Four KoMets earn All-HVL honors

The Kasson-Mantorville baseball team saw its season come to  a close sooner than they would have liked, but they had several standouts that helped make it a positive one. For that, Brendan Knoll, Andy Plein, Jack Peterson and Drew Kirmse were all honored as All-HVL selections during the team’s end of year banquet on Sunday night.
“Our success came from a lot of different areas,” K-M baseball coach Broc Thrienen observed. “They all represented three different aspects where they contributed a lot to our team’s success.”
Knoll was one of the key pitchers for the KoMets this spring as he posted a 5-2 record with a 0.85 ERA on the mound including 43 strikeouts in 41 innings. He also was a table-setter at the top of the K-M lineup with a .318 average and a team-leading 20 runs scored to go with nine stolen bases.
“The big thing was Brendan’s pitching,” Thrienen pointed out. “He was outstanding every time he went out there for us.”
Kirmse’s speed was also a weapon for the KoMets as he lead the team with 12 stolen bases on the year. He also added tremendous defense in center and possibly had the moment of the year when he hit an inside-the park home run against Holy Family during a game played at Siebert Field on the University of Minnesota campus.
Peterson was a great player on and off the field for the KoMets as he also received First-Team Academic All-State honors in the classroom. On the diamond, he was one of the team’s big bats as he lead the team in average (.381), OPS (.984) and runs batted in (21).
“Jack was our leading hitter,” Thrienen confirmed. “He came up with some big RBI down the stretch too.”
Meanwhile, Plein could have served well as a one-man battery as he was solid on the mound with a 3-2 mark and 2.96 ERA to go with solid play behind the plate at catcher.
“Andy pitched well throughout the year,” Threinen stated. “He was