Panther baseball has ‘big shoes to fill’

The Panthers celebrated a successful season and their seven seniors Wednesday evening at the season-end banquet.

Creston baseball tied for second in the conference with Glenwood, each with a 15-5 record.

Overall, the Panthers were 24-11, the teams’ best season in more than a decade.

While Coach Brandon Phipps said the team has ‘big shoes to fill’ when it comes to their graduating class, he said the underclassmen are ready to step up.

The junior varsity team was 14-5.

“There’s a lot of hidden talent in our sophomore class,” Phipps said. “They’re just very raw talents that really produced for us.”

The varsity team relied on two underclassmen this season — Tom Mikkelsen at catcher and Tanner Ray in the infield. Mikkelsen earned all-conference and all-district honors.

The varsity team had six letter-winning juniors.

“Our senior class is really good, but this class was the one to make it mesh right,” Phipps said. “We’ve had good senior classes in the past, but you need a good junior class to pull it together.”

Seniors

Quinten Fuller pitched, was a designated hitter and played some third base for the Panthers this season.

“He was a huge asset to the team,” Phipps said. “He wasn’t an everyday guy, but he was an everyday grinder.”

Senior Milo Staver pitched and caught for the Panthers this season.

“He’s a big baseball guy - loves it,” Phipps said. “He did a lot of different stuff for us this year.”

Staver will be playing baseball at Southwestern Community College.

Senior McCoy Haines was a centerfielder for the Panthers this season.

“The thing about him is he’s just an ultra competitor,” Phipps said. “He’s really hard on himself, but he holds himself to a high standard.”

Senior Sam Henry played first base for the Panthers the past two seasons. He earned all-conference and all-district honors for his effort. He led the team with four home runs and had only six errors on 191 total chances.

“If we ever had a training session, Sam was the first one there and the last one to leave,” Phipps said. “His sophomore year was a good year, junior year was a quality year, but this senior year he really blew up. He was a player everyone in the state was aware of.”

Henry will play baseball at Ellsworth Community College next year.

Senior Dylan Hoepker pitched and played second base for the Panthers this season.

On the mound, Hoepker pitched nine games for five wins with a 2.32 ERA. Hoepker threw 61 strikeouts, the fifth-most in the H10 this season.

His 45 hits tied for best in the conference and earned him a .366 batting average. He scored a team-high 37 runs and led with 31 RBIs.

“He’s talented, but he works his butt off too,” Phipps said. “He had a stellar senior year for us and was one of the best players in the conference.”

Hoepker is playing baseball at Simpson College next year.

Gavin Millslagle played left field for the Panthers this year.

“He wasn’t always in the lineup, but he just kept showing up and producing in BP,” Phipps said. “We knew he was a stellar outfielder with great speed, but then he comes out and hits .318 this year.”

Phipps joked Millslagle may be the only one in the conference to hit a home run in game one and then have a DH for him in game two.

Cael Turner pitched and played short stop for the Panthers this season.

He had 71 strikeouts and an ERA of 2.70.

At short stop, Turner led the defense in assists with 58. He had 27 outs himself and a .895 fielding percentage.

Turner had the fourth-highest batting average in the conference with a .405. His 15 doubles led the H10.

“Cael was a five year starter for us. He’s well known in the state and the conference,” Phipps said. “I think he’s probably going to be an all-stater this year. He is a special player.”

ALL-CONFERENCE

** indicates unanimous

Cael Turner - 1st Team **

Dylan Hoepker - 1st Team **

Parker Varner - 1st Team

Sam Henry - 2nd Team

Tom Mikkelsen - Honorable Mention

ALL-DISTRICT

Tom Mikkelsen - 1st Team Catcher

Parker Varner - 1st Team Pitcher

Cael Turner - 1st Team Utility

Sam Henry - 2nd Team Utility

Dylan Hoepker - 2nd Team Second Baseman

LETTERWINNERS

Seniors

Cael Turner

Dylan Hoepker

Sam Henry

Quinten Fuller

Milo Staver

Gavin Millslagle

McCoy Haines

Juniors

Parker Varner

Tyler Riley

Brayden Schoon

Mattias Schultes

Tommy Sand

Camden Smith

Freshmen

Tom Mikkelsen

Tanner Ray

Manager

Noah Richardson