Mainstays for the Great Bend High School Panthers baseball team, seniors Mitch Kottas, Jace Bowman and Connor Sell have been named as All-Western Athletic Conference first-team selections in a vote by league coaches.
Ace pitcher/left fielder Kottas registered a team-leading 5-0 record and a 1.91 earned run average. The Panthers, who finished 14-8 overall, advanced to a Class 5A regional championship before falling to host Goddard 8-0 after they rallied to beat Newton 6-5 in a semifinal after scoring three runs in the bottom of the seventh and having Kottas on the mound pitching a complete game.
The right-hander, who has committed to play at Barton Community College in 2012-13, also had team-highs of 44 innings pitched, strikeouts (23) and did not allow a home run all season. He batted .273 while playing left field and drove in 14 runs.
Bowman, a second baseman, flirted with batting .500 on the season before finishing with a team-leading.480 average (36 for 75). He also led the Panthers in at-bats (75), singles (24), home runs (2) and runs batted in (22), while ranking second on the team in doubles (9).
Bowman also had team-highs in slugging percentage (.707) and on-base percentage (.557).
Sell, a centerfielder/pitcher, was a nuisance on the base paths from his lead-off spot in the batting order. He led the team in walks (19), runs scored (28) and doubles (10) while batting .328. As a pitcher, the left-hander had a 1-1 record with an 8.40 earned run average in 13 1/3 innings pitched.
Utility man Matt Marshall and infielder Dakota Conaway were honorable mention selections as juniors.
Marshall hit .353 — second on the team — while he also ranked second on the team with 16 RBIs . He posted a 2-0 record on the mound with a 7.81 ERA.
Conaway batted .344 — third on the team — with 20 of his 22 hits being singles.