Seven from Post 17's district winning squad earn all-conference honors

Seven members of the Sidney Post 17 American Legion senior baseball team and two from the juniors were named to the Panhandle Baseball All-Conference Second Team,it was announced yesterday.

Despite winning the district crown, no Sidney players were named to the All Conference First Team.

Among the Sidney players to earn second-team honors were outfielders Barrett Browne and Ty Ottoson; infielders Tyson Herrera, Austin Crane, Lane Harvey and Devon Sullivan and catcher Colton Onstott. Herrera was also named to the second-team as a pitcher.

Browne was most noticable for his speed as he tied for the team lead in stolen bases with 32. He also covered considerable ground in the outfield. Ottoson had a late-season surge to hit over .300 the final couple of weeks. He scored 30 runs.

Among the honored infielders, Sullivan hit .394 with 10 doubles, 37 runs scored and stole 32 bases. Herrera hit .314 and walked a team high 19 times for a .426 OBP. Crane was a .303 hitter with 20 RBI and 18 stolen bases. Harvey was among the team leaders in hitting all season and finished at .381. He stole 21 bases without being caught.

Behind the plate Onstott was a steady defensive player all season. Offensively he hit .379 with four home runs and eight doubles. He led Sidney with 41 RBI.

On the mound Herrera went 5-2 and struck out 67 in just 54 innings pitched. He surrendered just 39 hits and had a 2.33 ERA.

As for the juniors, Post 17's Bradey Holtz was named to the first team as a pitcher. Blake Bayne earned second-team honors. Bayne, who played primarily at second and short, was an infield selection.

While Sidney coach Tim Herrera was proud of the number of Sidney players honored, he expressed surprise that none of his team was named to the first team.

"I'm not sure what to say about it really. To be honest I was stunned when I found out we didn't have anyone named to the first team," Herrera said. "After all, we won the district and beat the runner-up team four out of five times this year."

The district runner-up team was Alliance. Five-position players from Alliance were selected to the first team as were both pitchers. The Panhandle All-Conference Teams are voted on by the conference (Chadron, Gering, Alliance and Sidney) coaches. The coaches may not vote for their own players.

The first team honorees included outfielders Chance Bila of Chadron, Walker Britsch of Gering and Rigo Yberra of Alliance. The infield selections went to Grant Freeze, Darin Bottger and Jayden Holman of Alliance and Austin Ferguson from Gering. Alliance's Andy Gomez was named first-team catcher while Jeff Heckman and Jayden Holman of Alliance were the pitchers.

In addition to the Sidney players, Alliance's Heckman (outfield) and Bottger (pitcher)were the other second-team choices.

The senior Offensive Player of the Year went to Holman. Yberra was voted Defensive Player of the Year. Chadron's Jake McLain was honored with Coach of the Year. The Chadron Program collected the Ron Brown Sportsmanship Award.

Esai Hernandez of the district champion Gering team was named the junior Offensive Player of the Year. Chadron's Jackson Dickerson took Defensive Player of the Year honors. There was a tie for Coach of the Year between Gering's Patrick O'Boyle and Chadron's John McLain. Gering was awarded the Ron Brown Sportsmanship Award.

As for Herrera's selections, he said he voted for Chadron for the Sportsmanship Award and for the players he felt deserved the honor for what they did on the field.

"I voted straight up," Herrera said. "I voted for the Alliance coach and several of his players. I don't know that everybody voted for what happened on the field."

After winning his third consecutive district title in 2013, inclduing two with the juniors, Herrera said he is returning next year. His assistant coaches, MIke Harvey and Mark Onstott, will also be back.