre Loge, Kody Mulder and Ryan Renshaw all saw their prep careers end with a loss to North Polk in the postseason July 14.

An injury to one of those seniors — Connor, a veteran starting catcher — changed the entire season. W-G finished 16-13 overall and 8-10 in WCC play, but had Connor not missed 11 games it is likely the Hawks would have added many more wins to their record.

Ben Krehbiel makes contact.
Ben Krehbiel makes contact.

Connor hit .436 (24-of-55) while driving in 26 runs.  He had six doubles, a triple and three home runs, had a slugging percentage of .745 and an on-base clip of .516. A defensive stalwart, only four attempts at steals were made against him while he was behind the plate, with only one runner successful.

Due to missing so many games, Connor slipped to a Second Team All-WCC pick, but the coaches voted him First Team All-Central District and he has been chosen to play for the Small School West team in the IAHSBCA Senior All-Star Classic Aug. 6-9 in Clinton.

Junior Race Brant was First Team All-WCC for W-G, with sophomore Brady Aunspach Second Team while senior Tre Loge and sophomore Marcus McConahay were Honorable Mention picks. Despite not landing on either of the top two conference teams, McConahay grabbed the notice of area coaches as he was chosen, unanimously, for the All-Central District Second Team.

As a team the Hawks batted .336, with six players hitting over .300 and three — Brant, Aunspach and Connor — posting averages over .400. Evans knew before the season that team speed would make the Hawks dangerous on the base paths. That belief was played out, as W-G was second in Class 2A with 178 steals in 193 attempts (.922 success rate).

Woodward-Granger's Brady Aunspach went the distance July 10 to earn the win in a 5-3 decision over visting Madrid in WCC play.
Woodward-Granger’s Brady Aunspach went the distance July 10 to earn the win in a 5-3 decision over visting Madrid in WCC play.

“I am overly happy with our offensive production and our steals were right on pace with our speed,” he said. “We hit even better than I expected as every senior really stepped it up, but so did some of the other guys. Many had good years at-bat and I expect the guys coming back to do just as well, if not better, next year.”

The gaudy offensive production could not, in the end, make up for a defense that proved shaky at times and for a pitching staff that did not boast a shut-down ace.

“We could have played better defensively, for sure, but you have to remember the infield almost always had a freshman and two sophomores,” Evans said. “This was a learning experience for them. They didn’t play poorly, it was just that with the lack of depth on the mound our margin of error was small in some games.”

Brant sparkled from his lead-off spot, leading the team in average (.457) and hits (43, breaking the school record of 44 shared by Andrew McCune and Joe Summers) while tying Connor and Loge with six doubles. He scored 32 runs and stole 33-of-35 bases while striking out just three times in a total of 109 plate appearances.

Aunspach hit .414 with 36 hits and 23 RBIs. He had five doubles, scored 22 runs and was 21-of-22 stealing bases.

McConahay (.363) scored 28 runs, drove in 20, stole 25-of-28 bases and led the team with five sacrifices while Loge hit .357 with six doubles and two triples. The latter scored 22 times and had 24 RBIs.

Marcus McConahay takes his best cut.
Marcus McConahay takes his best cut.

Bodermann (.292) was 34-of-38 stealing, scored 34 runs and drew 28 walks, far and away the team-high (no other Hawk walked more than 10 times).

Garland finished with a .312 average with 19 RBIs while scoring 19 times and stealing 18-of-20 bags while freshman third baseman Austin Scharlau hit .275 with three doubles.

Krehbiel was limited by injuries, withLande, Mulder and Hodges seeing limited playing time while Burkhart was 11-of-11 in steals and scored 14 times after being used primarily as a courtesy runner.

Renshaw finished 6-1 on the mound with a 2.81 ERA in 32-1/3 innings, with Garland (4-4, 3.26), Aunspach (2-5, 3.13), Bodermann (3-2, 4.08) and Jackson Larson (1-1, 4.63) also recording decisions on the bump.

“You cannot lose 10 seniors and say everything will be just fine — we will have some work to do,” Evans said. “What makes me positive is that we will have three starters back plus a few other guys who saw plenty of playing time. We had guys step up this year, and if we do again next year we OK. We are not going to change philosophy, but rather shift gears, and the young guys will need to be ready for their turn.”

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