Jul. 3—Dominic Decker will attend college in Colorado.
The Silver Creek rising senior, a standout infielder/pitcher for the Dragons, made his intentions known Friday night on social media.
“I am very excited to announce that I have decided to continue my academic and baseball career at Colorado Mesa University! I want to thank my family, coaches, and anyone who has helped me become the person and player I am today,” Decker tweeted.
Colorado Mesa, which is located in Grand Junction, Colo., is a NCAA Division II powerhouse. The Mavericks have made the College World Series four times, the last time in 2019. In 2014, they lost to Southern Indiana in the national championship game.
This past season Colorado Mesa went 42-7, including 34-2 in its conference, before losing in the NCAA Regionals.
Decker, whose dad Joe is the long-time coach of the Dragons, hit .410 with four doubles, three triples, one home run and 21 RBIs this past season while scoring a team-high 36 runs and steals 36 bases in 38 attempts. He also finished with a team-best .528 on-base percentage, .540 slugging percentage and 1.068 OPS for Silver Creek, which went 23-9-1 and lost a 2-1 11-inning game to eventual Class 3A state champion Southridge in the regional semifinals.
On the mound, Decker went 1-0 with two saves and a 1.21 earned-run average in 13 appearances. In 17 1/3 innings pitched, Decker gave up four runs (three earned) on six hits while walking eight and striking out 22.
3 DRAGONS, 2 PIRATES, 1 GENERALS NAMED ALL-MSC
Three Silver Creek players, two from Charlestown and one from Clarksville earned All-Mid-Southern Conference honors.
For the Dragons, Holden Groher, Bailey Hale and Decker earned first-team honors. They were joined by the Pirates’ duo of Eric Wigginton and Jacob Glover, as well as Jake Cummings of the Generals.
Groher, a senior pitcher/shortstop, went 7-4 with a 1.07 earned-run average. Over 72 innings pitched, the right-hander allowed 16 runs (11 earned) on 48 hits while walking 35 and striking out 83. Opponents hit just .179 against him. At the plate, the Butler University-signee batted .269 with four doubles, two triples, four home runs and 23 RBIs. He also scored 25 times.
Hale, a junior catcher, hit .410 with nine doubles, two triples, two home runs and a team-high 28 RBIs.
Wigginton, a senior pitcher/infielder/outfielder, hit .400 with seven doubles, a triple and nine RBIs at the plate. On the mound, the right-hander went 4-5 with a 2.22 ERA. In 41 innings pitched, the Spalding-signee allowed 30 runs (13 earned) on 37 hits while walking 11 and striking out 56.
Glover, a senior pitcher/shortstop, hit .286 at the plate. On the mound, he went 2-2 with a 2.21 ERA. In 25 1/3 innings pitched, Glover allowed 18 runs (eight earned) on 19 hits while walking 22 and striking out 38.
Cummings, a senior pitcher/catcher/shortstop, hit .372 with eight doubles, one triple, one homer and 17 RBIs while scoring 18 runs. He also had a .932 fielding percentage while throwing out about half of the baserunners who attempted to steal against him. On the mound, he went 2-4 with one save and posted a 3.17 ERA.
Silver Creek’s Colin Kapust and Jace Burton garnered honorable mention, along with Charelstown’s Deke Brown and Michael Casey.
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ALL-MSC
First-team: Bailey Hale, Dominic Decker & Holden Groher (Silver Creek); Eric Wigginton & Jacob Glover (Charlestown); Snyder Pennington & Cauy Motsinger (Eastern); Brady Watts & Brendan Hanner (Austin); Treyton Owens & Cole Atha (Scottsburg); Ethan Davis & Jake Pauley (Brownstown Central); Colin Higdon (North Harrison); Brody Pepmeier (Salem); Jake Cummings (Clarksville); Jalen Fowler (Corydon Central).
Honorable mention: Colin Kapust & Jace Burton (Silver Creek); Deke Brown & Michael Casey (Charlestown); Yancey Edlin & Brant Farris (Eastern); Parker Bruce (Austin); David Edwards (Scottsburg); Cristoss McCormick (Brownstown); Sawyer Wetzel (North Harrison); Peyton Arthur (Salem).
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3 HIGHLANDERS, 2 DEVILS, 2 DOGS NAMED ALL-HHC
A trio of players from Floyd Central, as well as two each from Jeffersonville and New Albany, were named to the All-Hoosier Hills Conference team.
The Highlanders were represented by Evan Goforth, Tristan Polk and Casey Sorg. The Red Devils were repped by Kannon Stull and Max McEwen and the Bulldogs by Tucker Biven and Kaden Elliott.
Goforth, a senior shortstop, hit .362 for the Highlanders, who won the program’s first sectional title since 2015 and lost to eventual 4A state champ Jasper in the regional semifinals. The Indiana-signee also had a team-best 32 RBIs.
Polk, a senior third baseman/pitcher, hit .357 with six doubles, a triple and 16 RBIs. On the mound, he went 6-0 with three saves and a 1.42 ERA.
Sorg, a senior pitcher/infielder, hit .318 with six doubles, four triples and 17 RBIs while scoring 17 runs. On the mound, the right-hander went 6-1 with one save and a 1.76 ERA. In 63 2/3 innings pitched, the Bellarmine-signee recorded 74 strikeouts.
McEwen, a junior pitcher/infielder, hit .225 with two doubles, a home run and 14 RBIs while scoring nine runs. On the mound, he went 6-2 while posting a 1.12 ERA in 10 appearances. In 43 2/3 innings pitched, the right-hander allowed 11 runs (seven earned) on 19 hits while walking 18 and striking out 56.
Stull, a junior outfielder, topped the team in batting average (.412), doubles (10) and RBIs (20) while hitting a triple, a home run, scoring 20 times and stealing 11 bases. He also posted a .455 OBP, .588 slugging percentage and 1.043 OPS.
Biven, a junior shortstop/pitcher, hit .462 with seven doubles, four triples, six home runs and 32 RBIs while scoring 42 runs for the ‘Dogs, who went 24-7. On the mound, the right-hander was 5-1 with two saves and a 1.56 earned-run average. In 45 innings pitched, he recorded 66 strikeouts.
Elliott, a senior first baseman, batted .413 with nine doubles and three home runs while driving in 20.
Floyd Central’s Bishop Letson and Caleb Slaughter garnered honorable mention, as did Jeffersonville’s Chate Amick and Brett Denby.
Jeffersonville’s Derek Ellis, whose Red Devils won their fifth straight HHC Tournament title, was named Coach of the Year.
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ALL-HHC
First team: Evan Waggoner (Bedford NL); Parker Harrison, Will Rieckers & Kaden Wise (Columbus East); Evan Goforth, Tristan Polk & Casey Sorg (Floyd Central); Max McEwen & Kannon Stull (Jeffersonville); Jacob Vogel (Jennings County); Zach Forner & Ben Orrill (Madison); Tucker Biven & Kaden Elliott (New Albany); Bret Perry (Seymour).
Honorable mention: Whitt Callahan & Cole Karr (Bedford NL); Bishop Letson & Caleb Slaughter (Floyd Central); Chate Amick & Brett Denby (Jeffersonville); Carson McNulty (Jennings County); Aden Burnside (Seymour).
Coach of the Year: Derek Ellis (Jeffersonville).
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GENTRY NAMED SAC MOP
Borden junior Gavin Gentry was named the Southern Athletic Conference’s Most Outstanding Player. The outfielder/pitcher was a two-way standout for the Braves, who went unbeaten in league play en route to a sectional title and their first-ever regional championship before losing to Shakamak in the semistate.
At the plate, Gentry topped the team in batting average (.472), doubles (nine), home runs (five), runs (41) and stolen bases (20) while ranking second in RBIs (26). He also led the squad in on-base percentage (.598), slugging percentage (.741) and OPS (1.340).
On the mound, Gentry went 7-3 with one save and a 1.59 ERA in 15 appearances, including 10 starts. In 57.1 innings pitched, he allowed 24 runs (13 earned) on 40 hits while walking 20 and striking out 110.
Gentry was joined on the all-conference squad by teammates Kaden Holmes and Dylan Toler.
Holmes, a junior first baseman/pitcher, hit .353 with seven doubles, a home runs and 23 RBIs while scoring 20 runs. He also finished with a .447 OBP, .470 slugging percentage and .918 OPS. On the mound, Holmes was 3-2 with two saves and a 2.22 ERA.
Toler, a sophomore utilityman, hit .333 with five doubles, two triples, one home run and a team-best 27 RBIs to go along with 25 runs.
The three Braves were joined by Henryville’s Dawson Hope and Sam Gilles, as well as New Washington’s Bo Giltner.
Borden’s Eric Stotts was named Coach of the Year.
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ALL-SAC
All-Conference: Gavin Gentry (Borden); Christian Kiper (South Central); Frank Goodman (South Central); Dawson Hope (Henryville); Kaden Holmes (Borden); Ashton Smith (Lanesville); Sam Gilles (Henryville); Bo Giltner (New Washington); Dylan Toler (Borden); Brayden Kiesler (Lanesville); Wes Wilson (South Central); Jonas Powers (Lanesville).
Coach of the Year: Eric Stotts (Borden).
Most Outstanding Player: Gavin Gentry (Borden).
Final standings: Borden 5-0, South Central 4-1, Henryville 3-2, Lanesville 2-3, New Washington 1-4, Crothersville 0-5.