Published: July 13, 2008 12:15 am         

Four repeat on All-Area baseball team

Southern’s Ashby three-year first-teamer; Bowman, Crites, Sisler two-time picks

Southern Garrett’s Jason Ashby, the area leader in home runs and runs batted in, and East Hardy pitcher Jacob Bowman, who averaged more than 14 strikeouts per game, head this year’s Times-News All-Area Baseball Team.

Ashby put the finishing touches on an outstanding high school career by being named to the All-Area team for the third straight year. Bowman, Moorefield’s Bo Crites and Northern’s Matt Sisler were named to the first team for the second year in a row.

Sisler, voted player of the year and featured in Saturday’s Times-News, is the captain of this year’s All-Area team, which was selected by area head coaches. Several ties make this year’s team larger in number than usual.

Area head coaches were requested to nominate players to appear on an All-Area ballot, and then used the completed ballot to choose the All-Area team. All 14 coaches returned their ballots.

Pitchers

East Hardy’s Jacob Bowman, Northern’s Trey Beasom and Allegany’s Cody Ellsworth, the area’s batting champion, were voted first-team pitchers.

• Bowman, a left-handed power pitcher, had been dominating as a junior with a 1.17 ERA and an average of 13.7 strikeouts per game. This year he led the area again in strikeouts with 116 in 57 innings for an average of 14.2 per game.

Averaging nearly five innings of strikeouts per game, Bowman had a 7-2 record and 2.45 ERA. He allowed only 24 hits in 57 innings, and walked 54. His seven wins were the most in the area.

Bowman batted .348 with 24 hits in 69 at-bats. He scored 23 runs and had four doubles, two homers and 20 RBI.

In his two All-Area seasons, Bowman was 14-6 with a 1.74 ERA and had 256 strikeouts in 128 1/3 innings — an average of 13.9 strikeouts per game.

• Beasom, a junior and first-year player at Northern, played a major role on the mound and at the plate in the Huskies repeating as area champions.

Beasom went unbeaten on the mound and ranked fifth in the area in wins, fourth in ERA and seventh in strikeouts. He went 5-0 with a 1.60 ERA, and allowed only 20 hits in 35 innings. He walked 22 and struck out 50 — an average of 9.9 per game.

Beasom batted .365 (23 for 63), with 16 runs scored, five doubles, one homer and 16 RBI and five stolen bases.

• Ellsworth, a junior at Allegany, won the area batting title in addition to his strong work on the mound.

Ellsworth batted .518, pounding out 29 hits in 56 at-bats. He scored 22 runs, had four doubles, one triple, one home run and 22 RBIs. He also was 8-for-8 in stolen base attempts and struck out only twice in 69 plate appearances.

As a pitcher, Ellsworth was fifth in the area in wins and ERA and was eighth in strikeouts. He went 5-1 with a 1.94 ERA. In 43 1/3 innings, he allowed 33 hits, walked 21 and struck out 58 — or 9.3 batters per game.

Catcher

East Hardy’s Jeremiah Bowman, brother of first-team pitcher Jacob Bowman, finished fourth in the area in batting, getting 39 hits in 84 at-bats for a .464 average.

Bowman scored 30 runs and with 10 doubles and eight home runs, had an .869 slugging percentage. He ranked third in the area in home runs, was fifth in doubles and ninth in RBIs with 31.

Bowman, second-team All-Area a year ago, also had a 3-1 pitching record with a 5.37 ERA. He was third in strikeouts with 44 in 27 2/3 innings, or 11.1 per game.

Infielders

Southern’s Jason Ashby, three-time first-teamer, is joined on the infield by Sean Collette, Justin Rosenberger, Dane Biller, Bo Crites and Josh Godfrey.

• Ashby led the Rams again in just about every offensive category: at-bats, runs, hits, home runs, RBIs and batting average.

Ashby, a senior, had the biggest day by an area hitter this season when he clubbed four homers and knocked in 10 runs in a doubleheader sweep of Keyser. He hit a two-run homer in the first game, and had a pair of two-run shots and a three-run blast in the second.

For the season, he batted .413 with 26 hits in 63 at-bats and scored 21 runs. He had three doubles and led the area with eight homers and 27 RBIs in just 18 games.

Ashby hit 15 home runs and had 58 RBIs in 37 games the last two seasons.

• Collette, a junior, was third in the area in batting with 31 hits in 61 at-bats for a .508 average.

Collette, second to Ellsworth at Allegany in batting, led the Campers in just about everything else offensively, including hits (31), runs (27) doubles (5), home runs (6), walks (10), total bases (54) and slugging percentage (.885). He shared the team lead with Ellsworth in RBIs with 22, and was 9-for-10 in stolen base attempts.

Among area players, Collette ranked second in runs scored and home runs, third in batting average and was tied for sixth with Ellsworth in RBIs.

• Rosenberger had a big senior year at Northern, helping the Huskies to the Area and Appalachian Mountain Athletic Conference championships.

He batted .396 with 21 hits in 53 at-bats with two doubles, one home run and 14 RBIs. He also scored 15 runs.

Rosenberger also excelled defensively at first base, where he made only one error in 109 total chances for a .991 fielding percentage.

• Biller had a huge senior season at East Hardy, where pounded out 39 hits in 74 at-bats. The 39 hits tied teammates Jeremiah Bowman and Dakota Hoover for the area high.

Biller was among the top 10 in batting, runs scored, home runs and stolen bases, was 11th in doubles and 12th in RBIs.

For the season, Biller batted .443 with 44 runs, eight doubles, four homers and 27 RBIs. He was 21-for-22 in stolen base attempts.

• Crites, a senior, repeated as a first-team infielder and also was a key pitcher at Moorefield, which he helped lead to a 20-6 season.

Crites batted .394 with 28 hits in 71 at-bats, including six doubles, one triple and three home runs. In 23 games he scored 23 runs and had 26 RBIs.

Crites pitched in 10 of Moorefield’s 20 games, and had a perfect 4-0 record with a 2.65 ERA and three saves. He pitched 31 2/3 innings, allowed 25 hits, walked 12 and struck out 23.

During Crites’ two All-Area seasons, Moorefield went 40-10 and was No. 2 in the area poll both seasons.

• Godfrey, a senior at Pendleton, was among the area’s top 15 in batting, runs scored, doubles, triples, home runs, RBIs and stolen bases.

He batted .432 with 38 hits in 88 at-bats. He hit 11 doubles, three triples and four home runs, scored 40 runs and knocked in 42. He also stole 21 bases.

Godfrey was second among area players in RBIs, sixth in stolen bases, seventh in runs scored and eighth in doubles.

Outfielders

Pendleton’s Brandon Raines, Mountain Ridge’s Sean Fazenbaker, Moorefield’s Trevor Sites, Southern’s Jordan Pacella, Northern’s Dan Warnick and Hyndman’s Kyle Bishop are the first-team outfielders.

• Raines, a senior, led Pendleton in several statistical categories, including batting average, with a .454 mark that was sixth best in the area.

Raines, honorable mention All-Area as a junior, had 35 hits in 77 at-bats, and was third in the area in stolen bases (30), 10th in doubles (11) and 10th in the area in runs scored (38).

Also one of the Wildcats’ top pitchers, he was 6-1 with a 1.34 ERA. The six wins were second-most in the area.

• Fazenbaker led Mountain Ridge to within a game of the Maryland state tournament.

The senior batted a team-leading .400, getting 18 hits in 45 at-bats, and also had a .500 on-base percentage. He hit two doubles, one triple and two home runs.

Fazenbaker, who moved from second base to center field and became the team’s leadoff hitter in midseason, scored 15 runs and knocked in 11. He was 7-for-7 in stolen base attempts.

• Sites, the only sophomore on the first or second team, batted .414 at Moorefield, where he led the Yellow Jackets to a 20-win season. He led the area in triples, and was among the top 15 in runs, doubles and home runs. The .414 average was 16th best.

Sites had 29 hits in 70 at-bats, including seven doubles, four triples and three home runs. He scored 26 runs and had 19 RBIs, and had a 2-0 record as a pitcher.

• Pacella was second only to Ashby in batting average among players with at least 30 at-bats at Southern.

Pacella turned in a strong final season by getting 20 hits in 54 at-bats for a .370 average. He had three doubles, one triple, and one home run, and also scored 10 runs and drove in 12.

• Warnick, a junior, helped lead Northern to a 17-2 record and back-to-back area titles by hitting .358 with 19 hits in 53 at-bats. He led the Huskies with 19 runs scored and also smacked a team-leading seven doubles.

Warnick belted two home runs and knocked in 20 runs, led the team in slugging percentage at .604, and played errorless defense in center field.

• Bishop, a senior at Hyndman, was second in the area in batting, and one of three players in the area to hit .500 or better. He pounded out 28 hits in 55 at-bats for a .509 average. He hit seven doubles and two triples, scored 17 runs, knocked in 15 and stole nine bases.

A speedy center fielder, Bishop played errorless defense for the season and threw out three runners at the plate. He also pitched a one-hitter against Turkeyfoot.

Designated hitter

Keyser’s Colton Jones belted out 34 hits, including seven home runs, to nail down the first-team spot at designated hitter.

Jones, a senior, led the Golden Tornado in at-bats, hits, doubles, home runs, RBIs, and slugging percentage.

He hit .366 (34 for 93) with 21 runs scored, eight doubles, seven home runs and 35 RBIs. He ranked third in the area in RBIs and fourth in home runs. With 15 extra-base hits, he had a team-high .677 slugging percentage.