Chestnut named Player of the Year

Monday, June 21, 2010
South Putnam senior Cameron Chestnut was named Banner Graphic Player of the Year after leading the county in several categories. His Eagles' had a team-high five members selected.

GREENCASTLE -- For the second straight year, South Putnam walked away with the sectional baseball crown and leads the 2010 Putnam County All-County team with five selections, including the Player of the Year Cameron Chestnut.

Chestnut's teammates Grant Zimmerman, Nathan Welty, Brayden Freeman and John Spencer joined him on the team.

Chestnut put together an impressive season, leading the county in batting average, hits, runs scored and stolen bases. He batted .457 on the season, with 43 hits, seven doubles, two triples, nine home runs, 25 RBIs and 46 runs scored. He also had a slugging percentage of .862.

Chestnut also broke his own single-season stolen base school record by stealing a whopping 38 stolen bases for the Eagles.

Zimmerman was a double threat for the Eagles this season. In addition to his .377 batting average, four home runs and six doubles, he led the team with eight wins on the mound and an ERA of 2.68. He also struck out 87 batters this year.

Welty was second on the team in batting average with .402 and was third on the team in home runs with five, including two at the regional. He also ranked second in RBIs with 30.

Perhaps the best game for Spencer this season came in the sectional final. He tossed a two-hit, seven-strikeout complete game and had a triple and two RBIs to help the Eagles take the game.

Overall on the season, Spencer batted .353, with three doubles, one triple and seven home runs, while recording 22 RBIs and 21 runs scored.

Freeman also performed well in the post season, lifting the Eagles to the regional final after blasting a home run to defeat Evansville Mater Dei. On the season, Freeman rocketed seven home runs, with 32 RBIs and had a batting average of .341. He also scored 24 runs and had five doubles.

Keegan Remsburg, Andy Bell and Jesse Vermillion will represent Greencastle on this year's squad.

Remsburg was the Tiger Cubs' main threat at the plate as well as on the mound. At the plate, Remsburg had 10 doubles, one triple, one home run and 17 RBIs. He led the team in ERA with an average of 2.29 and in strikeouts with 68.

Bell was on Remsburg's tail in batting average (.380) and led the team in home runs with four. He was second on the team with seven doubles and had nine RBIs on the season.

Vermillion was the Tiger Cubs' No. 2 on the mound and put together some nice offensive numbers this season. He was second on the team in strikeouts with 30 and had an ERA of 4.48. On offense, Vermillion led the team in singles with 20 and had one double and one home run, while batting .297.

Cloverdale third baseman Brian Dale put up some monster numbers for the Clovers this season. Dale tied for the county lead this year with nine home runs and had 37 hits, including eight doubles and 28 RBIs. He batted .425 and scored 20 runs on the season.

His Clover teammates Jordan Brinkman and Kyle Martin also made the All-County team.

Brinkman was second on the team in hits with 24 and was second in RBIs with 14. He batted .284 and had five doubles and a triple.

Martin came on strong for the Clovers in the second half of the season and pitched some nice games for them down the stretch. At the plate, Martin had two home runs, five RBIs and scored 11 runs on the season. He did most of his damage on the mound, recording six wins and one save with an ERA of 4.77. He also had 61 strikeouts on the season.

Tyler Watson and Kyler Badten of North Putnam round out the 2010 Putnam County All-County team this season.

Watson powered the Cougar offense with eight home runs, three doubles, 18 RBIs and 21 hits. He batted .382 and had a slugging percentage of .873.

Badten, the only freshman to make the team, batted .368 with two home runs, three doubles, 19 RBIs and 25 hits. He also had four stolen bases for North Putnam this season.

The class breakdown for this year's team is four seniors, five juniors, three sophomores and one freshman.