Multiple Bulldogs baseball players get recognition
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HANCOCK -- After their high school baseball season ended in June, multiple Hancock Bulldogs received postseason honors from the Michigan High School Baseball Coaches Association for their efforts in a season that saw the Bulldogs get all the way to the Division 3 state quarterfinals for the first time in school history.
They lost in that game to eventual state champion Traverse City St. Francis.
At the District level, infielders Ben Keranen and Connor Helminen were recognized as All-District. Joining them were outfielder Todd Kilpela, catcher Caleb Isaacson and pitcher Nate Thompson.
Keranen hit .481 for the season with an OPS of 1.280. He had 37 hits, 27 of which were singles. He also had five doubles, four triples, and a home run. He scored 34 times and knocked in 24 runs.
He also struck out just five times.
On the mound, Keranen started 11 games in 12 appearances. He went 7-2 with 89 strikeouts and just 17 walks issued.
He was also named to the All-Region team as the lone representative from Hancock.
Helminen hit .407 for the season with an OPS of .941. He had 22 hits, 21 of which were singles, and one double.
He knocked in 16 runs while scoring 21 times.
Kilpela hit .338 as the Bulldogs' fourth-best hitter. He had an OPS of 1.047. He racked up 13 singles, three doubles, five triples, and a home run on 22 hits.
He knocked in 13, scored 22 times, and walked 15 times, which was third-best on the team.
Isaacson, as the catcher, hit .333 and had an OPS of 954. Of his 19 hits, 14 were singles, three were doubles, one was a triple, and one was a home run. He walked 15 times, scored 13 times and knocked in 16.
Thompson was the Bulldogs' second-best pitcher behind Keranen. He pitched in 10 games, starting eight of them. He went 6-2. He struck out 48.