Hazelwood West Brings Home All-Suburban North Conference Hardware

The 2011 springs sports season proved to be quite an exciting one for the baseball and girls soccer teams.

Both Wildcat units finished their seasons with winning records, and earned trips to their respective district championship games.

Unfortunately, the soccer team lost 2-1 to Pattonville, and baseball lost 2-1 to Hazelwood Central, ending both Wildcat seasons earlier than expected.

 Although recently, Hazelwood West did receive some good news. Several Wildcat student-athletes were named to the All-Suburban North Conference First Team in their respective sports.

The Wildcat baseball team had three players earn all-conference honors including Trevor Jones, Oday Al-Yatim and Brendan Fosdick. While the soccer team had five players including Mariah Gove, Ashley Geist, Kayley Hill, Jenn Morris and Jordynn Schaffner to receive first team all-league honors.

“It’s a tribute to the respect (they) earned around the conference,” said West High soccer coach Jason Sellers. “It’s nice to see so many good (kids) recognized for the hard work they put in.”

Sellers was speaking specifically about his players, but his words could certainly be applied to all eight West High all-stars.

The lone senior among the group was baseball outfielder Jones, who graduated in May, and will begin his college career at the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg this fall.

Jones was West High’s leading hitter last season, finishing the year with a .398 batting average, while also leading the team in home runs (3), runs scored (34), RBIs (24) and stolen bases (25).

“He had a great year and was the consistent leader on our team,” said West High baseball coach Matt McClellan. “(Trevor) had a great career at Hazelwood West and is one of the best outfielders we have had come through our school. Central Missouri State is getting a tremendous player, and I am sure Trevor will do well.”

Both Al-Yatim and Fosdick, who are both members of the St. Louis Amateur Baseball Association (SLABA)  team this summer, will be back playing for the Wildcats next season.

“Oday was quietly consistent this year and at the end of the season had numbers that showed he was deserving of being the first team (designated hitter),” McClellan said. “Hopefully this is the last time he gets an award for being a DH, because we are expecting him to play much more on defense next year as a catcher.

“(And) even though Brendan was hurt twice this year, he deserves to be named on the first team because when he did pitch, he was dominant. He got the ball for a lot of our big games and came through almost every time."

McClellan said he is looking forward to having Brendan back next year healthy, and added that he should be one of the better pitchers in West's conference.

Gove, who was also selected first-team all-state, led the Wildcats in scoring with 21 goals and 18 assists.

Geist, a second-team all-stater, was right behind with 12 goals and 17 assists, while Morris finished with 15 goals and 10 assists.

“All three of them had outstanding years,” Sellers said. “Coming off the season before (when West High went 25-2 in 2010), they had a large load to carry. It’s not every year that you send 10 kids off to college. So the odds were kind of stacked against them this year, but I think we’ll be a better team for it.”

All three players will be seniors for the Wildcats next year, as will Schaffner, who earned her first all-conference nod as a defensive standout last season.

Hill, a freshman last year who earned a spot on the varsity during spring tryouts, excelled at the sweeper position, and had five goals and six assists for the Wildcats last season.

“We’re lucky to have them back next season,” Sellers said. “I think it’ll really benefit our girls not having that (25-2) target on our backs anymore.”