By Ryan Stonebraker
Sports Editor
WILTON — The Wilton baseball team had an outstanding summer, winning 26 games and reaching the state tournament for the first time since the 2005 season. There is plenty to be excited about heading into the off season despite the fact that their postseason run ended in a tough way. The Beavers were 4-1 in postseason games this year having beaten Durant (5-0), West Branch (3-0) and 2A No. 4 Dyersville-Beckman (4-0) to reach state. The Beavers beat Denver 3-2 in the class 2A quarterfinals to reach the Final Four at the state tournament. The Beavers season ended with a 13-0 loss in five innings to eventual state champion Centerville in the 2A semifinals.
Graduating off this team will be just two players, but with them goes a wealth of leadership in seniors Tyler Hartman and Nolan Leaton. Hartman was a standout on the Beavers football team that advanced to the final 8 in class 1A last fall and both he and Leaton were on the Beavers state golf team in 2017. Also graduating is reserve Austin Pleggenkuhle. The trio were a part of a three-year run where Wilton was 81-17 in 98 games for an 82-percent winning percentage.
Hartman started all 32 Wilton games at second base this year and had a fielding percentage of .949 with only four errors all season. He batted .325 a career high, this season and didn’t bat lower than .275 for his career. Hartman collected career hit number 50 this summer and finished with 67 hits in his career. He also topped the 50-RBI mark this year and finished with 51 for his career.
Leaton started in the outfield this season and has pitched for Wilton in the past. He ends his career with a 6-0 pitching record in 40 1/3 innings pitched with 47 strikeouts. His best year ERA wise was his junior season when he had an ERA of 2.06. He pitched mainly in his sophomore and junior seasons. This past year was his best at the plate, batting .246 with 17 hits, 7 RBI’s and 6 stolen bases. For his career, he had 38 hits and 15 RBI’s.
Pleggenkuhle had limited time at the plate this year and collected one-hit.
Wilton will likely be favored to win the River Valley Conference South next season. The Beavers and Tipton both return seven starters this year. The next best is West Branch with 6 and Mid-Prairie with 4. The difference for the Beavers will be that they will return a RVC South best 14 seniors. No other RVC South team returns more than five. 2018 RVC South champion Iowa City Regina will be hit hard by graduation with only one starter returning next season and no seniors projected back. In all, the Regals only return eight players total from their roster.
Pitching carried Wilton along with their defense all season. As a team, the Beavers had a team fielding percentage of .970 with 34 errors in 1,138 fielding chances. As a team, the Beavers had a team ERA of 1.19 in 206 innings. Wilton pitchers gave up only 35 earned runs to go with 291 strikeouts as a staff. Opposing batters, batted a measly .138 against Wilton pitching this year.
Wilton will return five of their seven pitchers this season, all pitched at least 15 innings this year. Ace Jared Townsend, who verbally committed to the University of Iowa this spring, was 8-3 overall in 65 innings. He had an ERA of 0.88 before the class 2A semifinal against Centerville and for the season, totaled 128 to lead all of class 2A and rank fourth in all classes in strikeouts in the state.
Also back is another ace in Colin McCrabb. McCrabb had a 7-1 record in 50 innings and pitched the Beavers to a quarterfinal win over Denver at the state tournament. He had 71 strikeouts against just 7 walks. He had an ERA of 0.84 and opposing batters, batted .149 against him.
Both shined at the plate as well as they were 1-2 in most offensive statistics. Townsend was first in batting average (.415), slugging (.713), hits (39), doubles (18) and second in RBI’s (28). McCrabb was first in RBI’s (34), home runs (4), on-base percentage (.509) and second in batting average (.379), slugging (.632) and hits (33).
Also back will be Cory Anderson who pitched and was the leadoff hitter. Anderson was 6-1 in 44 2/3 innings with a 1.25 ERA and 56 strikeouts. Anderson also had 4 saves to bring his career save total to 9. Opposing batters batted .122 against him this season.
Also back among the regular starters are Chantz Stevens (.288 ave., 23 hits, 15 RBI’s), Brock Hartley (.277 ave., 23 hits, 9 RBI’s), Garrett Bohnsack (.234 ave., 18 hits, 9 RBI’s), and Brayton Wade (.178 ave., 13 hits, 10 RBI’s.).
Others back will be Ashton Stoelk, Clayton Cooling, Brian Stillman, Corey Anderson, Mason Baker, Charles Martin and A.J. Bosten.
The Beavers schedule this year was again one of the best in the RVC. Wilton played or had scheduled this season: Alburnett (34-7), Davenport Assumption (34-10), Davenport North (17-16), Davenport West (19-14), Fairfield (30-9), Mason City Newman (39-1),Mt. Vernon (15-20), Muscatine (6-23), Van Meter (30-9), Wapello (15-12), and Williamsburg (4-31).
Assumption, Mason City Newman, and Van Meter reached state with Assumption and Mason City Newman winning state championships in 3A and 1A respectively. The Beavers also had rough River Valley Conference games to navigate this season as Iowa City Regina, Cascade and Monticello joined the Beavers in the class 2A weekly rankings for over half the season. Cascade was ranked number-1 for most of the season with the Beavers and Regals joining the Cougars as not falling out of the top-5 spots in the 2A poll. The Beavers were ranked number-1 for a few weeks this summer too.
Graduating From 2018 Team (Seniors in 2018):
Tyler Hartman, Austin Pleggenkhule, Nolan Leaton
Back Next Year (2019 Class Listed):
Seniors: Cory Anderson, Garrett Bohnsack, Colin McCrabb, Brayton Wade, Ashton Stolek, Corey Anderson, Chantz Stevens, Mason Baker, Charles Martin, Clayton Cooling, A.J. Bosten, Brock Hartley, Jared Townsend.
Juniors: Patrick Barszczewski, Nolan Munche, Brady Shook.
Team Batting Statistics in 2018:
Batting Average: .301
On-Base Percentage: .414
Hits: 233
Doubles: 48
Triples: 10
Home Runs: 7
RBI’s: 160
Stolen Bases: 76-of-80 attempts
Runs: 199
Team Pitching Statistics in 2018:
Innings Pitched: 206
Runs Allowed: 63
Earned Runs: 35
Earned Run Average (ERA): 1.19
Walks Issued: 68
Strikeouts: 291
Opposing Batter’s Average: .138
Fielding Statistics:
Games: 31
Defensive Attempts: 486
Putouts: 618
Errors: 34
Chances: 1,138
Fielding Percentage: .970
Caught Stealing: 3
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