Published: August 13, 2009 11:40 pm      

Beasom voted AMAC baseball player of year

Conference champion Northern, Southern place four on all-star team

CUMBERLAND — Trey Beasom, who led Northern to a second straight league championship, was voted the Appalachian Mountain Athletic Conference baseball Player of the Year by the conference’s head coaches.

This year’s AMAC championship was actually the fourth league title in a row for coach Phil Carr’s Huskies, who had won the last two Western Maryland Interscholastic League crowns before taking the first two AMAC titles.

Northern, 15-2 overall and 13-1 in the conference this year, had four players named to the first team. Joining Beasom were infielders Brandon Beachy, outfielders Dan Warnick and Teddy Linton.

Also named to the 18-player first team were Nathan King, Corey Helbig and Reece Duncan and Bubba Scheffel of runnerup Southern; Cody Ellsworth, Derek Barb, Sean Collette and Chris Wilson of Allegany; Cody Hovatter, Will Clauson and Josh Neilson of Mountain Ridge; Justin Combs of Hampshire; Jeff Conley of Frankfort and Maverick Nelson of Keyser.

Beasom, Ellsworth, Collette and Warnick were repeaters on the the first team. Second-team selections are listed in today’s Scoreboard page.

Beasom, a right-handed pitcher and infielder, went unbeaten on the mound and led the Huskies at the plate, too.

He was 9-0 with just a 1.35 earned run average as a pitcher, allowing only 29 hits in 57 innings. He walked 22 and struck out 89, an average of 11 per game.

At the plate, Beasom hit a team-leading .460 with 23 hits in 50 at-bats, including three doubles, five home runs and 22 runs batted in. His .820 slugging and .557 on-base percentages were also team highs.

Pitchers

• Ellsworth, an outfielder when not on the mound, was 3-2 with a save and a 2.59 earned run average as a pitcher, working 32 1-3 innings and allowing only 20 hits while striking out 57, an average of 12.3 per game.

Ellsworth batted .373 with 19 hits in 51 at-bats. He scored 18 runs and had four doubles, three homers, 12 RBIs and 10 stolen bases.

• King, a junior pitcher, led Southern with a 5-0 record and 3.16 ERA. He pitched 31 innings, walked only 10 and struck out 38. At the plate, he hit a team-high .455 with 25 hits in 55 at-bats, including six doubles and two home runs. He scored 14 runs and knocked in 17.

• Combs, a senior, went 5-2 with a 1.71 ERA at Hampshire. He walked only 15 and struck out 41 in 49 innings. Also an infielder, he batted .392 and drove in 15 runs.

Catchers

• Helbig, a catcher and one of two Southern sophomores on the first team, batted .431 with 22 hits in 51 at-bats. He scored 21 runs, had six doubles, two home runs and 17 RBIs, and committed just one error for the season.

• Barb, a senior catcher at Allegany, hit .333, getting 17 hits in 51 at-bats, including four doubles and one home run. He had 15 RBIs.

Infielders

• Beachy, a senior infielder, hit .393 with 22 hits in 56 at-bats for the Huskies. He had five doubles, one home runs and 12 RBIs. Also a pitcher, Beachy was 3-2 with a save and 3.11 ERA. He struck out 38 in 36 innings.

• Duncan, a senior infielder, hit .373, getting 19 hits in 51 at-bats for the Rams. He had four doubles and one triple, scored 19 runs, drove in 11 and also drew a team-high 15 bases on balls.

• Collette, a senior shortstop, led the Campers in batting average, hits, doubles and home runs. He batted .429 (24 for 56) with seven doubles and four homers, and also had scored 21 runs, drove in 14 and stole eight bases. He was 2-0 with a 3.31 ERA as a pitcher.

• Scheffel, a sophomore infielder at Southern, batted .422 with 19 hits in 45 at-bats. He had one double, one home run and seven RBIs, and struck out only four times in 48 plate appearances.

• Clauson, a senior infielder, batted a team high .395 with three doubles, one triple, one home run and 15 RBIs at Mountain Ridge, and was also won of the Miners’ top defensive players.

• Hovatter, a junior infielder, hit .346 with two doubles, a triple, two home runs and 10 RBIs and was also cited as being an outstanding defensive player for the Miners.

• Conley, a junior first baseman, led Frankfort with a .433 batting average. He hit six doubles, four triples and two home runs, knocked in 15 runs and had seven stolen bases.

Outfielders

• Warnick, a senior, batted .356 by getting 21 hits in 59 at-bats, including five doubles, one triple and three home runs at Northern. He drove in 15 runs and had team highs with 23 runs and seven stolen bases.

• Linton, a junior, hit .367 with 18 hits in 49 at-bats for the Huskies. He scored 15 runs, had four doubles, one home run and 13 RBIs.

• Wilson, a senior, batted .403, scored 19 runs and had 19 hits in 56 at-bats for Alco. He hit two doubles and three home runs, drove in 10 runs and stole a team-leading 12 bases. He was also 3-2 as a pitcher.

• Neilson, a senior at Mountain Ridge, batted .386 with five doubles and 12 RBIs. He led the team with 12 stolen bases and was also a strong all-around defensive player. He was also 2-0 with a 1.69 ERA as a pitcher.

Designated hitter

Nelson, a senior at Keyser, batted .286 with 12 hits in 42 at-bats. He scored seven runs, had 13 RBIs and five stolen bases. He also drew 13 bases on balls. As a pitcher, he struck out 10 batters in 8 2-3 innings of work.

Mike Mathews is a Cumberland Times-News sportswriter. Contact Mike Mathews at mmathews@times-news.com.