This story is sponsored by Forward Bank
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
Neillsville, Marshfield Columbus Catholic and Greenwood each had three players named to the first team of the 2021 All-Cloverbelt Conference East Division Baseball Team, as voted on by the conference coaches following the season.
Seniors Braden Trunkel and Jonah Zoschke, and sophomore Drew Brown were first-team selections for Neillsville, which won the Cloverbelt East title with a 10-1 record.
Greenwood, which finished second at 9-2 and made it all the way to the WIAA Division 4 state tournament semifinals, had seniors Westen Schmitz and Cooper Bredlau, and junior Xander Hinker earned first-team all-conference honors.
Columbus Catholic, which finished third with a 7-4 record (13-10 overall), had senior Jadon Nienast, junior Brock Bennington, and freshman Emmitt Konieczny named to the first team.
Spencer senior Chase Higgins rounds out the first-team selections.
Trunkel hit .381 with 13 RBIs and 26 runs scored, Zoschke batted .429 with 22 runs and 22 RBIs, and Brown hit .438 with a team-high 28 RBIs and 17 runs for Neillsville.
Entering postseason play, Schmitz was Greenwood’s top hitter at .558 with 22 RBIs and 24 runs. Bredlau hit .451 with 24 RBIs and 26 runs, and Hinker batted .442 with 21 runs and a team-best 28 RBIs.
Complete Columbus Catholic and Spencer statistics were not available.
2021 All-Cloverbelt Conference East Division Baseball Team
First team: Brock Bennington, jr., Marshfield Columbus Catholic; Emmitt Konieczny, fr., Marshfield Columbus Catholic; Jadon Nienast, sr., Marshfield Columbus Catholic; Xander Hinker, jr., Greenwood; Westen Schmitz, sr., Greenwood; Cooper Bredlau, sr., Greenwood; Braden Trunkel, sr., Neillsville; Jonah Zoschke, sr., Neillsville; Drew Brown, so., Neillsville; Chase Higgins, sr., Spencer.
Second team: Cole Timmler, jr., Marshfield Columbus Catholic; Blake Jakobi, fr., Marshfield Columbus Catholic; Sam Wilczek, jr., Marshfield Columbus Catholic; Jonah Hinker, sr., Greenwood; Sully Whitford, sr., Greenwood; Fletcher Bredlau, fr., Greenwood; Matthew Szymanski, sr., Loyal; Micah Zoschke, fr., Neillsville; Aaron Ovyn, sr., Owen-Withee; Kyler Bainer, sr., Spencer.
Honorable mention: Austin Humke, sr., Greenwood; Deagen Sandlier, jr., Loyal; Sam Hayes, fr., Neillsville; Jace Pekol, fr., Neillsville; Bryce Erickson, fr., Neillsville; Carson Opelt, sr., Neillsville; Carter Klabon, so., Owen-Withee; Dom Post, sr., Spencer.
Player of the Year: Cooper Bredlau, Greenwood.