koeneman and church make all-state team

Two of the top performers from this past season’s memorable state tournament run by the Seymour Eagles baseball team were honored this week as members of the Class AA Tennessee Sports Writers Association All-State squad.

Seniors Kyle Koeneman and Cody Church were among six players from East Tennessee named to the prestigious 2007 TSWA squad.

Koeneman, on the heels of his inspiring workhorse-like performance on the pitcher’s mound in the state tournament, was named to the All-State Team as a pitcher. Church, who contributed from multiple defensive positions this year for the Eagles, was named to the team as a utility player.

The Eagles were ousted from the 2007 state tournament by Goodpasture, the eventual 2007 Class AA State Champ. The 2007 Seymour baseball team, led by veteran head coach Scott Norman, were winners of a school-best 31 games during its state tournament run.

Koeneman finished the 2007 season with a total of 73 innings pitched. He allowed 43 hits, nine walks and recorded 80 strikeouts.

“He displayed phenomenal control for a power pitcher,” Norman commented on Koeneman’s unforgettable high school baseball swan song season at SHS. “

“A good strikeout-to-walk ratio for a high school pitcher is about one (walk) for every four (strikeouts). Kyle’s was one (walk) for every nine (strikeouts). That’s incredible,” Norman added.

The Eagles won back-to-back games at the state tourney after dropping their first round game in the double-elimination tournament played in Murfreesboro last May.

The Seymour coach said Koeneman‘s performance at the state tournament capped a standout senior season, both on the pitcher’s mound and at the plate.

Koeneman took the hard-luck loss on the mound in the Eagles’ first-round state tournament loss. He courageously came back on a days rest to pitch his team to a pivotal victory two days later.

By TSSAA rule, high school pitchers are limited to 10 innings of work in a 48 hour span. Koeneman took Tuesday off and came back with a prizefighter-like performance on the mound in a 6-4 win over Lexington the following Wednesday. The Eagles fed off the momentum and blanked Dyer County 9-0 later Wednesday to move into the semifinal round of the tournament, where a heartbreaking 6-5 loss to Goodpasture ended their run.

“Man, he was just so impressive,” Norman added concerning Koeneman’s Spring Fling performance. “Him coming back on one days rest and throwing 14 innings in two days was just phenomenal.”

Koeneman finished his senior season with a 7-3 pitching record and a 1.34 ERA. His earned run average in the state tournament was 0.04.

Although he made the All-State team as a pitcher, Koeneman was known more for his trademark soaring home runs. He finished 2007 with 15 homers and 61 RBIs.

Church, on the other hand, started the season as the Eagles’ top pitcher but as the year progressed, he became the team’s most clutch batter.

He finished as one of the top hitters in the state with a .546 batting average for the season. Church accumulated 40 RBIs in ’07, to go along with five home runs and 17 doubles. With 65 hits in 151 plate appearances, Church finished with a remarkable .623 on base percentage. At the plate, he averaged just one strikeout for every 15 at bats during his final high school baseball season.

Church ended up with a 6-2 record on the pitcher’s mound in ‘07 with a respectable 3.85 ERA and 56 strikeouts in 49 total innings of work.

Koeneman and Church were joined by pitcher Matt Byrge from Anderson County, pitcher Drew Housewright from Gibbs, infielder Elijah Turner from Gibbs, and utility player Dalton Irwin from Knox-Catholic as players from the Knoxville-area to make the Class AA TSWA All-State Team.

Norman said it would be tough to script the Eagles’ 2007 season any better, especially for his two All-Staters.

“They picked it up in the clutch,” Norman commented. “This is like the icing on the cake for Kyle and Cody—and our whole team for that matter—after a great season, another state tournament run, and a third place finish in the state.

“They deserve it. They worked hard for four years and had a great finish to their high school baseball careers.”

Richie Estep of Goodpasture was named the Coach of the Year by the TWSA.

Three players from state tournament runners-up, The University School of Jackson, were named to the team. Goodpasture, Seymour, Gibbs and Harpeth each had two of its players named to the 2007 All-State squad.

All of the schools with more than one player on the All-State team played in the state tournament.

Koeneman earned a scholarship to play baseball next season for local junior college powerhouse Walters State, while Church, along with three of his former high school teammates, has signed to continue his baseball career at Roane State.

“It’ll be interesting to see what Walters State does with Kyle after he made All-State as a pitcher. I think at the end of the year he was one of the top pitchers in the entire state, and he’ll only get better the more work he puts in to it,” said Norman.

“Cody is in a similar situation (as Koeneman),” the Eagles’ coach added. “It’s a great problem to have—the ability to be a pitcher or a position player.

”At the beginning of the year Cody was known more for his pitching, but as the season went along, he became a tremendous hitter. He ended up being one of the top hitters in East Tennessee and that’s as good of baseball as you’ll find anywhere in the state.

“At the college level though, you’ll either do one or the other,” the coach explained. “Some are talented enough to pull off playing pitcher and also playing a position in the field, but not very many can do it and be successful at both.

“Like I said, it’s a great problem to have for both of the guys.”