WOODWARD — Left-hander Cole Theisen made it official Wednesday, declaring his intention to continue his baseball career after Woodward-Granger by suiting up for William Penn University in Oskaloosa.
Veteran skipper Mike Laird has been with the Statesmen since 1980 and coached current W-G head coach Eric Evans in 2003. He has now landed his third Hawk recruit in two years, part of what Evans said was Laird’s desire “To field as many Iowa kids as he can.”
Evans said Theisen “Will make an impact in their rotation for sure. He is a good all-around player.”
The southpaw was an impressive 6-2 with one save for W-G (29-6). He allowed just five earned runs in 47.1 innings, generating a minute ERA of 0.74, third-best in Class 2A for any pitcher with at least 30 innings of work. Opposing batters hit just .193 and he struck out 38 while walking only five, a stunning strikeout-to-walk ratio of 7.6:1.
Theisen was 36-of-96 (.375) at the plate, swatting 26 doubles and four triples while driving in 34 runs. He scored 15 runs, drew 24 walks and was 18-of-19 on stolen base attempts.
Theisen was also strong defensively. Often playing first base when not pitching, Theisen committed just two errors in 170 chances for an nearly impervious fielding percentage of .988.
