New Palestine head coach Shawn Lyons is showered by senior Nic Deering with a water container after the Dragons defeated Greenfield-Central for the IHSAA Class 4A Sectional 9 baseball championship. Lyons was named the Hoosier Heritage Conference Coach of the Year.
Tom Russo | The Daily Reporter
HANCOCK COUNTY — The All-Hoosier Heritage Conference baseball team has a theme to it: Armed and Dangerous.
The recently released 2024 all-conference team includes 20 players, 13 of the players are either full-time or part-time pitchers.
Of the 20 selections, 11 are from Hancock County schools Greenfield-Central, Mt. Vernon and New Palestine. Seven of those selection spent time on the mound.
New Palestine’s Shawn Lyons, who led the Dragons to the Class 4A Semi-State was named the 2024 HHC Coach of the Year.
Mt. Vernon and New Palestine each had four selections to the team. Greenfield-Central was represented by three players.
Three of Mt. Vernon’s four selections did the majority of their work pitching.
Senior Cam Sullivan, the Notre Dame recruit and MLB draft prospect, went 3-1 with a league-best 0.75 earned run average. In 37.1 innings pitched, he gave up just four earned runs and struck out 65. He gave up just 23 hits.
Junior Tristan Sitton went 5-1 with a 1.73 ERA. He threw 36.1 innings and struck out 38.
Senior Jack Peine was 4-1 with a 2.19 ERA. He struck out 48 in 32 innings pitched and gave up only 20 hits.
Senior outfielder Nathan Criss hit a team-best .392 with six doubles and 11 RBI. He also stole eight bases. Criss ranked No. 4 in the HHC in on-base percentage at .508.
New Palestine’s lone senior of its four selections was pitcher/second baseman Michael Thorpe.
Thorpe did his best work on the mound. As the Dragons No. 1 starter, Thorpe went 6-1 with a 2.24 ERA. He threw 59.1 innings and struck out 76, ranking third in the league.
Junior outfielder/pitcher Rigg Mahurin was another strong two-way player. As a pitcher, the lefty had a 0.98 ERA — second best in the HHC — with a 5-1 record. He struck out 50 in 35.2 innings and gave up only 14 hits. At the plate, Mahurin, who played center field when he wasn’t pitching, hit .309 and drove in 18.
Jackson Kamp, a junior catcher, was the Dragons only non-pitcher selected. He hit .383, had a team-best 12 doubles and drove in 30 runs.
Sophomore Jacob Morris was one of the state’s top two-way players. A second baseman/pitcher, Morris led the Dragons with a .423 batting average, ranking third in the conference, and 34 RBI. Morris and Kamp ranked 1-2 in the HHC in RBI.
Morris also led the Dragons with two home runs and had seven doubles. He ranked second in the HHC with 29 runs scored.
On the hill, Morris went 5-3 with a 1.04 ERA, third-best in the league. He tied Thorpe with a team-high 10 appearances. In 47.1 innings, he struck out 49 and gave up just 18 hits.
Greenfield-Central’s trio included one pitcher.
Senior Landon Brooks finished the season 6-2 with a 1.08 ERA, ranking fourth in the HHC. Brooks also had one save. In 51.2 innings, he struck out 67 and gave up only eight earned runs.
He was joined by senior center fielder Kirk Knecht. Doubling as an IHSAA Boys Track and Field State Finals qualifier, Knecht hit .328 with five doubles and two triples. He had 11 stolen bases.
G-C junior second baseman/catcher Zander Cobb hit .329 with six doubles and 14 RBI.
Other selections to the All-HHC team included: Delta — Zane Cline (2B, P), Campbell Light (3B), Kayden Thomas (P); Pendleton Heights — Ty Frakes (2B), Brayden Stevenson (2B, P), Jordan Williamson (SS); Shelbyville — Gavyn Fisher (3B, P), Aiden Smith (OF, 1B, P), Yorktown — Landon Eppard (OF, P).
Mt. Vernon won the conference championship for the fourth straight year. The Marauders finished 12-2 in league play, one game ahead of the Dragons. Shelbyville was third at 9-5 and Greenfield-Central rounded out the top half of the conference standings at 7-7.
Delta, a Class 3A semi-state qualifier, and Pendleton Heights were both 6-8. Yorktown was 4-10 and New Castle 1-13.
New Palestine (25-6), Delta (21-9), Mt. Vernon (18-8), Pendleton Heights (17-11), and Shelbyville (16-9) all finished well over .500 for all games. Greenfield-Central reached the sectional championship game and finished 13-14.
