Hammer, Thompson Earn All-Conference

Published 1:23 pm Saturday, June 4, 2016

It has been written before that the Albert Lea Tigers were mired in a slump from April 18-26.

While it was just a three-game losing streak, in the bigger picture, the Tigers had lost five of six games, and had a record of 3-6.

From April 28, when they beat Rochester John Marshall, to June 1, the Tigers went 11-3, including two wins in the postseason against Stewartville and Austin.

During that span, and really throughout the whole season, the Tigers were led by a group of seven seniors — Taylor Heavner, Jake Kilby, Tanner Bellrichard, Sam Moyer, Parker Mullenbach, Mason Hammer and Jake Thompson.

Albert Lea’s Mason Hammer takes a cut at pitch in a game on May 19 against Rochester Mayo. Hammer led the Tigers in on-base percentage (.462) and tied with Jake Thompson for the team lead in hits with 29. As of Saturday, Hammer was batting 9-12 in the postseason. Jarrod Peterson/Albert Lea Tribune

Hammer and Thompson were named to the Big Nine All-Conference team. Kilby, Mullenbach, and junior Blake Simon took home honorable mention honors.

At the top of the order, Hammer and Thompson are a devastating one-two, righty-lefty punch for opposing pitchers. Both players batted over .400 on the season and combined to score 31 runs and drive in 25 RBI.

Thompson’s offense and defense were so stellar, coaches in the Big Nine Conference named him Player of the Year. He slugged nine doubles and stole 14 bases. His on-base percentage of .429 was among the leaders in the conference, and a slugging percentage of .556 led the Tigers.

Hammer finished his regular season with a batting average of .414, six doubles, 16 runs, 14 RBI and 10 stolen bases. He led the Tigers in on-base percentage (.462), which was also among the conference’s leaders, and he had a slugging percentage of .543.

While Hammer and Thompson garnered All-Conference honors, the trio of Tigers on the honorable mention list had themselves some good seasons, too.

Mullenbach led the Tigers with 16 RBIs and had a batting average of .302. He also robbed opposing players of a lot of hits with stellar defense at third base.

Kilby was relied upon more on the mound than at the plate.

He finished with a team-high four victories and an earned run average of 2.19. He pitched 44.2 innings and held opponents to a batting average below .200 (.191).

Even though his best work came on the hill, Kilby still batted .269 and drove in 11 runs.

As did Kilby, Simon did a lot more damage with his arm than his bat.

The junior went 3-0 and held the team’s lowest ERA (2.10). He pitched 36.2 innings and struck out a team-best 37. Opponents hit .214 off him.

Albert Lea’s seniors accounted for 119 hits, 76 runs, 64 RBI, 26 doubles, five triples, two home runs and 36 stolen bases.