Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Eight Tigers Named All-Conference
FIDLER RECEIVES ALL-STATE DISTINCTION
PRAIRIE GROVE — Eight Tigers from a team that went 15-7 and finished second in the 4A-1 Conference baseball standings have received post-season honors.
“We did quite well this year at the coaches’ meeting,” said Prairie Grove coach Chris Mileham. “There’s nothing more flattering than to hear other coaches talk about your players. We had six All-Conference baseball players this year.”
The Tigers had to juggle their pitching staff at the start of the season and also missed the base-stealing threat of injured lead-off hitter, Isaac Disney.
“We had projected Clay Fidler to be our No. 1 pitcher,” Mileham said. “But close to the season, Clay had a shoulder injury going on and we moved Reed Orr to our No. 1.”
Mileham noted both Fidler and Orr could have continued playing baseball, but have chosen not to, in order to begin pursuing a college degree.
“Both had options to play at the next level,” Mileham said. “As much as I want to see that, I have to respect that they are smarter than me and want to get an education.”
Both Tigers have also been nominated for consideration to play in the All-Star game in June.
ALL-CONFERENCE Clay Fidler
Senior third baseman Clay Fidler earned All-State and All-Conference honors. In 22 games, Fidler hit .358, smashing 16 RBIs on 23 hits with 7 doubles and 4 triples.
“He only struck out seven times, and he had a leaguehigh 33 RBIs, and when you look at RBIs, nobody was even close to that,” Mileham said. “His on-base percentage was .516 and he slugged a .582.”
Reed Orr
Senior Reed Orr was named All-Conference Pitcher of the Year, along with Landon Brown, of Shiloh Christian; Jakota Sainsbury, of Pea Ridge; and Remington Cozad, of Huntsville.
“They take four,” Mileham said, noting, “Other teams batted .189 off him all year.
In 55.2 innings pitched, Orr’s record was 8-0. He racked up 42 strike-outs, yielding 18 runs and 21 walks with a 1.13 ERA.
“He was 8-0 on the mound, that’s outstanding,” Mileham said.
Orr was also handy with his bat. In 20 games, Orr batted .258, scoring 10 runs on 17 hits with 18 RBIs, 5 doubles, 2 triples and 2 home-runs.
Drew Cates
Sophomore Drew Cates is on the All-Conference team as a shortstop. Cates appeared in all 22 games the Tigers played, hitting .338 and producing 15 runs scored on 25 hits with 15 RBIs and 5 doubles.
“After our fourth game, I kept hearing, ‘he’s worth the price of admission,’” Mileham said, explaining he decided to help bring the sophomore back down to earth by adding, “The price of admission is $5 for adults and $3 for kids.”
“I’m very proud of our sophomore shortstop, Drew Cates,” Mileham said.
Austin Jentzsch
Senior outfielder Austin Jentzsch was named All-Conference. Jentzsch played in 22 games with a .308 batting average. He was productive in 65 at-bats, belting out 20 hits with 20 runs scored, 17 RBIs, 8 doubles, 1 triple and 2 home-runs.
After starting off on the wrong foot and having relationship troubles with Mileham when he took over as Prairie Grove coach during Jentzsch’s junior year, the two worked out their differences and Mileham was pleased with the end result.
“It makes me tremendously happy to see him turn it around,” Mileham said. “He has a bright future in front of him.”
Couper Allen
Sophomore catcher Couper Allen was named All-Conference. Allen appeared in 21 games, batting .300 with 4 RBIs on 18 hits. He hit 3 doubles.
“He played a special position for me, cause that’s the position I played,” Mileham said. “He does a lot of goofy stuff. He’s a heckuva kid, he’s smart, he’s funny, he has a great sense of humor.”
Chase Wade
Junior Chase Wade was recognized by Mileham for getting All-Conference honorable mention. Wade played in 20 games, hitting .214 for the Tigers. He scored 6 runs on 12 hits and added 10 RBIs with 5 doubles.
“He’s a left-handed pitcher, he went 4-0, his ERA was .65,” Mileham said. “We’re looking forward to him taking over the reins as a pitcher.”
“Offensively, Chase is a streaky hitter, he knows that,” Mileham said. “The knack that Chase has is if you look at two-out RBIs, he led the team.”
“Chase had two solid hits and an RBI, he was the only player to have multiple hits in that Gravette game (season ending, 5-4, loss in the first-round of the District 4A-1 tournament at Gravette April 27),” Mileham said.
Silas Myane
Mileham praised junior Silas Myane for earning All-Conference recognition as a utility player. Myane played in 22 games, batting .324 with 19 runs scored on 22 hits with 12 RBIs, 3 doubles and an on-base percentage of .450. He drew 14 walks.
“Silas was considered our utility player all year,” Mileham said. “He can play any position in the infield or outfield. He made tremendous improvement from last year.”
Jaden Higgins
Freshman outfielder Jaden Higgins received All-Conference honorable mention. Higgins appeared in 19 games, hitting .316 with 4 runs scored on 6 hits with 3 RBIs. According to Mileham, Pea Ridge coach John King thought Higgins was older.
“Coach King thought he was in his junior year, when I informed them he was just a freshman, that kind of opened some eyes,” Mileham said.
“There’s nothing more flattering than to hear other coaches talk about your players.”
Chris Mileham, Prairie Grove Coach