Wave baseball claims seat on All Northern teams

Despite two early losses in the state tournament the Wave’s talent has not gone unnoticed this year as several players were named to the first and second All Northern teams (Division I-A) with honorable mentions for others.

Junior pitcher and third basemen Alex Mendez was named to the first team while senior pitcher Kendall Johnson made the second team as a pitcher. Wave senior stat leader Trae Workman was named an outfielder on the second team as well while honorable mentions went to Fallon seniors Marshall “Moe” Coverston and Brandon Bheegly as well as junior Jack Swisher.

In light of his two pitchers being recognized, Fallon coach Lester de Braga commended Johnson as a leader during his four years in the program and Mendez as well since his return last year.

“It’s always sad to see someone leave who has been in our program so long,” he said. “As a coach you never like seeing them leave but you still love seeing them move on to bigger and better things.”

Johnson, who signed as a pitcher to attend Williston State College (orth Dakota), recorded 48 strikeouts for a 3.27 earned run average (ERA). Mendez, with one more shot next season at a state title, had 44 strikeouts with a 4.20 ERA.

“As far as Alex, we’ve already expected him to help lead us next year, especially since his sophomore year when he first became a dominant pitcher,” de Braga said when asked about Mendez on the mound next year. “Even at the state championship Alex pitched very well so we’re expecting a lot of him next season with his senior year coming up.”

Workman led the Wave with 21 hits and tied with Mendez for the second highest batting average (.438) behind Colton Coverston (.471), though, Coverston had only 20 plate appearances to Workman’s 90.

“Trae was a front runner in most of the leading categories all season,” de Braga said. “It seemed he would’ve made the first team or the All State team but after that three-game series that’s just the way things happen some times. He’s always been one of those kids who was our lead-off batter and he always came up to play.”

De Braga also commended Moe Coverston, Beeghly and Swisher who, he said, were more essential to Fallon than the All Northern placement suggested, Moe Coverston had a .373 batting average in 97 at bats and 31 hits. Swisher followed with a .358 batting average in 79 plate appearances with 24 hits. Beeghly ended with a .338 batting average in 85 at bats with 21 hits.

When it comes to the talent fans have to look forward to next season, de Braga said Fallon’s reserves are filled with talent including Hayden Strasdin, who started as a freshman this year, along with Alex Vest, TJ Fagg and Brock Uptain.

“We had a great installment in our roster last year and it was just as great this year even in the end, so I’ll expect a better installment for next year,” de Braga said.