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Two local baseball teams finished at the bottom of the Iowa Star Conference's North Division, but their talent was recognized just the same.
Three members of the BCLUW baseball team were named to the Iowa Star North's 12-player first team, including the second-straight such honor for senior Daniel Zoske.
Zoske earned back-to-back first-team honors as a utility pick after standing atop the pitcher's mound in the Comets' toughest conference games this season. He went 0-4 in league play but posted a 2.62 earned run average, recording 27 strikeouts in 21 1/3 innings. Opposing hitters batted just .216 against him. Offensively, Zoske finished with a .405 batting average in conference play, contributing three doubles and nine runs scored. He drove in 16 runs, which ranked fifth in the ISC South, and had a .540 on-base percentage (OBP), which ranked fourth.
BCLUW senior outfielder Maverick Grafke was promoted to first team after earning honorable mention selection last summer. This season he hit .442, ranking fifth in league play, and tallied six doubles, one triple, seven runs scored and 12 RBIs. He had a .517 OBP and also threw out 7-of-21 attempted base-stealers when playing catcher. Zoske threw out 11-of-34 in his time behind the plate as well, leading the South.
Two-time second-team honoree Eathan Petermeier was picked to the first team as an infielder, ranking second in the conference with a .500 batting average. The junior ranked second with eight doubles and two triples while scoring 19 runs and driving in 11 more. Petermeier also posted a .940 fielding percentage as the team's primary shortstop.
Second-team honors went to BCLUW junior Will Feldpausch and GMG junior Ethan Klemesrud. Feldpausch scored his second all-conference honor after batting .288 with four doubles, 13 runs and 14 RBIs in league action. He stole six bases and had only two errors as an outfielder for the Comets.
Klemesrud led GMG with a .412 conference batting average, adding one double, 17 runs scored and 12 RBIs to go with 17 stolen bases -- ranking fourth in the league. On the mound, Klemesrud pitched 26 innings and struck out 34 batters.
BCLUW senior Aiden Frank and GMG senior Drayson Stephenson secured honorable mention honors for their first career all-conference accolades. Frank pitched a team-high 23 1/3 innings in conference play, going 1-2 with 21 strikeouts along the way. Stephenson pitched a GMG-leading 26 2/3 innings in Iowa Star action, recording a 3.65 ERA with 13 strikeouts but only seven total walks. He pitched in nine RBIs offensively.
BCLUW finished fifth and GMG was sixth in the final Iowa Star South standings. Baxter and Collins-Maxwell split the divisional crown with matching 12-4 records.