Van Buren's Mason chosen as BVC Player of Year in baseball

Van Buren's Grady Mason, a dual threat on the mound and at the plate, and Liberty-Benton's Matt Rader received the top awards in the Blanchard Valley Conference all-league voting for the 2025 baseball season.Mason was named the BVC Player of the Year after posting an 8-1 record with a 0.99 earned run average and 67 strikeouts in 56-1/3 innings. He also batted .486 with two home runs and led the league in doubles (14), runs batted in (35) and runs scored (31), tying teammate Will Rampe in that department.Rader guided Liberty-Benton, 18-4 overall, to a 10-0 run through the BVC ranks. Under Rader, the Eagles boasted the second-best hitting (.348 team average) and pitching (1.79 team ERA) team in the BVC.Six members of Liberty-Benton's BVC championship lineup were first team all-league, including pitchersConner Hiss and Landen Stansbery, infielder Zach Elchert, outfielders Reid Irwin and Seth Elchert, and catcher Kooper Leatherman.On the mound, Hiss was 7-0 with a 1.11 ERA and 60 strikeouts, and Stansbery went 6-1 with a 2.15 ERA and 54 Ks. Hiss also batted .352 with four home runs and 17 RBI; Stansbery hit .370 with 12 RBI.Leatherman, a freshman, was fourth in the BVC in hitting with a .475 average and second in RBI with 30. Irwin hit .424 with 14 RBI and 19 stolen bases, Zach Elchert hit .361 with three homers and 11 RBI, and Seth Elchert carried a .323 average with 18 RBI and 19 stolen bases.Joining Mason on the all-BVC first team were Van Buren teammates Rampe and James Patton, both infielders, outfielder Cohen Stevens and catcher Brady Lance.Lance was second in the BVC in hitting (.515), third in runs scored (29) and fifth in runs batted in (21).Rampe hit .419, drove in 19 runs and stole 19 bases, and tied Mason for the BVC lead in runs scored (31). Patton was fifth in the league with a .446 average and scored 26 runs; Stevens batted .319 with 12 RBI and 17 steals.Riverdale's Evan Reiter capped an outstanding prep career by earning first-team all-BVC honors for the fourth straight year. The BVC Player of the Year in both 2023 and 2024, Reiter was 5-4 on the mound as a senior with a 0.71 ERA and a BVC-best 88 strikeouts. He also led the league in hitting with a .564 average.Rounding out the all-BVC first team are Elmwood pitcher Zack Gross (5-2, 1 save, 1.55 ERA, 51 Ks), Leipsic outfielder Tommy Offenbacher (.405, 10 doubles, three triples, 17 RBI) and McComb pitcher/outfielder Brayon Shoop (.368, 11 RBI; 4-2, 3.15 ERA, 51 Ks).Earning second-team all-BVC honors were Liberty-Benton's Trevin Lieb (.327, 17 RBI), Van Buren's Brock Daniel (.309, 23 RBI), Elmwood's Colton Bradford (.433, 22 RBI), Landon Snow (.283, 19 RBI) and Ryken Zeigler (.339, 19 SB), Leipsic's Ty Lammers (.329, 20 RBI), McComb's Haiden Ebright (.400, 27 SB) and Grady Schroeder (.358, 21 RBI), Riverdale's Lex Weber (.381, 11 RBI) and Ada's Levi Green (.412, 24 SB).ALL-BVC HONORABLE MENTIONADA – Andrew Allen, Mason Wibley. ARCADIA – Isaac Stoner, Colin Nusser. ARLINGTON – Brady Griggs, Cooper Hawkins. ELMWOOD – Aidan Marsh, Marshall Taft. LEIPSIC – Aaron Hazelton, Nick Schroeder. LIBERTY-BENTON – Ryan Mead, Isaac Schworm. MCCOMB – Jace Wartgow, Luke Kern.PANDORA-GILBOA – Nolan Leatherman, Grady Kempf. RIVERDALE – Grady Phelps, Kydin Reed.VAN BUREN – Cale Henry, Alex Homan. VANLUE – Toby Reed, Greg Spears.