Riverdale's Reiter, VB's Lance top all-BVC baseball list

Riverdale's Evan Reiter was BVC Player of the Year for the second straight year and first-team all-league for the third time in the Blanchard Valley Conference all-league baseball selections for the 2024 season.A 6-foot, 190-pound junior, Reiter starred on the mound and at the plate. Offensively, he led the BVC in hitting (.531) and runs scored (42), was second in home runs (3) and third in runs-batted-in (26). Reiter tied for the BVC lead in pitching wins (6) and topped the stats in innings pitched (58) and strikeouts (77).An honorable mention all-Ohio pick, Reiter was 9-2 overall with one save and a 1.89 ERA overall. He had nine complete games in 13 starts and struck out 103 batters in 74 innings.Van Buren's Brooks Lance was tabbed the BVC Coach of the Year. Lance guided the Black Knights to a 20-6 overall record that included a 7-1 BVC record and runner-up finish in the standings.League champion Liberty-Benton led the way with five all-BVC players. Van Buren had four.L-B's Landen Stansbery and Jarrett Haan were first-team picks as pitchers. Stansbery went 6-1 with a 0.58 earned-run-average and 46 strikeouts. Haan was 5-1 with a 2:57 ERA and 57 strikeouts.Conner Hiss, who batted .415, drove in 19 runs and stole 10 bases, was a first-team infielder, and twins Zach (.368, 25 RBI) and Seth (.323, 12 RBI, 19 SB) Elchert were first-team picks in the outfield.Van Buren ace Grady Mason, 6-2 with a 3.48 ERA and 44 strikeouts, rounded out the first-team pitching staff. The Knights other first teamers were infielder James Patton (.379, 26 RBI), outfielder Cohen Stevens (.387, 13 RBI, a BVC-leading 34 stolen bases) and catcher Brady Lance (.329, 15 RBI, 19 SB).Riverdale catcher Alex Russler, who batted .386, stole 21 bases and led the league with 31 RBI, completed a first-team all-BVC battery for Riverdale.Elmwood's Andrew Holland (.395, 2 HR, 29 RBI) and Luke Armbruster (.347, 16 RBI) were first team at infield and outfield spots respectively.Rounding out the all-BVC first team was Arcadia infielder Adam Emerich (.299, 15 RBI).Some of the BVC's best hitters, including Arlington's Justin Rausch (.436, 10 RBI, 14 SB) and Pandora-Gilboa's Isaac Stall (.431, 24 SB) head up the all-BVC second team.Liberty-Benton's Trevin Lieb (.377, 25 RBI) and Ashton Crawford (.339) and Van Buren's Brock Daniel (.375, 22 RBI) and Elijah Mason (.391, 16 RBI) were also second-team selections, along with Arcadia's Isaac Stoner (.289, 26 SB), Elmwood's Jimmie Palmer (.304, 18 RBI), McComb's Braydon Shoop (.353, 15 RBI, 13 SB) and Riverdale's Cam Furr (.269, 24 RBI, 5-3, 52 Ks).ALL-BVC BASEBALLFIRST TEAMPITCHERS – Landen Stansbery, Jarrett Haan, Liberty-Benton; Evan Reiter, Riverdale; Grady Mason, Van Buren.INFIELDERS — Adam Emerich, Arcadia; Andrew Holland, Elmwood; Conner Hiss, Liberty-Benton; James Patton, Van Buren.OUTFIELDERS – Zach Elchert, Seth Elchert, Liberty-Benton; Luke Armbruster, Elmwood; Cohen Stevens, Van Buren.CATCHERS –Alex Russler, Riverdale; Brady Lance, Van Buren.PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Evan Reiter, Riverdale.COACH OF THE YEAR: Brooks Lance, Van BurenSECOND TEAMIsaac Stoner, Arcadia; Justin Rausch, Arlington; Jimmie Palmer, Elmwood; Trevin Lieb, Ashton Crawford, Liberty-Benton; Braydon Shoop, McComb; Isaac Stall, Pandora-Gilboa; Cameron Furr, Riverdale; Brock Daniel, Elijah Mason, Van Buren.HONORABLE MENTIONARCADIA – Owen Rader, Collin Nusser.ARLINGTON – Brady Griggs, Wesley Hartman.ELMWOOD – Kam Kingery, Colton Bradford.LIBERTY-BENTON – Brady Birkemeier, Mason Modd.McCOMB – Blake Wittenmyer, Parker Downing.PANODRA-GILBOA – Collin Harris, Zach Neuenschwander.RIVERDALE – Gauge King, Lex Weber.VAN BUREN – Will Rampe, Finn MartinVANLUE – Bryce Wallen, JaxonTemple.