LUCAS — Andrew Smollen outdid himself.
A Lucas senior, Smollen repeated as the Mid-Buckeye Conference Player of the Year when the All-MBC baseball teams were unveiled earlier this month.
Loudonville’s Matt Rucki was selected the Coach of the Year.
Smollen was one of the area’s top pitchers. He was 9-3 with a school single-season record 135 strikeouts and a 0.77 earned run average. He waked just 16 batters in 73 innings of work. At the plate, Smollen batted a team-best .397 with four home runs and 28 runs batted in.
Smollen was joined on the All-MBC first team by teammates Hunter Church, Corbin Toms and Brayden Spitler. Mansfield Christian’s Isaac Hillman and Ethan Bishop were first-team picks, along with Loudonville’s Matt Sprang, Judah Layton, Baylor Weiser and Boe Weiser, Crestline’s Auston Hernson and Kidron Central Christian’s Lyle Endsley and Brayden Neuenschwander.
Second-team picks were Lucas’ Bobby Grover, Mansfield Christian’s Adam McLaughlin, Loudonville’s Aidan Wolford and Peyton Regan, Crestline’s Jake Bruce and Kidron Central Christian’s Bryan Martin and Drew Badertscher.
Honorable-mention selections included Lucas’ Jack Dibartolomeo and Gabe Porter, Loudonville’s Dilan Wade, Crestline’s Trevor Shade and Kidron Central Christian’s Dominic Gasser.
