Cole Camp’s spark plug

Four local players were recently named to all-state baseball teams.

Cole Camp’s Garrett Gilbert, Concordia’s Kevin Sartin and Stover’s Wes Mueller made the Missouri Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association all-state teams.

All three, along with Cole Camp’s Trenton Miller, were named to the Missouri High School Baseball Coaches Association all-state teams.

Gilbert helped lead Cole Camp (14-3) to its first district championship since 1998. He made both Class 2 all-state second teams as an outfielder and set the table for the Bluebirds all season, hitting .585 from the leadoff spot.

“What a star,” Cole Camp coach Todd Rusk said. “He’s our spark plug. Leading off for us, he kind of makes our team go.”

Gilbert, a junior, belted out 31 hits in 17 games. He scored 40 runs with 10 extra-base hits, including five triples and a home run. Gilbert had 17 RBIs and drew 15 walks to his two strikeouts. He stole 25 bases while posting a .690 on-base percentage.

“He just really has matured over the last year,” Rusk said, saying the team played only as well as Gilbert did.

Miller, a catcher, made the coaches’ Class 2 second team. He helped provide some punch for the Bluebirds’ offense.

Fourteen of his 27 hits went for extra bases. He finished with a .614 batting average and 1.091 slugging percentage.

“I was really excited about that one,” Rusk said of Miller’s selection after switching to catcher from shortstop this season. “Just to change your entire mode about the way you think about the game is really impressive.”

Miller, a senior, drove in 28 runs and scored 16. He struck out twice in 44 at-bats and stole three bases.

Sartin, a junior, helped guide the Orioles’ offense and made the Class 1 coaches’ first team and sportswriters’ second team.

“You want to see kids like (Sartin) get these kind of awards and you want to really see them succeed well, because you know they deserve it,” Concordia coach Nate Beissenherz said. “He’s got good character and (is) a good role model for the younger kids.”

The right fielder posted a .450 batting average with 14 RBIs and 11 runs scored this season for Concordia (7-11). He had six extra-base hits, including two home runs and a triple, and only struck out four times in 45 at-bats.

“He’s going to be a hitter, he doesn’t like to walk,” Beissenherz said. “He’s a smart kid up there, but he’s going to slap it somewhere.”

Sartin posted a .550 on-base percentage and a .750 slugging percentage while playing error-free in the outfield.

“The position where you usually think your weaker one — it’s my strongest outfield position actually with him out there and I hate to have him move when he’s so good,” Beissenherz said. “(I have) 100-percent confidence he’s going to make the play and he’s got a pretty good arm out there, too.”

Mueller, a senior, made the sportswriters’ Class 2 second team as a designated hitter/utility player. Mueller received all-state honors last year.