Cougars, Witten earn WBL, district awards

Van Wert independent sports

Van Wert’s Charlie Witten and Defiance’s Tom Held were named Western Buckeye League co-Coaches of the Year, and the Cougars placed six players on the All-WBL baseball team.

Witten led the Cougars to a WBL co-championship with the Bulldogs. It was the school’s first league baseball championship in 35 years. Van Wert is currently 23-2 and will play Lexington in the district semifinals on Thursday.

Lawson Blackmore and Jaxson Amweg were named to the First Team, Owen Treece was named to the Second Team, Jalen McCracken and Hayden Maples garnered Third Team honors and Parker Conrad was named Honorable Mention.

In addition, Blackmore was named to All Northwest District First Team as a pitcher, while Amweg and McCracken earned First Team honors at infielder and outfielder respectively.

Treece was named to the Second Team as a pitcher, and is joined by Hayden Maples at catcher and Nathan Temple at first base.

Conrad, Jake Lautzenheiser and Keaton Brown were named All Northwest District Honorable Mention.