Concluding a forty-plus win season, the accolades for the Barton Community College baseball team rolled in today as the Cougars earned not only the coaching and pitching honors of the year but had eight selected by fellow coaches for the All-KJCCC West Division team and four named to the All-Region VI team.
Completing his third season at the helm, Head Coach Brent Biggs led the Cougars to a second place conference finish and a 42-18 season concluding in the elite eight of Region VI to be voted the KJCCC West Division Coach of the Year.
Four Cougars earned first team conference honors as pitcher of the year Jarrett Seaton was joined by fellow pitcher Mason Hiser to go along with Corrigan Bartlett and Michael Sinks. Earning second team honors were Dawson Pomeroy and relief pitcher Taylor Langston with Kaden Fowler and Cole Henley landing on the honorable mention squad.
Jarrett Seaton won six of his first seven starts as Cougar going on to finish his freshman year on the hill with a league leading 10-2 record. Voted the conference pitcher of the week three consecutive seasons, the Omaha, Nebraska, native finished with a 4.46 ERA in 70.2 innings pitched with 58 strikeouts against just 23 walks.
Joining Seaton on the first team All-Jayhawk West and All-Region VI team, Michael Sinks had a record breaking season to cap his two-year Barton career. Landing on the conference second team his freshman year, the Lawrence, Kansas, native led the Cougars in all but two major offensive categories. Batting .431 out of the leadoff position with a .507 on-base percentage, Sinks was also the Cougars' power hitter with a .741 slugging percentage belting twelve home runs and driving in 57 runs. Setting a school record with 100 hits in a single season and 184 career hits, Sinks' twenty-six doubles also vaulted the University of Central Missouri signee to the top of the career chart finishing with 37.
Corrigan Bartlett and Mason Hiser round out the first team All-Conference selections with both garnering second team All-Region VI distinctions. Batting behind Sinks in the lineup, Bartlett also finished second to Sinks in most of the offensive categories including a .403 batting average to go along with a .478 on-base and .602 slugging percentage. Collecting a program fourth best 85 hits, Bartlett had twenty six extra-base hits with 16 doubles, four triples, and six home runs in driving in 50 runs.
Helping to lead the Cougar pitching staff to the third best ERA in the league, Hiser was tops of Barton's four main starting hurlers with league sixth best 3.30 ERA while pitching the second most innings and second most strikeouts to Morehead State University signee Garret Rogers. In Hiser's 73.2 innings pitched, the August, Kansas, native struck out 67 against just twelve walks as he will head to Southern Illinois next season.
Two Cougars were selected for the second team in Dawson Pomeroy at third base and Taylor Langston making the team from his work coming out of the bullpen. Batting third in the lineups behind Sinks and Bartlett, Pomeroy was also amongst the team leaders in most offensive categories while leading the team and conference with seven triples. Batting .331 in his freshman campaign, the Topeka Shawnee Heights graduate drew a team leading thirty walks to reach base on a .441 percentage while slugging at a .564 clip. Pomeroy collected a team fourth best sixty hits including thirteen doubles and five home runs with 43 RBIs.
Taylor Langston appeared in 19 games his sophomore season as a relief pitcher, leading the team to seven of its twelve saves to rank third in the region. The El Dorado, Arkansas, native finished with a 2.70 ERA in 33.1 innings pitched striking out 39 against just ten walks. Prior to being called to the mound, Langston also was a valued performer in right field and at the plate, batting .286 with five home runs and 30 runs batted in.
Cole Henley landed on the honorable mention team as shortstop for the second straight season combining with Sinks to help the Cougars roll up a region second best 35 double plays. The Kansas City, Kansas, freshman energy and hustle contributed to the Cougars' fourth best extra-base hits collecting solid numbers across the board with eight doubles, five triples, and five home runs while batting .318 with a .541 slugging percentage.
Rounding out the Barton selections and joining Henley on the honorable mention team, Kaden Fowler was solid behind the dish helping the Cougar hurlers to the top four of most categories in the region. Batting .322, the freshman from Towanda, Kansas, had a .566 slugging percentage collecting thirteen doubles and two triples while ranking third on the team with six home runs and 49 runs batted in.
For a complete list of All-Conference and All-Region honors, visit www.kjccc.org