Six members of Coach Whoa Dill's Navarro Bulldog baseball team earned all-conference honors in some capacity, it was announced Sunday.
Three Bulldogs claimed first-team recognition from the league's coaches: first baseman Austin Eaton, designated hitter Weston Valasek and starting pitcher Kyler Heyne. Third baseman Ethan Bates, starting pitcher Brett Tanksley and catcher Caden Koerbacher also claimed all-conference honors.
Eaton (11-59-2, .365) led Navarro in hits (58), extra-base hits (29) and total bases (102). The corner infielder from Frisco who had a team-best 19 two-out RBIs, finished second on the club in doubles (15), triples (3), and runs scored (37).
Valasek (7-26-13, .364) hit .409 in 30 conference games. The Katy, Tx., product had 12 multiple-hit games, including five three-hit efforts. In two wins over nationally ranked Grayson, Valasek hit three home runs and drove in six.
Heyne, committed to Little Rock, started nine of the 17 games in which he appeared and struck out 55 batters in a team-high 57 innings. The Frisco, Tx., righthander went 4-3 with a 3.69 ERA in eight conference games.
Bates, a sophomore transfer from Arkansas, played second base, third base and outfield and also pitched for NC during conference play, compiling a 1-2 record and a 3.28 earned-run average over 16.2 innings. Bates (3-34-10, .318) topped Navarro in at-bats (173), doubles (16), triples (4), runs scored (44), and carried a walk-to-strikeout ratio of 25:24.
Tanksley made 11 starts among 24 appearances for NC and totaled 52 strikeouts in 55 innings. The lefthander fashioned a 3.82 earned-run average during conference play, highlighted by a five-hit shutout with eight strikeouts during a win over Northeast Texas.
Koerbacher hit .292 over 39 games. NC's starting catcher (3-22-3) threw out baserunners at a 35.1 rate (13 of 37) and picked off two.
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