B. Winklemann DiGiorgio's	Cody Daeges Pinnacle Bank	Kash Kalkowski Home Federal	Chris Williams Grubb & Ellis	Josh Scheffert JC Brager

Perhaps Brandon Winkelmann should have stopped at third a couple of times instead of trotting around all of the bases on those sixteen roundtrippers this summer.  That way the 2008 Gross High graduate could have had enough triples to be among the state's leaders in all twelve reported categories instead of "just" eleven.  As it turns out, even though falling short of the three triples needed to qualify among the state's best in that category, the DiGiorgio's shortstop and pitcher led the state in the total number of statistical categories in which he was among the best.

 

Winkelmann, now a freshman at Iowa Western Community College, led the state in home runs (16) and RBI's (76) and ranked fifth in saves (5) and sixth in doubles (18).  He is joined at the top of the leaderboard by a number of versatile standouts who excelled both at the plate and on the mound.  Close behind in the total categories count were 2007 Papillion LaVista graduate Cody Daeges (10), who had a huge summer for Pinnacle Bank; 2008 Spring Season Player of the Year Kash Kalkowski of Grand Island Home Federal (10), now at Nebraska; current Westside senior Chris Williams of Grubb & Ellis (10), highly regarded as a Division I prospect; and Husker recruit Josh Scheffert (9) of Lincoln Southeast, who finished the season with 13 home runs for JC Brager. 

 

Close behind that impressive quintet with numbers that put them among the leaders in eight statistical categories were Louisville Slugger Award-winner Brandon Bass (Class of 2009, NP Dodge Wildcats), Justin Beranek (2009, Fremont), Dylan Messersmith (2009, North Platte), Kendall Wehrle (2008, Papio South, now at Arkansas) and Nate Wilder (2008, Lincoln North Star, now at Kansas City KS Community College).  The only non-pitchers among the top nine finishers, Bass and Beranek, held the distinction of placing in all eight offensive categories. 

 

Players Listed in Most Categories
Player (categories)	Batting Average	Total Hits	Doubles	Triples	Home Runs	RBI's	Runs Scored	Stolen Bases	Games Won	ERA	Strike Outs	Saves
Winkelmann, Brandon (11) Omaha Gross	.428	68	18	-	16	76	58	17	7	1.70	54	5
Daeges, Cody (10) Papillion LaVista	.497	82	23	3	6	53	48	-	8	-	55	4
Kalkowski, Kash (10) Grand Island	.506	91	28	-	8	63	66	17	9	1.15	69	-
Williams, Chris (10) Westside	.399	55	15	3	4	-	48	20	7	0.99	55	-
Scheffert, Josh (9) Lincoln Southeast	.480	59	-	7	13	42	49	-	7	1.96	65	-
Bass, Brandon (8) Millard West	.425	91	20	4	8	56	79	17	-	-	-	-
Beranek, Justin (8) Fremont	.488	80	17	6	10	72	72	17	-	-	-	-
Messersmith, Dyland (8) North Platte	-	66	19	3	-	69	47	-	8	2.48	43	-
Wehrle, Kendall (8) Papillion LV South	-	61	20	-	7	46	61	18	6	-	90	-
Wilder, Nate (8) Lincoln North Star	.423	63	21	3	5	50	-	-	-	2.46	57	-

 

The List of Statistical Category Leaders recently compiled by BaseballNebraska includes 171 Class A players who qualified in at least one of eight offensive categories (batting average, total hits, doubles, triples, home runs, RBI's, runs scored and stolen bases) or one of four pitching categories (games won, ERA, strikeouts and games saved).  The List was derived by using the statistical category leader information reported by the Omaha World Herald on August 23, 2008 and then supplementing that list with statistics from teams that were not represented on the OWH list.  At the present time, the List remains a work in progress as a couple of teams have still not responded to requests for information.  Please note that stats from GI Home Federal include only regular season games at this time.  We will amend and supplement the list as additional information becomes available. 

 

The minimum threshold for each category is that which originally appeared in the OWH listing.  We subsequently asked all Class A coaches whose players were not previously represented on the OWH list to provide names and statistical information for players on their teams whose performance exceeded the minimums included in the OWH list.

 

Category Leaders
Hitting	First Place	Second Place	Third Place
Batting Average	.506 - Kash Kalkowski*	.500 - Michael Blatchford	.497 - Cody Daeges
Total Hits	91 - Brandon Bass and Kash Kalkowski*	88 - Jon Schneider	82 - Cody Daeges
Doubles	28 - Kash Kalkowski*	23 - Cody Daeges and Josh Samuelson	21 - Nate Wilder
Triples	9 - Shane Weaver	7 - Josh Scheffert	6 - Justin Beranek
Home Runs	16 - Brandon Winkelmann	13 - Josh Scheffert	11 - Ryan Keele and Jon Schneider
Runs Batted In	76 - Brandon Winkelmann	72 - Justin Beranek	69 - Dylan Messersmith
Runs Scored	79 - Brandon Bass	76 - Ty Barker	72 - Justin Beranek
Stolen Bases	34 - Ty Barker	34 - Nick Foreman	27 - Adam Chapman
Pitching	First Place	Second Place	Third Place
Games Won	10 - Joe Bircher, Tyler Niederklein and Kirby Wells	9 - Cory Buckley, Zach Croonquist, Kash Kalkowski*, Hunter Hinrichs, David Ross and Nick Standish.	8 - Cody Daeges, Jesse Glasgow, Chandler Klute and Andrew Maher
ERA	0.95 - Zach Croonquist	0.99 - Chris Williams	1.08 - Josh Raburn
Strike Outs	113 - Joe Bircher	95 - Nick Yost	90 - Kendall Wehrle
Games Saved	11 - Jace Anderson	6 - Ethan McWilliams	5 - Tanner Lancaster, Brandon Winklemann and Drew Yost
*Kalkowski's numbers are from regular season games only and do not include Area or State Tournament games.  Final numbers for Total Hits and Doubles will not be less than current numbers when additional stats are reported.  Batting Average could go up or down.

 

We have also supplemented the original OWH list by including the graduation year for each player.  Doing so helps to identify standouts who are returning for the 2009 season. 

 

Returning Players Listed in Most Categories
Class of 2009	Batting Average	Total Hits	Doubles	Triples	Home Runs	RBI's	Runs Scored	Stolen Bases	Games Won	ERA	Strike Outs	Saves
Williams, Chris (10) Westside	.399	55	15	3	4	-	48	20	7	0.99	55	-
Scheffert, Josh (9) Lincoln Southeast	.480	59	-	7	13	42	49	-	7	1.96	65	-
Bass, Brandon (8) Millard West	.425	91	20	4	8	56	79	17	-	-	-	-
Beranek, Justin (8) Fremont	.488	80	17	6	10	72	72	17	-	-	-	-
Messersmith, Dylan (8) North Platte	-	66	19	3	-	69	47	-	8	2.48	43	-
Klute, Chandler (6) Kearney	-	66	-	-	4	46	44	-	8	-	64	-
Bell, Michael (5) North Platte	-	61	-	3	-	48	57	-	-	-	-	3
Lavelle, Adam (5) Lincoln Southwest	.419	-	15	3	-	-	45	16	-	-	-	-
Nelson, Eli (5) Papillion LV South	-	54	14	-	-	35	-	-	6	-	42	-
Owens, Ryan (5) Bellevue East	.394	50	-	-	-	38	40	24	-	-	-	-
Samuelson, Josh (5) Omaha Central	.438	63	23	-	-	40	-		-	-	47	-
Splichal, Tyler (5) Belleve East	.440	66	14	-	-	36	43	-	-	-	-
Yost, Drew (5) Omaha Northwest	.406	52	-	-	-	35	-	-	-	1.94	-	5
Class of 2010	Batting Average	Total Hits	Doubles	Triples	Home Runs	RBI's	Runs Scored	Stolen Bases	Games Won	ERA	Strike Outs	Saves
Barker, Ty (5) North Platte	-	71	14	4	-	-	76	34	-	-	-	-
Pritchard, Mike (5) Creighton Prep	.409	56	17	3	6	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Suponchick, Bo (5) Papillion LV South	.404	-	-	3	-	36	58	-	-	-	-	-
McKewon, Brad (3) Millard South	.415	54	-	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bass, Brett (2) Millard West	-	54	-	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kottich, Cody (2) Omaha Bryan	-	-	-	-	-	38	-	17	-	-	-	-
Terry, Alex (2) Roncalli	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	7	1.83	-	-
Weander, Jeff (2) Papillion LV	-	-	-	3	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

 

Since several players appeared in more than one category, there are a total of 486 entries or listings on the List.  Those players are from one of four classes 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 with the number of listings from each class shown below.  As shown, the Class of 2008 accounted for 50% of the entries on the List. 

 

Jace Anderson PI Midwest 11 Saves

 

 

Joe Bircher Roncalli 10 Wins, 113 K's

 

In compiling a list such as this, there is always a risk of errors or omissions.  If you are aware of any such errors or omissions, please ask your coach to provide us the correct information, and we will be happy to make the changes.  Sorry, but we will not accept corrections or additions from individual players or parents other than those pertaining to spelling of names or year in school.  All statistical information must come from coaches. 

 

Please also recognize that the various rankings and tabulations listed above are subject to change on the basis of additional statistical information submitted by coaches

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*Update 10/6/2008 - The following corrections were made after it was brought to our attention today that the original OWH list published on 8/23/08 was supplemented by a subsequent listing on 8/27/08: 

 

(1) Michael Blatchford was added to "Batting Average" leaders with a .500 Batting Average.  This put him in 2nd place overall and dropped Cody Daeges (.497) to #3 and Justin Beranek (.488) to #4. 

 

(2)  Tyler Worrall of Bellevue East was added to the "Runs Scored" leaders with 40. 

 

(3) Blake Brisson of Deeb Mustangs was added to the "Bases Stolen" leaders wtih 16. 

 

(4) Dylan Messersmith of North Platte was added to the "Pitching Wins" leaders with 8 wins.  This put Dylan among the "Players Listed in Most Categories" leaders with eight. 

 

(5) Nick Yost of Papillion Pinnacle Bank was added to the "Strike Outs" leaders with 95.  This total puts Nick in 2nd place and drops Kendall Wehrle (90) to third place and Cory Buckley (89) to fourth.

 

(6) Michael Nowak was added to the "Saves" leaders with 5.