Four Bluejays earn baseball All-Conference honors

Four members of the Three Lakes-Phelps varsity baseball team were recently selected as All-Conference honorees for their performances this year on the diamond.  Carter Flannery and Cruz Melton were unanimous Northern Lakes Conference first team selections, while Doug Koshuta and Reece Bollman earned second team honors.  

All four were pivotal in the Bluejays sharing a conference title and reaching the WIAA Division 4 Regional final round for the second straight year.

Each of these honorees played in every game this season, and each had significant production, starting with Flannery. He was the starting ace on the mound for the Jays.  He was 7-3 as a starter and had an earned run average of just 1.74 in more than 44 innings of work.  He threw red-hot fastballs that often kept opposing bats resting on shoulders while recording 67 strikeouts.  In his four years on the team, he was 16-8 with 144 total strikeouts.

Flannery was the team's shortstop when he was not pitching, and his strong arm helped him throw out many runners who hit ground balls in his direction.  At the plate, he hit .431 with 25 hits, including three doubles and a triple.  He also scored 21 runs and drove in 30 runs, and even had three stolen bases to his credit.  This is his third consecutive season as an All-Conference player for the Bluejays.

Joining Flannery as a unanimous first-team selection is Melton, who had a great junior season after he was the only unanimous All-Conference pick for the Bluejays last year.  Voting is conducted by opposing coaches in the conference who see each of the potential selections at least twice each season. 

On the mound, he was 4-1 while pitching in 14 different games. His earned run average was a paltry 1.48, serving as a starter and a relief pitcher, and he led the team with 68 strikeouts against only 15 walks.  In his first three years on the team, he has struck out 115 batters while only allowing 29 walks.   Melton also led the team in several offensive categories, including hitting with a .521 batting average, stealing 15 bases and scoring 29 runs.  He also batted in 24 runs and hit five doubles, a triple and a home run in a game against Laona-Wabeno. 

Senior players Koshuta and Bollman also had outstanding seasons for the Bluejays.  Koshuta was a put-out machine as a first baseman, scooping throws from all directions. As a lefty, Koshuta racked up five doubles, one triple and one inside-the-park home run in a game against Goodman-Pembine.  His batting average was .317, and he scored 16 runs this season while driving in 24 runs.  

Bollman led the Bluejays with 29 hits this year as he found a new home in the lead-off spot of the lineup.  While his stolen base number of four did not lead the team, he seemed to find a different way to steal bases by stretching singles into doubles, as he led the team with 10 two-baggers.  The left fielder also scored 21 runs for the team while driving in 18.   His .460 batting average was second on the club, and he was hit by a pitch three times, all during the regional championship series. 

Flannery, Koshuta and Bollman all recently graduated, leaving Melton as the only All-Conference player to return to the team next season, when he will lead the club in his senior year at Three Lakes High School.