Eastern View produces all-region players

If you swung a bat for Eastern View this spring, odds are you did it pretty well.

On the way to winning the Battlefield District tournament title in both baseball and softball, the Cyclones on both squads put up some impressive offensive numbers, which helped lead to some equally remarkable post-season honors.

Two baseball and two softball players were named first-team All-Region I and several others on both teams claimed all-district and all-region awards.

“When you are 5-15 it’s hard to go to region meeting and make a case for a kid that had a great year,” EVHS baseball coach Danny Nobbs said. “They say that your team didn’t do too well. When you have a good year as a team, it’s not too hard to sell at the regional meeting.”

For the Eastern View baseball team seniors Trevor Funk and Brandon Mack were named to the region’s first team. In softball it was senior Ashleigh Johnson and junior Anna Klumpp on the first-team.

With Funk at shortstop and Mack at third the Cyclones were potent offensively and defensively on the left side of the infield. Mack hit .464 with 28 RBI and 23 runs scored while Funk had a .443 average with nine RBI and 32 runs.

“It kind of felt like we had a new start to establish ourselves as Eastern View baseball,” Mack said. “But being a new school it, did feel like we had to impress a whole new group of people.”

Funk and Mack agreed that moving from Group AAA at Culpeper County High School to Group AA Eastern View provided an even greater opportunity to stand out.

“There’s definitely a big difference from AAA to AA,” Funk said. “We played kids that were getting drafted and going pro. It definitely made us better.”

For Kelly Forrest’s EVHS softball team Johnson and Klumpp also provide big bats. Johnson hit .462 and led the team with five home runs, 14 doubles and 32 RBI. Klump hit .494 with three homers, eight doubles and five triples.

“They were some of our most experienced players,” Forrest said. “They really took it upon themselves to really kind of get everybody else going.”

Klumpp and Johnson were also first-team all-district selections along with teammates Zaneta Puller and Samantha May. May led the team with a .538 batting average and also hit five home runs. Puller went 10-2 as a starting pitcher with a 1.87 ERA and also hit .350.

The rest of the Eastern View lineup — Skyler Koontz, Susan Routte, Courtney Shanks, Brittany McCauley and Mercedes Bothum — all received honorable all-district. May was also named second-team all-region as a catcher and Puller was honorable mention.

“We had nine girls recognized by the district, which is exceptional,” Forrest said. “Sam made second team all-region and was second to a girl that has already signed with Indiana, so that’s pretty good.”

Johnson said winning the individual honors was great, but capturing district titles was the highlight of her season.

“I was shocked when I heard I was getting all-region,” she said. “But I was proud of what I’ve done. Winning the district was great. Everybody was really excited about it. We came back with two trophies so we were happy about what we’ve done.”

The Cyclones baseball team also had plenty of players win awards other than Mack and Funk. Brandon Scott, Lee Rossi and Allen Beall all joined them on the district’s first team. Beall and Scott were also second-team all-region and Rossi honorable mention.

Cody Whitlock and Josh Gardiner were second-team all-district and Sillas Shaw and Matt Ward each were honorable mention.