Prep Baseball: Three 'Dogs named to SIRR All-Conference

A trio of Harrisburg High School baseball players found their way onto the Southern Illinois River-to-River Ohio Division All-Conference Team for the first time at seasons send.

Jordan Gould, Presley Gauch and Isaac Crabb joined 18 others that rounded out the Ohio selections.

Gould hit .284 with an OBP of .373. The SIC baseball signee had 33 hits, including 28 singles and five doubles. He had seven RBI and scored a team-high 26 runs and finished with 13 walks and 20 strikeouts. On the mound, Gould was 4-3 with an ERA of 1.717. He struck out a team-high 60 and walked 23, while giving up 30 runs (13 earned) on 44 hits.

Gauch was second in the team with a .336 average and finished with an OBP of .413. The senior-to-be had 37 hits with 10 doubles and three home runs and finished with a team-high 30 RBI, to go with, 22 runs scored. He walked eight times and struck out 28 times.

Crabb, an outgoing freshman, led the Bulldogs with a .380 batting average in 2017, including team-high OBP of .496. He had 38 hits, which was also tops for Harrisburg. He drove in 20 and scored five runs with 13 walks and 10 strikeouts.

Harrisburg head coach Jay Thompson said that all three had exceptional seasons, especially near the end - where Harrisburg won a regional -  and because of that earned the respect of other coaches in the league.

"Jordan was our best player the whole year," Thompson said. "Not only did he play well, but he provided leadership to the younger kids. It's very gratifying to see him rewarded. Presley had a slow start, but by the middle of the year, he was about as good as anyone in the conference. Isaac had a spectacular season and it says a lot to be chosen as a freshman. That typically doesn't happen and so I'm really happy for all three and what they all brought to the table for us this year."

Harrisburg finished the season 15-19, which included an upset of No. 1 seed Benton in the Harrisburg regional, but fell to Carterville in the first of the Class 2A Sectionals.

Benton led the list with seven All-Conference selections including: Tyson Highland, Gehrig Wynn, Bryden Picklesimer, Ian McMahon, Zach Avery and Hamilton Page. West Frankfort placed three on the list including: Peyton Overturf, Zack Lindsey and Bryson Dorris, while Herrin also had three on the list including: Trenton Stucker, Blake Starkweather and Southern Indiana signee Jacob Hardline.

Murphysboro's Brandon Caldwell and Brandon Graeff, along with Massac County's duo of JT Weber and Noah Farmer, both of which are headed to Southern Illinois for baseball, also made the All-Conference list.

Michael Dann covers prep and college sports for the Harrisburg Register, Eldorado Journal & The Gallatin County Democrat. Follow him on Twitter: @spydieshooter.