By Brady Extin | The Times-Post
LAPEL — Lapel outfielder Owen Imel continues to pick up accolades and honors from the 2023 baseball season.
Most recently, he was named Class 2A All-State by the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association.
The team, consisting of 14 All-State selections and 19 honorable mentions, was selected last week.
Imel helped lead the Bulldogs to a 22-7 record this past season, a Madison County Championship, and a trip to the sectional final.
The senior ran double-duty for Lapel, leading them both offensively and on the pitcher’s mound.
At the plate, he batted .484, compiled 44 hits, 36 RBI, 32 runs scored, 14 doubles, two triples and six home runs.
His .484 average ranked 11th in Class 2A, his six home runs ranked sixth in the class, his 36 RBI ranked fourth, and his .879 slugging percentage ranked fourth.
All were the top marks for Lapel.
On the mound, he led the team in innings pitched, throwing 36.1 through the course of the year. He finished the season 2-1 with 46 strikeouts and a 2.12 earned run average. During his seven appearances, he allowed just 18 hits, 11 runs, and held opponents to a .142 batting average.
Along with the All-State selection, earlier this year, Imel was selected as the District F Player of the Year, and was a participant in the North-South All Star Weekend at Loeb Stadium in Lafayette.
In the first game of the All-Star event, Imel, a member of the south team, went 1-3 with an RBI and run scored in a 4-3 win against the North team. In game No. 2, a 6-5 loss to the North team, he went 0-2 with a walk.
Imel is set to continue his academic and athletic career at Huntington University, an NAIA school in Huntington, Indiana.
Compiling the rest of the Class 2A All-State team were pitchers Owen Wanner (South Adams), Corbin Snyder (Eastern Greentown), Clayton Weisheit (Forest Park), and Kevin Corcoran Jr. (Illiana Christian), catchers Jake Dill (Cardinal Ritter), and Logan Gibbs (Cascade), first baseman Braxton Betancourt (Bluffton), second baseman Bradyn Douglass (Frankton), third baseman Jordan DeAtley (Southwestern Hanover), shortstops Quinton Frasure (North Judson) and Isaac VanderWoude (Illiana Christian), and outfielders Andrew Wiggins (Heritage Christian) and Chase Long (Delphi).