While COVID-19 may have taken away their high school baseball season on the field, that didn’t stop six Owensville Dutchmen baseball players from earning accolades off the field.

Recently announced for all five classes of Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) baseball, the Missouri High School Baseball Coaches Association (MHSBCA) released their Academic All-State teams.

In Class 4, a half-dozen Dutchmen were ranked in the top 25 percent of their class or scored at least a 24 on the ACT test.

Another requirement was that each athlete had to maintain a minimum grade-point average (GPA) of 3.5 out of a possible 4.0.

Baseball players under OHS head coach Tyler Ahring honored by the MHSBCA included Cody Linders (senior), Bryor Bogle (junior), Derek Brandt (sophomore), Garret West (junior), TC Fisher (junior) and Tyler Heidbrink (junior).

“Academics are the most important,” Ahring said.

Last spring during his junior season, Linders had two hits twice against Belle and Pacific. He also scored a season-high three runs in Four Rivers Conference (FRC) diamond action against St. Clair.

“Cody is a kid that not only works hard in the classroom, but he’s always working a job as well,” Ahring said.

Opening what would’ve been his sophomore season, Bogle had three hits in Four Rivers Baseball Classic (FRBC) action against St. Clair, Rolla and Hermann.

Bogle also scored three runs on three occasions against St. Clair, Belle and New Haven.

“Bryor stays on top of his grades and wants to pursue a medical degree in college,” Ahring said.

Heidbrink strung together two-hit games against St. Clair, Dixon, Hermann and St. Francis Borgia.

He also scored a season-high three runs against St. Clair.

“Tyler (Heidbrink) has plans to continue playing baseball after high school and pursuing a degree in engineering,” Ahring said.

Donning the catcher’s gear the majority of his sophomore season, Fisher’s best game came late in the year with three hits, a run batted in (RBI) and a run scored against Steelville.

“TC has always taken his academics and sports very seriously,” Ahring said. “He goes above and beyond and showed this in his efforts with the Samsung project from last year.”

Garret West will look to have a breakout senior year next spring after spending the majority of his sophomore year injured.

“He gets it done in the classroom and it itching to get back on the field after being injured for his sophomore season,” Ahring said.

Seeing varsity action late in what was his freshman season, Brandt had two hits and three runs scored in four games.

“Derek is our youngest guy to receive the honor as a sophomore,” Ahring said. “I had the pleasure of having him in math class in eighth grade. Incredibly smart and calculated, he was poised to have a great season this year.”