By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
The postseason parade of high school baseball awards began with the coaches of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference naming their All-Conference Baseball Team. Nineteen young men from the schools of the SHAC were recognized, with nine of that number coming from Adams County schools- three each from Peebles and North Adams, two from Manchester and one from West Union.
For Coach Tray Meade the Greyhounds of Manchester it was another successful spring as the Hounds finished their season at 13-9 overall and with a 9-4 conference record, they captured their second consecutive small school title in the SHAC. The Greyhounds earned two spots on the All-Conference Team, beginning with senior Luke Applegate, who also earned honors as the SHAC Co-Player of the Year along with Lynchburg-Clay’s Quin Wells.
For the spring, Applegate batted a robust .439, scoring 28 runs, driving home 12, while collecting 13 extra-base hits and stealing 14 bases. As the Hounds’ staff ace, Applegate was 2-2 on the mound with an earned run average of 1.71, fanning 103 opposing hitters in 49 innings of work. The right hander has signed to continue his baseball career at Shawnee State University.
The second Greyhound to garner All-Conference honors was junior Clayton Colvin, who hit .424 on the spring, leading the squad with 33 runs batted in and scoring 24 runs and adding 16 stolen bases. The left-hander also saw some time on the pitching rubber, going 2-1 with a 4.13 ERA in 18.2 innings.
Coach Tim Grooms and the Peebles Indians rebounded for a tough 2025 season to post a 16-10 record in 2026, 9-4 in conference play. That was good enough for a tie in the small school division with Manchester that the Greyhounds won in a tie-breaker.
The Indians placed three players on the All-SHAC squad, starting with senior Nash Grooms. Grooms hit .323 this spring, driving in 21 runs, scoring 23 and swiping 21 bases. Grooms was joined on the All-Conference Team by sophomore teammate Bo Johnson, who excelled at the plate and on the mound. At the dish, Johnson hit .322 with a team-high 29 hits, those knocks driving home 22. He also scored 33 runs, stole a team-best 28 bases and had eight extra-base hits. On the mound, Johnson went a sparkling 7-1 with an earned run average of 1.59 with 62 strikeouts in 44 innings pitched.
The third Peebles member of the All-SHAC team was freshman Braylen Stephens. Stephens had an impressive first year at the high school level, hitting .347 and driving home 24 runs. The freshman standout also stole 12 bases and scored 22 runs. On the hill, the southpaw went 4-4 with a 2.78 ERA and 69 strikeouts.
Coach Ryan Unger and his North Adams Green Devils finished at 10-16 overall, but went 8-5 in conference play, getting three sports on the All_Conference team- sophomore Trace Evans, freshman Maverick Winkler and senior Colin Tolle.
Evans was a .300 hitter for the season, driving home 16 runs. On the mound, he went 3-7 with a 3.86 earned run average, tossing a team-high 52.2 innings.
Winkler also mad an impression on opposing coached in his first high school action, batting .382, leading the team with 34 base hits and also topping the squad with 32 runs scored. The freshman also led th team with 25 stolen bases and worked 18.1 innings from the mound, compiling an ERA of 2.29.
The senior Tolle completed his high school career by hitting .315, scoring 24 times and knocking in 12, while stealing 19 bases.
It was a tough spring for the 3-18 West Union Dragons but one of their bright spots was the play of sophomore Thomas Barnhart. Barnhart bashed at a .583 clip and led the conference with three home runs among his 10 extra-base hits. The sophomore right hander was a workhorse on the mound for the Dragons, throwing 54.2 innings and striking out an impressive 122 opponents. Though his record was only 2-10, his earned run average was still at 0.38.
The remainder of the 2026 All-Conference Baseball Team included: Kristian Beachy, Elam Faust, Tanner Roberts, Aric Slack, Quin Wells (Lynchburg-Clay); Izayah Clift, Abraham Flader (Whiteoak); Will Litzinger (Eastern Brown); Ben Miller (Fairfield); Alex Williamson (Fayetteville).
The 2026 SHAC Co-Players of the Year were Lynchburg Clay’s Quin Wells and Manchester’s Luke Applegate. The Coach of the Year was Lynchburg-Clay’s James Flowers as the Mustangs earned the Gold Glove trophy by going 13-0 in conference action.
2026 SHAC Baseball Standings
Division I (Big School)
Lynchburg-Clay 13-0
North Adams 8-5
Eastern Brown 5-8
West Union 2-11
Ripley 0-13
Division II (Small School)
Manchester 9-4
Peebles 9-4
Whiteoak 8-5
Fairfield 6-7
Fayetteville 5-8
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