A lot of high-level baseball was played in Jackson County in 2023, a lot of big games were won and a lot of records were broken.
Of all of the impressive players, there were two who stood out in terms of their impact to winning games on both sides of the ball.
Those two were Brownstown Central senior Carson Darlage and Seymour junior Bret Perry, who are The Tribune’s Co-Baseball Players of the Year.
For Darlage, who also was a decorated football and basketball player, he ended his baseball and BCHS athletic career with a bang.
He hit .471 with 40 hits, including seven doubles, two triples and four home runs. He had 32 RBI, 39 runs and an on-base percentage of .626, slugging percentage of .741 and on-base slugging percentage of 1.103.
On top of his hitting output, Darlage had success on the mound. He pitched 38.1 innings with 69 strikeouts and a 2.191 ERA. In his eight starts, he went 5-0, including one no-hitter and one one-hitter.
Darlage helped lead the Braves to a record of 24-9, which featured the third sectional championship in program history, the first regional title and a semistate semifinal appearance. Darlage was the starting pitcher in the regional win and semistate game.
He made the all-Mid-Southern Conference team, all-district team and all-sectional team.
For Perry, another three-sport athlete with football and basketball, he hit .391 with 34 hits, including six doubles, one triple and one home run. He had 19 RBI, 34 runs and an OBP of .523, SLG of .540 and OPS of 1.058.
He also spent time on the mound for the Owls, where he pitched 32.2 innings with 22 strikeouts and a 2.14 ERA. He set the season record for lowest walks with seven, and he had a record of 3-1. When he didn’t pitch, he played shortstop, where he had a fielding percentage of .910.
Perry was Seymour’s leadoff hitter and helped lead the Owls to a 23-5 record, which is the most wins since 1991, and the first Hoosier Hills Conference championship.
He was all-HHC and the team’s offensive player of the year.
Perry will be heading into his senior season next year in football, basketball and baseball, while Darlage recently graduated from BCHS and will be heading to Purdue University.
Remaining members of The Tribune’s All-County Baseball team:
Ethan Garland, Jr., Brownstown Central: .416 BA, 47 hits, 27 RBI, 47 runs, 2.62 ERA, 40 strikeouts.
Charlie Longmeier, Sr., Seymour: .265 BA, 22 hits, 32 RBI, 16 runs, all-HHC.
Nathan Voelker, Sr., Trinity Lutheran: .278 BA, 25 hits, nine RBI, 27 runs, 2.78 ERA, 74 strikeouts.
Lucas Hilton, Jr., Crothersville: .517 BA, 30 hits, 11 RBI, 22 runs, 43.1 IP, 92 strikeouts.
Trent Lowery, Jr., Brownstown Central: .287 BA, 27 hits, 27 RBI, 20 runs, 29 IP, 51 strikeouts.
Jack VonDielingen, Sr., Seymour: .377 BA, 20 hits, 11 RBI, 15 runs.
Sage Broughton, Sr., Trinity Lutheran: .323 BA, 30 hits, 23 RBI, 23 runs.
Pierson Wheeler, So., Brownstown Central: .307 BA, 31 hits, 22 RBI, 25 runs.
Aiden Darlage, Sr., Seymour: .212 BA, 14 hits, 14 RBI, 10 runs, 1.80 ERA, 65 strikeouts, 6-0.
Braden Richey, So., Seymour: .227 BA, 10 hits, seven RBI, five runs, 1.45 ERA, 38 strikeouts, 6-0.
Chick Tiemeyer, Jr., Brownstown Central: .184 BA, 16 hits, 21 RBI, 18 runs.
Luke Coomler, Sr., Trinity Lutheran: .320 BA, 16 hits, five RBI, 16 runs.
Jack Pennington, Jr., Seymour: .423 BA, 22 hits, eight RBI, 20 runs, HHC honorable mention.
Vince Wilson, Sr., Seymour: .347 BA, 25 hits, 15 RBI, 21 runs, HHC honorable mention, all-district.
Grayson Cassidy, Fr., Brownstown Central: .218 BA, 18 hits, 23 RBI, nine runs.
Jackson Trueblood, Fr., Trinity Lutheran: .278 BA, 22 hits, 16 RBI, 21 runs.
Devin Morgan, Sr., Crothersville: .420 BA, 21 hits, 14 RBI, 11 runs.
Skyler Cockerham, Sr., Seymour: .313 BA, 26 hits, 15 RBI, 10 runs, team MVP.
Drake Goodpaster, Fr., Trinity Lutheran: .425 BA, 34 hits, 21 RBI, 16 runs.
Treyton McCormick, Sr., Seymour: .267 BA, 20 hits, 13 RBI, 23 runs.
Gavin Leavy, Jr., Seymour: .281 BA, 16 hits, 16 RBI, 11 runs.
Beau Napier, So., Crothersville: .326 BA, 14 hits, four RBI, 19 runs.
Mikey Wright, So., Seymour: 45 IP, 3.27 ERA, 42 strikeouts.
Peyton Pollert, Jr., Trinity Lutheran: .206 BA, 13 hits, three RBI, 11 runs, 2.43 ERA, 26 strikeouts.
Dirk Crater, So., Crothersville: .297 BA, 11 hits, six RBI, six runs.