By LONNIE McMILLAN
Sports editor
There were players with more RBIs, runs scored and pitching wins, but no one in Division VI could match the statistics that were completely within Evan Reiter’s control.
Coaches around the state were impressed enough to name the Riverdale senior the Division VI co-player of the year by the Ohio High School Baseball Coaches Association.
“Over the four years, he’s just done so many good things, not only for our program, but personally too,” Riverdale coach Drew Bostic said. “He focuses on the team first, but the numbers he’s been able to produce statistically are second to none when you look at the records he’s been able to set and continue to help his team compete night after night for four years.”
Reiter shared the honor with Independence’s Sam Crooks.
In Division VII, Mohawk’s Kaden Bish was an All-Ohio first-team selection, while Hunter Haynes was named to the second team. Wynford’s Drew Johnson earned honorable mention in Division VI.
With a young roster, the Falcons struggled at times and finished 10-12 on the season, so that held back some of the statistics Reiter put up. He did not get driven in to score as many runs as some players, he did not have runners on base to get his RBI count up this year, and when he pitched, his defense sometimes cost him, but he never complained, Bostic said.
“He’s a team-first mentality type player, extremely unselfish,” Bostic said. “He’s been like that for all four years. I talked about them in every form that we had, the statistics that he was able to control as far as batting average and strikeouts from a pitching standpoint, he led the league and Ohio in a lot of those categories and in the district as well.”
A shortstop and pitcher, Reiter finished the season with a .581 average, including nine doubles, a triple and a home run. He had 13 RBIs, scored 31 runs and stole eight bases in nine attempts.
Often, other teams’ pitchers wanted nothing to do with pitching to Reiter. He walked 27 times and was hit by pitch nine times, resulting in a .753 on-base percentage. He struck out twice in 81 plate appearances.
“He never took an at-bat selfishly and swung at bad pitches,” Bostic said. “Even without all of the intentional walks he took this year, there weren’t a ton of competitive at-bats. There were the unintentional intentional walks, and Evan took those with grace. There weren’t a lot of pitches that he got to drive, and when he did get one, he took advantage of it.”
It was a similar story on the mound. Reiter went just 5-4 despite posting a 0.99 ERA. He struck out 88 batters in 49 1/3 innings, overwhelming many of the batters he faced.
With a senior-laden team in addition to Reiter as a junior, the Falcons had their best season in history in 2024, going 23-7 and winning a district championship. This season ended in a sectional final loss with Reiter unable to pitch.
“I’m sure Evan would trade any personal award for any trophy or award we could have accomplished more as a team, just being the kid he is,” Bostic said. “He’d trade those for the betterment of his team. … He’s a great baseball player and he’s just a great kid. If you can get nine Evan Reiters on your team, not from a performance standpoint, just from a leadership standpoint, you wouldn’t pass him up.”
Reiter was a four-time All-Ohioan, including three times being named to the first team. He was a two-time Blanchard Valley Conference player of the year, was the District 9 player of the year this season, and was named to the Findlay/Elida district and All-BVC first team all four seasons.
Reiter finished with a career .519 average and is believed to be the Falcons’ all-time leader in on-base percentage (.676), OPS (1.489), hits (139), runs (155), RBIs (103), doubles (30), triples (14), walks (101) and stolen bases (84). On the mound, he had a school-record 30 wins, a 1.48 ERA and 353 strikeouts.
The Falcons will have a huge adjustment next season without Reiter as he moves on to play at the University of Findlay. However, the impact Reiter has made on this year’s team full of freshmen will last for years to come.
“He’s definitely a threat we’ll miss on both sides of the field, but the role model that he is to the underclassmen and everything that he was able to do for them, not just in the game but life in general, showing them how to handle tough situations. I know a lot of the kids looked up to him, and everybody wants to focus on average and driving the ball a long ways, and it’s good to have a guy do that consistently, but from an unselfish standpoint it’s great to see the kids being able to witness that. He’s been nothing short of a fantastic kid and a fantastic teammate to our other kids for four years.”
Following one of the best seasons in school history, Mohawk was rewarded with its top players receiving high honors.
Only a sophomore, Kaden Bish was voted to the All-Ohio Division VII third base spot.
His three home runs ranked second in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, and he ranked among the league leaders with a .349 average, 23 RBIs, seven doubles, 29 hits, 28 runs scored, a .509 on-base percentage and a .542 slugging percentage.
He also contributed 5 2/3 innings on the mound without giving up an earned run. He went 2-0 with eight strikeouts.
Most teams have their best player at shortstop, making that a difficult spot to earn high honors, and Haynes still was able to nab second-team accolades.
A senior who was the N10 player of the year, Haynes led the N10 with a .568 on-base percentage and 38 hits and ranked in the top few spots in nearly every other category. He batted .442 with 19 RBIs, 31 runs scored, 26 stolen bases and a .488 slugging percentage.
He also was one of the Warriors’ top pitching aces, going 6-1 with a 2.17 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 48 1/3 innings.
A shortstop and pitcher, Johnson finished his senior season with a .353 average, a league-leading nine doubles, 19 RBIs, 14 runs and a .559 slugging percentage.
On the mound, Johnson went 3-3 with two saves, a 4.67 ERA and 44 strikeouts in 36 innings but was limited to designated hitter duties the final weeks of the season.
All-Ohio baseball
Division VI
First team: Sam Crooks, p, Independence; Kaden Kandel, p, Hiland; Parker Newburn, p, United; Conner Eyink, c, Mechanicsburg; Blake Bogenrife, c, West Jefferson; Grady Monigold, 1b, Hiland; Noah Ehlers, 1b, Wellington; Wyatt Wade, 2b, Cardington-Lincoln; David Cancino, 2b, Legacy Christian Academy; Carter Wheeldin, ss, Caldwell; Elijah Arend, ss, Fairview; Nathan Bryant, 3b, Lake Center Christian; Gavin Barker, 3b, Crestview; Colin Coblentz, of, Hiland; Caleb Smith, of, Rittman; Grant Coblentz, of, Lake Center Christian; William Bolton, of, Berne Union; Caden Coblentz, ut, Hiland; Evan Reiter, ut, Riverdale.
Second team: Brayden Myers, p, Lake Center Christian; Mack Heiber, p, Patrick Henry; Judah Simmons, p, Troy Christian; Alec Halter, c, Dayton Christian; Daniel Hostetler, c, Hiland; Grant Bomer, c, Lakota; Jack Bowdre, 1b, Northmor; Ben DeFranco, 1b, Kirtland; Cohen Sendelbach, 2b, Hopewell-Loudon; Brody York, 2b, West Jefferson; Kyle Hopkins, ss, Columbus Grove; Caleb White, ss, Fairfield Christian Academy; Ethan Edwards, ss, Eastern Reedsville; Zavier Heiss, 3b, Waterford; Wyatt Denney, of, Cardington-Lincoln; Drake Bouscher, of, Toronto; Quentin Tayler, of, United; Tyler Turk, of, Kirtland; Grady Mason, ut, Van Buren; Caleb Shelly, ut, Lake Center Christian.
Honorable mention: Bo Black, p, Newcomerstown; Thomas Barnhart, c, Manchester; Will Jones, c, Symmes Valley; Drew Johnson, 2b, Wynford; Titus Riddell, 2b, Dayton Christian; Jacob Brown, ss, Tree of Life Christian; Anderson Jolliffe, of, Independence; Holden Price, of, Lincolnview; Zane Timbrook, of, Fairview; Anthony Singer, ut, Fairview; Dierkis Vincent, ut, Caldwell; Nolan Hoover, ut, Gibsonburg.
Co-players of the year: Sam Crooks, Independence; and Evan Reiter, Riverdale.
Coach of the year: Chris Dages, Hiland.
Division VII
First team: Owen Przymierski, p, Newark Catholic; Louis Magato, p, Minster; Benaiah Andrews, p, South Webster; Brendan Barlage, c, Miller City; Connor Moyer, c, Tiffin Calvert; Peyton Blue, 1b, River; Luke Cassidy, 1b, Notre Dame; Blake Coleman, 2b, Tiffin Calvert; Caden Dugan, 2b, Strasburg-Franklin; Braylon Cordonnier, ss, Russia; Aric May, ss, Waterloo; Kaden Bish, 3b, Mohawk; James Niemeyer, 3b, Minster; Lucas Dennis, of, River; Carter Lake, of, Tri-County North; Geno Perry, of, Lowellville; Daniel Goff, of, Bridgeport; Turner Lachey, ut, Lehman Catholic; Shane Jones, ut, New Riegel.
Second team: Weston June, p, South Central; Austin Tippie, p, Newton Local; Wesley Hartsock, p, Montpelier; Dylan Heitkamp, c, Minster; Cooper Fiebig, c, Andrews Osborne Academy; Rhett Koffer, 1b, Newton Local; Zane Matthews, 2b, Fairfield; Bubba Smith, 2b, Kalida; Kyler Sapp, ss, Edon; Hunter Haynes, ss, Mohawk; Logan Ritzler, 3b, Tiffin Calvert; Miller Hutchinson, of, Newark Catholic; J.J. Schnieders, of, Lima Central Catholic; A.J. Shoemaker, of, Tiffin Calvert; Rylan Edwards, of, Minster; Jarron Swick, ut, Fort Jennings; Mikey Hess, ut, Newark Catholic.
Honorable mention: Hayden Perdue, 1b, Bishop Rosecrans.
Player of the year: Braylon Cordonnier, Russia.
Co-coaches of the year: Matt Coleman, Tiffin Calvert; and Dusty Pester, Miller City.
