2018 All-County Baseball Honors

PHOTO: Cade Willingham was named the All-DeKalb County Most Valuable Player (MVP) for 2018. (Marla Jones | Southern Torch)

By Marla Jones, Sports Editor

DEKALB COUNTY, Ala. — Twenty-seven local athletes were chosen to the 2018 All-DeKalb County Baseball Team.

Fyffe, Plainview and Sylvania lead the county with five selections for this year’s team.

Crossville had four players named to the team. Collinsville and Geraldine had three placements and Ider had two named to the team.

The DeKalb County Most Valuable Player (MVP) was Senior Cade Willingham, from Plainview. From the mound, Willingham only gave up 30 hits and 18 runs. He struck out 47, pitched a shutout and walked 17 batters. At the plate, he scored 27 runs, and drove in 24 RBI’s. His batting average was .463 for the season.

The DeKalb County Pitcher of the Year was Senior Seth Benefield from Fyffe. Benefield pitched 53 innings, and had shutouts for the 2018 season. He struck out 76 batters, and only walked 13. He had a 2.24 ERA for the season.

The DeKalb County Hitter of the Year was Senior, Brant Rowell. His batting average for the 2018 season was .477. Rowell had 42 base hits, (including six double and nine triples). At the plate, he scored 41 runs, stole 16 bases, and only struck out 13 times in the season.

All-County First Team Selections:

Cade Willingham, MVP (Plainview)

Seth Benefield, Pitcher of the Year (Fyffe)

Brant Rowell, Hitter of the Year (Fyffe)

Clay Cooper, 2nd Base (Plainview)

Zack Allen, 3rd Base (Plainview)

Fisher Goza, Outfield (Sylvania)

Blake McCurdy, Utility (Sylvania)

Justin Stiefel, Pitcher (Fyffe)

Cole Lyles, Designated Hitter (Fyffe)

Jesse Pursell, 1st Base (Crossville)

Blanton Jones, Shortstop (Crossville)