Bulldogs named to All-Conference team

Sunday, May 20, 2007
Scott Droddy LF

SIKESTON -- The Sikeston Bulldogs were represented well on the SEMO All-

Conference Baseball Team which was recently released.

Sikeston, which won the regular season conference championship, had four players placed on first team and two were selected honorable mention.

Of the first-teamers, seniors Josh Jackson and Jerod Scott along with juniors Scott Droddy and Nick Lambert were honored with selections, as voted on by the coaches.

"There's 10 teams in our conference so to have four guys on it, that says a lot for us," said Sikeston coach Kevin Self, who was named Coach of the Year in the conference. "All these kids had really good years. All these guys are very deserving of this honor of being first team all-conference."

Josh Jackson OF

Jackson and Scott have been three-year starters for the Bulldogs.

Jackson, who plays outfield and third base, is second on the team in batting average at .387 and he leads the team with 24 RBIs and three home runs. He also has eight doubles and 26 runs scored.

"Josh has been probably the most consistent hitter we've had all year long," said Self. "He's hitting close to .400, he's got more RBIs than anybody, he's got more extra base hits than anybody. He's been a big cog."

Scott's control on the pitching mound is what sets him apart from some of the other hurlers in the area.

"Jerod threw the ball extremely well all year long," said Self. "He had probably as good a pitching stats as anybody in the conference. He was 3-0 in the conference. He had a really good year on the mound."

Jerod Scott P

Scott has quietly put together a standout season, going 8-0 with a 1.80 earned run average and one save. He has thrown 46 2/3 innings, allowing 34 hits with 48 strikeouts and just 11 walks.

Droddy is one of the top athletes on the team, batting leadoff, playing shortstop and centerfield. He was batting around the .500 mark for most of the season, although his average has dipped in the last couple weeks to .463, which leads the team. He also has a team-leading 37 hits and 30 runs scored. He has eight doubles, two triples and 12 RBIs.

"Scott's been the guy that's set the table," said Self. "He hits for average, slaps it the other way, bunting for hits, beating out infield hits, driving it in the gaps -- Scott has been that guy. When he gets on, we can do a lot of things and he scores a lot of runs. Speed makes teams make mistakes and his speed usually does that."

Lambert spends most of his time at first base, but he also has seen plenty of time of the pitching mound. He was selected as an infielder.

From his cleanup spot in the order, Lambert has produced 34 RBIs with six doubles, a triple and a home run to go with his .309 average.

"Nick hasn't hit it well lately the last couple weeks, but before that he was probably our biggest RBI guy," said Self. "Josh has stepped it up the last two weeks. Both of those two have been our biggest run-producing players all year long."

Junior Seth Baker and senior Austin Williams were selected to the honorable mention team after having solid seasons.

Baker has moved up to the second spot in the batting order, checking in with a .338 average, 16 RBIs, five doubles, a triple and a home run while playing left field.

Williams, a two-year starter at second base, has batted .300 with three doubles a home run and 14 RBIs.

"Seth and Austin both had very respectable years but there were guys that had better years at their positions and that's the reason they weren't first team players," said Self. "I thought Austin had a tremendous senior year. He's always fielded the ball well, but he's hitting a lot better this year than he did last year. Seth really turned it on around the wooden bat tournament."

Sikeston's season is still alive as they will host a Class 3 sectional game against Farmington on Thursday at 4:30 p.m.

The Bulldogs are 20-6 this season.

Locally, Dexter also had four players selected to first-team all-conference. The Bearcats', who finished second in the conference, saw catcher Drew Pixley, infielder Cole Smith, outfielder David Hessling and pitcher Josh Stevens selected.

Also, New Madrid County Central's Dylan Harris and Kyle Marshall were both picked as first-team infielders.

Dexter's Logan Swindle and Caleb Miller and NMCC's Sean Thomason were picked on the honorable mention team.

Cape Central's Blake Stattery was named Player of the Year.

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