STATE CENTER — The West Marshall baseball record books will remember Owen Siegert as one of the best to ever put on the Trojan uniform.

But his impact went beyond the confines of Schilling Field, and his commitment to the team and the sport as a whole will last for years to come.

“When I talk to people about Owen, they say, ‘Jeez, he’s such a great player for you guys,'” West Marshall head coach Jerod Brown said. “And as good of a player as he is, what people don’t see is that he’s a better person.”

Coming off an exceptional junior season, Siegert continued to push himself as a leader and competitor for the Trojans, setting more school records individually for a historically-great West Marshall team and earning recognition from the state’s baseball coaches association as one of the 16 best high school players in Iowa this summer. The South Dakota State recruit is the 2024 Times-Republican Baseball Player of the Year.

Siegert is the first repeat winner of this award since East Marshall’s Nick Long (2015-2016).

“To perform as well as I did last year, the confidence was there going into my senior year,” Siegert said. “And how close everybody was made a big difference — everybody had belief in each other, we cared for each other and wanted each other to succeed.”

The Trojans were rated the top team in Class 2A for most of the season, and set several team records including 25 consecutive wins, 14 shutouts and a 34-3 overall record that Brown believes will be difficult to ever top.

Siegert’s contributions could be felt all over the field; he hit a team-leading .441 with 18 extra-base hits, 31 runs batted in and 57 runs scored on a school-record 43 stolen bases. On the mound, he leveled up from a dominant junior campaign to allow just three earned runs in 51 �…” innings for a school-record 0.41 ERA, striking out 99 with 10 walks. And when he wasn’t on the bump for the Trojans, his range in center field covered the gaps well.

The records don’t end there: he stole eight bases in a single game against Nevada and for his career posted the Trojans’ best-ever marks in career ERA (0.97) and runs scored (198), as well as posting the most career wins, innings pitched and strikeouts in the pitch count era for the Trojans.

This summer, and the preceding offseason, was more about what the team could do together, though. Siegert brought along several teammates for a pitching development combine in the winter that had previously helped Siegert improve his own pitching.

“All those guys would agree that helped their performance, and I don’t think they would have done that without his guidance,” Brown said. “The tone he set for our group, not just for practice habits and work ethic but the joy he brought every day to practice, to batting practice, to those offseason sessions and the consistency of him being there. … That was the biggest thing.”

After feeling like they were under the radar in last season’s run to the substate final, Siegert said the team enjoyed having a higher profile with their top ranking and social media attention this summer.

That also came with a bigger target on their backs in their quest to qualify for the state tournament for the first time in 25 years. Ultimately, Aplington-Parkersburg took aim at the Trojans, shocking West Marshall in a 5-0 loss in the district final at State Center on July 13.

“Just because we didn’t make state, that doesn’t make our season a failure,” Siegert said. “Everybody still had a lot of fun, we played well all year and we made a lot of memories.”

The memories are part of what Siegert will miss most about West Marshall baseball.

“I got so many friends around here from the baseball team, got super close with all the coaches,” Siegert said. “Missing those friendships as the years go on will be tough.

“And just the atmosphere here for every home game, there’s so many people here, down the outfield lines, behind the plate, in the bleachers. They’ve got a lot of love for me and the guys in this community and I’ll miss that.”

He’s off to the SDSU campus in Brookings, where he’ll play baseball for the Jackrabbits while pursuing an education in sports and recreation management.

“I want to be able to stay in the sports field if I can’t keep playing [after college],” Siegert said. “Moving on from this is going to be a lot, but just knowing that I can keep playing is good for me, I’m looking forward to it.”

Siegert admits he isn’t a vocal leader, but he hopes his example will guide future Trojan leaders.

“If everybody can see the way you go about your work, how you do everything with a purpose, that can lead people in itself,” Siegert said.

Brown said he can already see the lasting impact of Siegert on the future generations of Trojans.

When the Trojans held their youth baseball night this summer, the young Trojans were invited onto the field for the national anthem to stand at whichever position they’d like.

While there were a few kids scattered out at every position, Brown said there were almost 30 kids gathered around the pitchers’ mound.

“They all want to be Owen Siegert,” Brown said. “And if that’s the future of West Marshall baseball, where we have a plethora of pitchers, I think that would be his impact.”

2024 Times-Republican All-Area Baseball Team

Player of the Year — Owen Siegert, sr., West Marshall

Coach of the Year — Jerod Brown, West Marshall

FIRST TEAM

Pitchers — Noah DeSotel, jr., West Marshall; Tate Jirovsky, sr., Grundy Center; Grayson Shaver, sr., West Marshall

Catchers — AJ Dee, jr., West Marshall; Kolt Knaack, jr., North Tama; Caleb Kusserow, sr., Marshalltown; Pete Lebo, so., Grundy Center

Infielders — Tayven Dutton, jr., Marshalltown; Sam Greazel, jr., Marshalltown; Cael Keller, sr., BCLUW; Blake Neuroth, so., East Marshall; Evan Siegert, so., West Marshall; Colin Teske, jr., GMG; Daniel Wiese, sr., South Tama; Brody Zinkula, jr., Grundy Center

Outfielders — Hudson Clark, jr., Gladbrook-Reinbeck; Beckham DeSotel, fr., West Marshall; DJ Ridout, jr., West Marshall

Utility — Drew Eilers, jr., Gladbrook-Reinbeck; Judd Jirovsky, so., Grundy Center; Calvin Zoske, sr., BCLUW

HONORABLE MENTION

Dawson Bear, jr., West Marshall; Josh Dostal, jr., North Tama; Jake Farrington, jr., East Marshall; Henry Hansen, sr., North Tama; Connor Kriegel, sr., East Marshall; Rider Kupka, so., GMG; Kyan McBride, sr., South Tama; Kayler Morris, so., North Tama; Owen Myers, jr., BCLUW; Eathan Petermeier, fr., BCLUW; Gavin Rausch, jr., North Tama; Joryn Shively, jr., East Marshall; Zander Stupp, jr., Marshalltown; Ryker Thoren, jr., Grundy Center; Nick Upah, so., South Tama

Previous T-R All-Area Baseball Players of the Year

2023 — Owen Siegert, sr., West Marshall

2022 — Kinnick Christensen, sr., West Marshall

2021 — Kaden Davis, sr., West Marshall

2020 — Tyler Tscherter, Gladbrook-Reinbeck

2019 — Wade Canaday, Marshalltown

2018 — Nate Vance, Marshalltown

2017 — Ross Randall, West Marshall

2016 — Nick Long, East Marshall

2015 — Nick Long, East Marshall

2014 — Kolton Smith, South Tama County

2013 — Jared Riemenschneider, West Marshall

2012 — Kyle Carnahan, Marshalltown

2011 — Brendon Boerm, North Tama

2010 — Nick Thimesch, Marshalltown

2009 — Jimmy Six, Marshalltown

2008 — Tyler Peschong, Marshalltown

2007 — Austin Swartz, Marshalltown

2006 — Doug Eisenman, Grundy Center; Jake Edwards, East Marshall

2005 — Jacob Phipps, East Marshall