At Sweet Home baseball’s end of season awards banquet at Husky Field on May 24, senior catcher Lewis Conn won Team MVP.
“This young man is very deserving,” Head Coach John Best said. “Not only did he do it offensively, on the mound, and behind the dish, but he worked his tail off for us all year.”
Conn also won the Silver Slugger Award for the best offense on the team. His three home runs tied for the most in the Oregon West Conference, and his .286 batting average tied Trenton Smith for the best on the team.
“He was definitely our most consistent hitter,” Best said of Conn, adding “It has been a long time since I’ve had somebody hit three home runs in a season.”
He noted that “He was the guy who led us off and got on base. Almost every single coach told me after the game, ‘dang, that catcher of yours, he can hit.'”
Conn led the team in hits with 18, and his 13 RBIs were tied for the best on the club with Jon Holly.
On the mound, Conn was the Huskies’ third most utilized pitcher and posted the team’s third best ERA: 6.88 over 19 and a third innings.
Conn was named an Honorable Mention Catcher in the OWC.
Junior Jon Holly won Pitcher of the Year, with the most wins and innings pitched on the team (one win over 37.1 innings), as well as the best ERA (6.00).
“He maybe had a few struggles early on, but he really honed in during the second half,” Best said of Holly. “I am super excited to see what he does for us next year on the bump.”
Senior Kaden Zajic won the Gold Glove Award for the best defensive player of the year. He played primarily as a third baseman, along with a bit of outfield. “I thought he did a great job for us,” Best said.
Kelso Ellis was named Rookie of the Year. “We had some guys that came up [to varsity] and did fantastic, but I think this one absolutely stood out,” Best said. “He did it all. He could hit, he could pitch, he could play infield. He had a great attitude, and he’s going to be a huge leader for us next year as well.”
Ellis’s .313 batting average was the best on the team. His 15 hits were tied for second best. In 23 innings on the mound, he had a 7.61 ERA. He was named a Second Team Infielder in the OWC.
Senior center fielder Dylan Luttmer was named Honorable Mention Outfield.
“This guy loves baseball,” Best said. “You can tell it every single time at practice and during the games.” Gesturing toward the field behind him, Best said “This was important to him.”
He added that “This year he made huge strides. He was a grinder for us, and I’m going to absolutely miss this young man. I wish I had ten just like him.”
Luttmer hit .241 on the season, with 13 hits and nine RBIs.
Senior first baseman Christian Dominy won the Hustle Award. Best described him as “the guy that always did everything.”
Senior left fielder Trenton Smith won Most Improved after not playing baseball last season. “This young man did a really good job from day one of practice all the way through, and he was pretty steady,” Best said. “He was surprising with the numbers that he posted at the end of the year. His batting average was pretty dang good, and he played a really good outfield.”
Discussing a season in which the Huskies wish they would have fared better in the win-loss column (the team finished 1-20), Best nevertheless shared his appreciation for a cohort of eight seniors that took the field this year.
“The dynamic of eight seniors on a club is not very common,” Best said. “It was great having eight seniors, and hopefully they made some great memories on the ball field, in the dugout, on the buses to the road games, during our spring trip, and all throughout the season.”