T-R FILE PHOTO - Grundy Center junior shortstop Judd Jirovsky (12) looks on as the Spartans attempt to turn a double play during their win over Marshalltown on May 30 at MHS. Jirovsky went 6-0 on the mound in NICL West Division play on his way to being named the league’s Player of the Year.

The Grundy Center baseball team claimed all 12 of its games in NICL West Division play this summer.

Junior pitcher Judd Jirovsky won half of them.

Jirovsky was named the NICL West’s Player of the Year after going 6-0 on the mound in conference play this season, leading the Spartans to their fifth-straight league title.

Jirovsky didn’t allow a single run in 32 2/3 innings pitched, walked two, hit one, while striking out 48. Opposing hitters batted just .126 against him as he allowed only 14 hits in 111 at-bats.

Offensively, Jirovsky also hit .350 with two doubles, five RBIs and 16 runs scored. He struck out just four times in 40 at-bats, was 11-for-11 stealing bases and didn’t make an error in 29 total chances defensively.

He’s Grundy Center’s first Player of the Year recipient since, well, his brother Tate earned the honor a season ago. Pat Brown II was named the conference’s Coach of the Year.

Jirovksy was one of six Spartans named to the all-NICL West first team. He was a unanimous pick for first-team pitcher, and his batterymate Pete Lebo was the unanimous selection at catcher. Both are juniors and repeat first-team picks.

Lebo hit .353 in division play with five doubles, nine RBIs and 12 runs scored. He was 8-for-8 stealing bases, and he also threw out 6-of-13 would-be base-stealers. He made only one error.

Fellow juniors Brayden Davie and Ryder Slifer also earned first-team honors — Davie as a pitcher and Slifer at first base. Davie batted .209 in league play with a double, eight RBIs and 13 runs scored. He swiped nine bags and also went 2-0 on the mound with a 1.31 earned run average in 10 2/3 innings pitched.

Slifer was the West’s second-leading hitter with a .406 average, hitting three doubles, a home run and driving in 12 runs. He was plunked a league-high nine times.

Spartan seniors Brody Zinkula (second base) and Ryker Thoren (utility) rounded out their team’s six-player cast of first-team honorees. Zinkula, a repeat first-teamer, batted .333 with two doubles, 11 RBIs and 18 runs scored while stealing 10 bags.

Thoren went 2-0 on the mound, striking out 12 in 13 innings pitched. He also batted .364 with four doubles, 14 RBIs and 17 runs scored.

East Marshall, which finished in the middle of the five-team pack in the NICL West, had two first-team all-conference selections in senior outfielder Jake Farrington and junior shortstop Blake Neuroth. Farrington was a unanimous pick after hitting .357 with four doubles, a home run and 12 RBIs. Neuroth was the league’s third-leading hitter with a .405, which included five doubles, a triple, eight RBIs and 12 runs scored. He was tops in the conference with 17 stolen bases, and he posted a .939 fielding percentage. He was 1-1 on the mound with a 2.55 ERA.

Neuroth is a three-time first-team honoree, while Farrington was promoted from last year’s second team.

Gladbrook-Reinbeck’s lone first-team honoree was junior outfielder Hudson Clark, who batted .312 with three doubles, three RBIs and five runs scored. Clark was a first-team selection a year ago.

East Marshall had a trio of second-team selections in sophomores Nathan Frye (pitcher), Eli Burns (second base) and Jaxson Boswell (outfielder). Gladbrook-Reinbeck was represented on the second team by senior Drew Eilers (utility) and sophomore Treyvon Herron (outfielder).

G-R senior Brandon Mathern, East Marshall sophomore Jackson Busch, and Grundy Center sophomore Ethan Meester were also honorable mention selections.

All-North Iowa Cedar League West Division Baseball Teams

Player of the Year — Judd Jirovsky, jr., Grundy Center.

Coach of the Year — Pat Brown II, Grundy Center.

FIRST TEAM

(* unanimous selection)

*Judd Jirovsky, jr., P, Grundy Center

Brayden Davie, jr., P, Grundy Center

*Pete Lebo, jr., C, Grundy Center

Ryder Slifer, jr., 1B, Grundy Center

Brody Zinkula, sr., 2B, Grundy Center

Blake Neuroth, jr., SS, East Marshall

Garrett Anderson, so., 3B, South Hardin

*Josh Spindler, fr., OF, South Hardin

*Jake Farrington, sr., OF, East Marshall

Hudson Clark, jr., OF, Gladbrook-Reinbeck

Ryker Thoren, sr., UT, Grundy Center

Peyton Welch, jr., UT, South Hardin

SECOND TEAM

Kingston Holman, so., P, AGWSR

Nathan Frye, so., P, East Marshall

Landen Dennis, fr., C, AGWSR

Preston Dolash, jr., 1B, South Hardin

Eli Burns, so., 2B, East Marshall

Clay Buseman, 8th, SS, AGWSR

Remington Kerns, fr., 3B, AGWSR

Dax Thompson, sr., OF, South Hardin

Jaxson Boswell, so., OF, East Marshall

Treyvon Herron, so., OF, Gladbrook-Reinbeck

Drew Eilers, sr., UT, Gladbrook-Reinbeck

Tristen Dennis, jr., UT, AGWSR

HONORABLE MENTION

Jackson Busch, so., East Marshall; Bo Carpenter, jr., South Hardin; Easton Kerns, sr., AGWSR; Brandon Mathern, sr., Gladbrook-Reinbeck; Ethan Meester, so., Grundy Center.

Final Conference Standings

Grundy Center 12-0

South Hardin 8-4

East Marshall 6-6

Gladbrook-Reinbeck 3-9

AGWSR 1-11