Reaching their respective district championship games, Belle’s Tigers and Vienna’s Eagles combined to produce seven athletes on the All-Gasconade Valley Conference (GVC) baseball team in addition to the All-District teams for Class 2, District 9 and Class 3, District 9.

Falling 10-0 to Licking in the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) Class 3, District 9 Baseball Tournament championship game at St. Clair High School, Bryce Gehlert’s Belle Tigers had four of their players named to the 15-person All-District Team.

They included pitcher Clayton Shockley, Blake Henry, Hank Stratman and Garrett Gehlert.

These four players were also named to the All-GVC Baseball Team in which Shockley was voted the conference’s Most Valuable Player (MVP).

Three Vienna Eagles were also named to the All-GVC team in their final season as members of the conference before moving on to the newly formed Show-Me Central Conference beginning with the 2024-25 school year.

Those Eagles included Duncan Wilkinson, Eli Hayes and Troy Wulff.

That VHS trio also earned MSHSAA Class 2, District 9 All-District honors with Wulff and Wilkinson earning First-Team honors in addition to Second-Team accolades for Hayes.

Continuing his baseball career at Jefferson College in Hillsboro next year, Shockley led the Tigers during his senior season with a 1.261 ops (on-base plus slugging percentage), .717 slugging percentage, nine doubles, 29 runs batted in (RBI) and 15 stolen bases.

Shockley also pitched a team-high 50 and a third innings while recording 103 strikeouts to lead the Tiger pitching staff.

He was also second on the team with a .400 batting average, .544 on-base percentage, 24 hits, two triples and two home runs.

Recording a season-high three hits against Dixon and St. James, Shockley also hit two doubles in three games against Dixon, Linn and St. James.

His home runs came in games against Plato and Linn.

Driving in a season-best four RBIs against Linn, he also scored four runs against St. James while drawing a season-high three walks against Plato.

On the pitching mound, Shockley reached double digits in the strikeout department during six games.

He fanned a season-high 14 strikeouts against Dixon to go along a baker’s dozen (13) in two other showdowns against the Bulldogs.

Shockley also struck out 12 Vienna Eagles in early May while ringing up 11 strikeouts in mid-April against Linn and 10 against California in early April.

Spending a lot of his time behind the plate, Stratman led the Tigers with a .414 batting average, 21 singles and three home runs. He was also second on the team for Belle with a .629 slugging percentage, 26 RBIs and 27 runs scored.

Recording a season-high three hits against California, Plato and Linn, Stratman hit three singles against the Eagles.

His home runs came in games against Plato, Bourbon and Dixon.

Amassing half of his 16 walks in four games, Stratman drew a pair of free passes in games against Plato, Missouri Military Academy (MMA), Hermann and Steelville.

Of his 27 runs scored, Stratman scored three in games against St. James and Plato twice.

Among his 26 RBIs, Stratman drove in a season-high four in games against St. James and Plato.

Anchoring the shortstop position, Gehlert was second on the team for the Tigers with 19 singles, 22 walks and 11 stolen bases.

He had a season-high four hits which all turned out to be singles against St. James.

Scoring a season-high four runs against Hermann, Gehlert also walked three times against MMA and stole three bases against Bourbon.

On the mound, Gehlert struck out a season-high six Plato Eagles.

A force at the plate or in the field, Henry led Belle with a .571 on-base percentage, 29 hits, three triples, 32 runs scored, 23 walks and six hit by pitches.

He was also second on the team with a 1.168 ops and five doubles.

Henry’s best game offensively came against Hermann with five hits, four singles and four RBIs.

Hitting his lone home run of the season against Plato, he also scored a season-high four runs against the Eagles.

As a pitcher, Henry reached double digits twice in strikeouts with 12 against Plato and 11 against Bourbon.

Wulff led the Eagles in multiple statistical categories with a .444 batting average, 1.102 ops, .568 slugging percentage, 36 hits, 26 singles, 10 doubles and 22 RBIs.

He was also second on the team with a .534 on-base percentage and 25 runs scored.

Wulff had a season-high three hits against Plato which turned out to be all singles.

Scoring three runs against Cuba, Wulff also drove in three runs in two games against Cuba and Plato.

Third on the team with 12 stolen bases, Wulff swiped half of those with two each against Bourbon, Laquey and Crocker.

Used virtually everywhere in the field, Wilkinson led the Eagles with 28 runs scored and six hit by pitches.

He was also second on the team with three doubles and 20 stolen bases.

Pitching a season-high 47 innings, Wilkinson also led the Eagles with 57 strikeouts, a 1.79 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP.

Of his 20 hits, Wilkinson amassed half of those in five games with two hits each against Cuba, Stoutland, Bourbon, South Callaway and Crocker.

Drawing a season-high four walks against St. James, Wilkinson also swiped three bases against Tuscumbia and Cuba.

Scoring more than half of his runs in five games, Wilkinson crossed the plate three times against Tuscumbia, Cuba, Plato, St. James and South Callaway.

On the mound, Wilkinson struck out a season-high nine batters against Stoutland in early April.

Roaming around the infield when also not pitching, Hayes led the Eagles with a .561 on-base percentage, 27 walks and 26 stolen bases.

Hayes was also second on the team with a .379 batting average, 1.016 ops, .455 slugging percentage, 25 hits, 22 singles, 21 RBIs and five hit by pitches.

His best game at the plate came against Otterville when he had his lone home run of the season to go along with four RBIs, four runs scored and four walks.

Of his team-leading 26 stolen bases, he swiped a season-high three in games against Cuba and South Callaway.

More postseason honors could come later this week as All-State teams will be voted on following the MSHSAA Baseball Championships currently taking place in Ozark.