Cherokee Chronicle Times

7 Braves earn All-Lakes honors



Trey Benson, Joe Benson, Aiden Comstock and Levi Pingel were recently named All-District in Northwest Iowa by the Iowa Baseball Coaches Association. CHRONICLE TIMES photo by DENNY HOLTON

Trey Benson, Joe Benson, Aiden Comstock and Levi Pingel were recently named All-District in Northwest Iowa by the Iowa Baseball Coaches Association. CHRONICLE TIMES photo by DENNY HOLTON

Cherokee, runner-ups in the Lakes Conference, landed two players on the first team and five on second team of the 2022 All-Lakes Conference baseball teams announced this week.

Coaches from the six conference schools, Estherville-Lincoln Central, Cherokee, Storm Lake, Spirit Lake, Spencer and Hull-Western Christian, met recently and released the all-league teams today.

For the Braves, who finished 8-2 behind league champs E-LC (9-1), featured senior hurler Joe Benson and senior catcher Nick Clark on the first team.

Cherokee players named to the second team were seniors Trey Benson, Levi Pingel and Sam Kach, while juniors Alex Kohn and Aiden Comstock also garnered second team status.

One other Brave, freshman Daenon Loucks, was named to the honorable mention list.

ELC dominated first team selections with six, while third place Storm Lake (7-3) had four first team picks, followed by Cherokee (8-2), Spirit Lake (1-9) and Spencer (4-6) with two each.

Trey Benson

Trey Benson

In determining all-league selections, coaches referred to Lakes Conference statistics only.

First team pick Joe Benson finished league competition leading the Lakes in strikeouts with 76, and had the third best earned run average (1.65) after pitching 46.2 innings. Benson was the league’s second best hitter with 39 hits, including nine doubles, while stealing 24 bases, fourth best in the league.

Catcher Nick Clark was the leagues leader in throw outs stealing with 16, while recording a league leading 205 put outs.

Cherokee second team pick Trey Benson was the league’s home run king with five, was third in RBI’s with 38, fourth in hits with 37 and had the league’s second best slugging percentage of .788.

Comstock, another second team selection, also had 37 hits on the season, including 30 singles and three triples. Teammate, senior Levi Pingel, finished the season third in stolen bases with 25 and was fourth in doubles with eight.

Following is a listing of All-Lakes Conference for 2022:

FIRST TEAM

Pitchers: Owen Larson, ELC, soph; Carter Snyder, ELC, sr.; Joe Benson, Cherokee, sr.

Catchers: Nick Clark, Cherokee, sr.; Blake Evans, ELC, jr.

Infielders: Devin Dirkx, Spencer, sr.; Reid Tigges, Spencer, jr.; Ryan Schlitz, ELC, sr; Bake Ingvall, ELC, sr.; Jake Eddie, Storm Lake, jr.

Outfielders: Jack Wajda, Spirit Lake, jr.; Seth Busch, ELC, sr.; Sam Dvergsten, Storm Lake, sr.; Edgar Barriero, Storm Lake, jr.

Utility: Jake Cornwall, Spirit Lake, jr.; Hunter DeMey, Storm Lake, jr.

SECOND TEAM

Pitcher: Alex Kohn, Cherokee, soph.

Catcher: Spencer Robinson, Spirit Lake, jr.

Infielders: Isaac Early, Spirit Lake, sr.; Ty Van Essen Western Christian, sr.; Aiden Comstock, Cherokee, jr.; Sam Kach, Cherokee, sr.

Outfielders: Brennan Eisbeacker, Spencer, sr.; Daryl Jensen, ELC, sr.; Levi Pingel, Cherokee, sr.;

Utility: Trey Benson, Cherokee, sr.

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