June 20, 2018 at 1:14 p.m.
DeMeyer named first-team All-State
Hodags' Comer, White also recognized by WBCA
DeMeyer named first-team All-State
DeMeyer received high level recognition Friday when he was named first-team All-State as an outfielder by the Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association. Only three outfielders, and 11 players overall across all four WIAA spring divisions, received first-team honors. DeMeyer was joined on the first team outfield by Beloit Turner's Mitchell Seager and Arrowhead's Chandler Pulvermacher.
DeMeyer finished the season batting .507 with a home run and a team-best 28 RBI. He also led the team in extra base hits (17) and stolen bases (7).
"Toward the end of the year, I don't think there was a player in the state hitting the ball harder than JD," RHS baseball coach Joe Waksmonski said. "That is quite an honor. He had a phenomenal finish to his season to push that batting average over .500, which seems to be the magic number when you get to those all-state teams. But, along with his batting average when you look at his doubles I think he had 15 or 16 on the year. There was some power and pop to go along with that. I believe half of his hits this year were for extra bases."
DeMeyer didn't play a bad center field, either. His .956 fielding percentage was third best among qualifying players on the team and he came up with a key outfield assist in the sixth inning of a WIAA tournament game against Medford to throw out the would-be game-tying run at the plate.
"For four years he's been a great center fielder for us and he's only gotten better," Waksmonski said. "Teams that had played us often knew that they could not run on him and the teams that played us for the first time tried to test him out and he got them a couple of times here this year."
DeMeyer didn't just receive honors for his play, his academic accomplishments were lauded as well. DeMeyer and teammate Owen White earned academic all-state honors from the coaches. To be eligible for academic all-state, players must be either a junior or a senior, have earned all-conference recognition and maintain a grade point average of 3.75 or higher.
"It just goes to show that JD and Owen were hard workers in the classroom - Owen especially to take the weighted courses that he did to push his GPA well above 4.0. It's a great honor for them," Waksmonski said.
Senior teammate Brad Comer also received all-state honors, earned honorable mention as an infielder. Comer hit .400 overall on the spring with a home run and 23 RBIs.
"Brad had a great year statistically too as well, had a high batting average and had some power numbers as well to go along with it," Waksmonski said. "Both of those guys are talented and worked hard, not only this year but in their four years here in high school. Their awards were very deserving."
In addition to their all-state honors, DeMeyer, Comer and White also received all-district honors in District II, which covers the north-central portion of the state. DeMeyer and Comer made the first team while White was a second-team all-district outfielder.
Seniors honored at banquet
The RHS baseball team's senior class took home the bulk of the awards Monday when the squad held its year-end banquet at Stafford Field.
DeMeyer was voted the team's most valuable player, White was voted most-improved and Cole Spaulding won the team's Hodag Award.
Those three, along with seniors Comer and Brad Quade, led a Hodag squad that went 12-9 overall and finished third in the Great Northern Conference. All five received some sort of all-GNC honors this spring.
"It's not that often that every one of our seniors receives some sort of all-conference recognition," Waksmonski said. "That speaks to the talent that this group had, the work that they put in not only this year but all the years - in high school, Babe Ruth, Little League - the work that you did as parents with them. We're going to miss them a lot."
DeMeyer led the team in most offensive categories, including batting average, slugging percentage, RBIs, extra base hits and stolen bases. He was also the team's No. 1 pitching option and its top outfielder.
"He was everything to our team as a hitter, as a pitcher, in the outfield," Waksmonski said. "He played some shortstop in a pinch. He was one of those guys that did everything for us. On the field, off the field, he was our team MVP."
After not playing baseball competitively for more than two years, White hit .404 this spring for the Hodags with a home run and 16 RBIs while spending most of his time in left field.
"Owen, this being his first year of playing high school baseball, he's obviously an athlete and he does come from a good baseball background, being the younger brother of many brothers who played baseball," Waksmonski said. "He had a good, solid base coming into the season, it was just a matter of fine-tuning some of the little things that he needs to work on. I thought Owen was very receptive and very coachable and it was a pleasure to have him this year."
Spaulding, a team captain along with DeMeyer and Comer, took home the team's Hodag Award.
"That award goes to a player that exemplifies the team, is a leader, is someone with high character and I though (Cole) had all of those traits," Waksmonski explained. "With Cole I'm not worried at all. I know whatever he does in the future he'll be successful. His work ethic is unbelievable and he's going to have success at whatever in life he choose to do."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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