Selections for individual honors are, more times than not, a reflection of a team’s success.
So it should come as no surprise that Western Brown High School is well-represented on the all Southern Buckeye Athletic and Academic Conference American Division baseball teams.
The all-SBAAC teams were announced recently, and the Broncos, who finished atop the standings in the division during the regular season, boast the division Player of the Year, Coach of the Year and a total of six all-league selections.
Junior pitching ace Abe Crall was named the Player of the Year. He was joined on the First Team by his twin brother, Ben Crall, and senior Matt Frye. Named to the second team for the Broncos were seniors Seth Barber and Andrew Schneeman and sophomore Jet Jamson. Jon Crall, the father of Abe and Ben, was named Coach of the Year for the Broncos, who finished 8-2 in league play in 2023.
Abe Crall’s MVP season was certainly one to remember. He threw a pair of no-hitters en route to a 6-0 record and ended the season with a meager 0.359 earned run average and 73 strikeouts in 39 innings – or almost two an inning. In all, he allowed just 14 hits, while also walking 14, and only two earned runs.
He was solid at the plate, too, batting .417 with nine doubles, a home run and 15 runs batted in just 72 at-bats. He also had 23 bases on balls and scored 30 runs.
SHAC All-Conference baseball team
A half-dozen players from other area Brown County schools also earned all-league honors – in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference.
Eastern Brown High School, which finished second in the SHAC Division I standings, had three picks: Wyatt Haupt, Pryce Murphy and Carter Vaughn.
Fayetteville-Perry, which finished second in Division II, had two all-conference picks: Clayton Holden and Austin Snider.
Ripley Union Lewis Huntington High School’s Spencer Gray rounded out the area county picks.
The SHAC didn’t differentiate between First Team, Second Team and honorable mention, instead having just a singular team. Players of the Year will be announced at a later date.