Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

Liberty High and City High each secured spots at the state tournament on Wednesday with wins in substate title games.

On Thursday both teams began what will be a healthy haul of postseason honors.

Liberty High had nine players earn Mississippi Valley Conference all-division honors and City High had seven all-division honorees when the league released its postseason awards.

After leading Liberty High to the first division title in program history and qualifying for the Class 4A state tournament for the third time in four seasons Liberty High coach Uby Martinez was named Mississippi Division coach of the year.

The nine all-division picks were highlighted by five first-team selections including four unanimous first-team picks.

Seniors Dallas Miller, Cooper Hughes and Mason Waterbury and sophomore Pryor Reiners were all unanimous first team Mississippi Division picks while senior Brayden Mayer was also named to the first team.

Waterbury was a unanimous first team pick as a pitcher after posting a 4-0 record and 2.24 ERA while striking out 42 in a team-high 40 2/3 innings.

Reiners was a unanimous first corner selection as a corner infielder after batting .351 with seven doubles, 22 runs scored and 26 RBI.

Hughes was a unanimous first team pick as a middle infielder after batting .353 with 12 extra-base hits, 37 runs and 34 RBI.

Miller was unanimously selected to the first team as an outfielder after leading the Lightning with a .357 batting average and 22 stolen bases to go with seven extra-base hits, 32 runs and 26 RBI.

Mayer was named to the Mississippi Division first team as a catcher after hitting .330 and leading Liberty High with 19 extra-base hits, three home runs, 39 RBI and 40 walks.

Senior Andrew Olthoff and junior Evan Schmierer were each second team picks in the Mississippi Division.

Olthoff posted a 5-2 record and a 3.47 ERA while striking out 28 in 38 1/3 innings while Schmierer batted .353 with a team-high 48 runs, 23 walks, 21 stolen bases and 20 RBI.

Senior Brady Zimmerman and junior Reece Rettig were each honorable mention picks for the Lightning.

West High had three players earn all-division honors in the Mississippi Division.

Senior pitcher Kyle Cherry was a second team selection while senior Declan Bunn and junior Eli Nolte each earned honorable mention honors.

Cherry posted a 5-3 record, 3.33 ERA and 1.64 WHIP while striking out 48 in a team-high 42 innings.

City High had seven players named to Valley Division teams led by a trio of first-team picks.

Senior pitcher Jaxton Schroeder was a unanimous first team selection after posting a 4-3 record, 1.83 ERA and .95 WHIP while striking out a team-high 61 in 49 2/3 innings.

Seniors Dominic Salibi and Drake Obermueller were each Valley Division first team picks.

Obermueller was a first-team utility pick after going 6-0 with a 1.60 ERA with 40 strikeouts in 35 innings on the mound while also leading City High with a .415 batting average 38 runs and 20 extra-base hits.

Salibi was a first team selection as a corner infielder after hitting .302 with 11 extra-base hits, 30 runs and 30 RBI.

Senior shortstop and junior pitcher Adam Bowman were both second team picks in the Valley Division.

Hicks batted .258 with 11 extra-base hits, 22 runs and 19 RBI while Bowman went 7-1 with a 1.06 ERA and 1.01 WHIP while striking out 50 in 46 1/3 innings.

Seniors Parker Sutherland and Nick Meredith were each honorable mention picks for City High.

Mississippi Valley Conference Baseball Teams

Mississippi Division

First team – P: *Mason Waterbury, Sr., Liberty High; Tate Proskovec, Sr., Cedar Rapids Xavier. C: Brayden Mayer, Sr., Liberty High. INF: *Pryor Reiners, Soph., Liberty High; Tanner Anderson, Sr., Western Dubuque; *Cooper Hughes, Sr., Liberty High; *Daniel Doyle, Soph., Cedar Rapids Kennedy; Barrett Reed, Jr., Dubuque Senior. OF: *Dallas Miller, Sr., Liberty High; *Dylan Muszynski, Sr., Linn-Mar; Charlie Sarsfield, Soph., Linn-Mar. UTIL: *Ty Donels, Jr., Liberty High; Colton Duerling, Sr., Cedar Rapids Kennedy;

Second team – P: Andrew Olthoff, Sr., Liberty High; Kyle Cherry, Sr., West High. C: Brady Dill, Jr., Cedar Rapids Kennedy. INF: Kaden Harris, Sr., Linn-Mar; Ryley Lawler, Jr., Dubuque Senior; Adler Gibbs, 8^th, Western Dubuque; Evan Schmierer, Jr., Liberty High; Jack Casey, Sr., Cedar Rapids Xavier. OF: Landon Sorg, Sr., Linn-Mar; Collin Coyle, Sr., Western Dubuque; Teddy Schlosser, Jr., Dubuque Senior. UTIL: Beau Morio, Soph., Cedar Rapids Xavier; Brett Harris, Jr., Western Dubuque

Honorable mention – Max Leno, Sr., Cedar Rapids Kennedy; Deacon Kucera, Jr., Cedar Rapids Kennedy; Caleb Loffswold, Jr., Cedar Rapids Xavier; Jack Downey, Sr., Cedar Rapids Xavier; Dawson Oppelt, Jr., Dubuque Senior; Noah Lawler, Sr., Dubuque Senior; Brady Zimmerman, Sr., Liberty High; Reece Rettig, Jr., Liberty High; Declan Bunn, Sr., West High; Eli Nolte, Jr., West High; Tate Fassler, Sr., Linn-Mar; Colton Bergen, Sr., Linn-Mar; Sam McDermott, Soph., Western Dubuque; Ben Wernimont, Jr., Western Dubuque

Athlete of the year – Ty Donels, Jr., Cedar Rapids Kennedy

Coach of the year – Uby Martinez, Liberty High

Valley Division

First team – P: *Will Pierro, Sr., Dubuque Wahlert; *Jaxton Schroeder, Sr., City High. C: Trevor Kelling, Sr., Cedar Falls. INF: Dominic Salbi, Sr., City High; Michael Day, Sr., Cedar Rapids Prairie; *Kamren Francois, Sr., Cedar Rapids Prairie; *Reed Strohmeyer, Sr., Dubuque Hempstead; *Maddox Strassburg, Sr., Cedar Falls. OF: Collin McClintock, Jr., Cedar Rapids Prairie; Caiden Buonadonna, Sr., Cedar Rapids Washington; Will Specht, Sr., Dubuque Wahlert. UTIL: Drake Obermueller, Sr., City High; Foti Rigopoulos, Sr., Dubuque Wahlert

Second team – P: Adam Bowman, Jr., City High; Dash Shortway, Sr., Cedar Falls. C: Shraden Lechtenberg, Sr., Cedar Rapids Prairie. INF: Noah Krapfl, Jr., Dubuque Wahlert; JP Elbert, Soph., Dubuque Wahlert; Maddux Mueller, Jr., Cedar Rapids Prairie; Owen Hicks, Sr., City High. OF: Will Steffen, Jr., Dubuque Hempstead; Jackson Hartzell, Sr., Cedar Falls; Brock Davis, Sr., Cedar Rapids Washington. UTIL: Brandon Cummer, Jr., Dubuque Wahlert; Tait Tierney, Jr., Cedar Rapids Prairie

Honorable mention – Andrew Harrington, Fr., Cedar Falls; Ben Nichols, Jr., Cedar Falls; Ben Patton, Sr., Cedar Rapids Jefferson; Dayten Guy, Soph., Cedar Rapids Jefferson; Jordan Woodhouse, Sr., Cedar Rapids Prairie; Alex Meyer, Sr., Cedar Rapids Prairie; Isaac Hotchkiss, Sr., Cedar Rapids Washington; Cade Smith, Sr., Cedar Rapids Washington; Tanner Bahl, Sr., Dubuque Hempstead; Kayden Hefel, Sr., Dubuque Hempstead; Parker Studtmann, Sr., Dubuque Wahlert; Joe Huinker, Sr., Dubuque Wahlert; Parker Sutherland, Sr., City High; Nick Meredith, Sr., City High; Thomas Gettman, Soph., Waterloo West; Brady Dean, Sr., Waterloo West

Athlete of the year – Caiden Buonadonna, Sr., Cedar Rapids Washington

Coach of the year – Kory Tuescher, Dubuque Wahlert

*- Unanimous selection

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