Two North senior baseball players with three years of varsity experience earned all-conference honors.

Brent Widder and Jacob Neese, both infielders, made the All-Fox River Classic Conference second team.

Widder, who will play at the University of Evansville, led the team with eight runs and 10 walks in league play. He also hit .236 with one home run and six runs batted in.

“Brent impacts the game in far more ways than his statistics would show,” North coach Steve Goes said. “He makes our pitchers better and he won us games and saved us a ton of runs defensively. He was a great leader, a great teammate and I have no doubt he’ll be very successful at the next level.”

Neese’s .327 batting average in conference games ranked second on the squad and he was tops with eight runs and six doubles. He will play at Parkland Community College.

“Jacob was a threat to hit the ball hard every single time he stepped to the plate,” Goes said. “And it was very fitting he got all-conference judging by the way that opposing teams pitched him this season.”

Despite being seeded 10th in the Division 1 playoffs, North reached a sectional final before losing to Fond du Lac, 7-3.

The Golden Raiders, who upset the second-, third- and seventh-seeded teams, fell one win shy of making state for the first time since 2001. This was their first trip to sectionals since 2003.

South also has pair on team: Redwing seniors Trey Klessig and Ben Souik earned All-FRCC honorable mention.

Klessig, a pitcher, struck out 32 batters in 43 innings and had a 4.40 earned run average. He also led the Redwings with 12 RBI and two triples while batting .212.

“Trey’s really developed well over his time in our program,” South coach Derek Loomans said. “He kind of carried the torch for us this year as a pitcher. He was able to be very consistent and competitive.”

Souik, a utility player/designated hitter, had a team-high .261 batting average and 10 runs, and ranked second with nine RBI in FRC games.

“Ben started off the year carrying our offense, and then some teams figured that out,” Loomans said. “It’s not easy having the team’s offense go through you and still try to put together at-bats and be productive. He was able to do it.”

Christian’s Fowler honored: Kohler/Christian senior first baseman Kyle Fowler made All-Big East Conference second team thanks to team-highs of a .368 batting average and seven runs batted in.

He played all four years on varsity.

“He led us offensively on a team that needed some support in the middle of the lineup,” co-op coach Brett Huisman said. “He was our No. 4 hitter and he was a staple there all season.”

Jurss represents Lutheran: Sophomore infielder Jonah Jurss received honorable mention All-Big East.

He led the team with a .318 batting average and 11 runs batted in, and also pitched.

“He took a large step in being a leader on our team and contributing a lot of encouragement toward his teammates,” Crusaders’ coach Tim Muth said.