Kennedy Baseball

Register tabs 3 Metro ballplayers

Zach Daniels of Kennedy, Sammy Lizarraga of Kennedy and Cal Clark of Prairie have been named to the all-state baseball teams by the Des Moines Register.

Daniels, a shortstop and pitcher, made the Elite All-State team for players from all school classifications. Lizarraga was named first team all-state in Class 4A as a pitcher. Clark made second team all-state in Class 4A as a shortstop.

Daniels and Lizarraga are now playing for the Iowa Hawkeyes. Clark is entering his senior year at Prairie.

Daniels, Lizarraga are 'super' all-staters

Zach Daniels and Sammy Lizarraga of Kennedy have been named to the 2015 All-State "Super Team" by the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association, it was announced Thursday.

Daniels won the IHSBCA "Player of the Year" Award for his work as a hitter, pitcher and shortstop this season. He hit .519 for the Cougars and compiled a 4-2 record on the mound. He made the "Super Team" at shortstop.

Lizarraga compiled an 8-0 record and 0.70 ERA this season and made the "Super Team" as a pitcher. Lizarraga and Daniels are both headed to the University of Iowa to continue their baseball careers.

Trey Beckman of Prairie and Spencer VanScoyoc of Jefferson were named to the Class 4A All-State team. Beckman made the club as an outfielder and VanScoyoc, a top pitcher and outfielder, made the team as a utility player.

Beckman will play at Wabash Valley Community College. VanScoyoc, entering his senior year, has committed to Arizona State.

Daniels was named the captain of the Class 4A all-state team.

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Lizarraga will pitch for Hawkeyes

Sammy Lizarraga was all set to pack his bags and leave for Wabash Valley Community College later this month, but then he threw a bunch of 94 mph fastballs in the state tournament and things changed.

A school in the Big 12 Conference offered him a full scholarship, but he didn't want to go there. Another school that has made several trips to the College World Series in recent years came calling, but it didn't work out.

Then Iowa Coach Rick Heller, who has been chasing Lizarraga for quite some time, called and made a substantial offer that made Lizarraga smile from ear to ear on his 6-foot-5 frame.

"I verbally committed to Iowa yesterday morning," the Kennedy all-state pitcher said Tuesday afternoon. "It's really exciting. I'm excited to play DI baseball."

Lizarraga committed to Wabash Valley, a top junior college, after the high school football season last year (he was Kennedy's quarterback) and fully intended to join the team this year as a freshman.

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Japan-Metro Classic: Zach Daniels

CLINTON - Zach Daniels heard some of the snickers when he was younger.

Some people thought he wasn't big enough, strong enough or good enough to be a successful high school baseball player.

Boy, were they wrong.

Daniels just finished one of the most successful high school careers in Metro history as an accomplished hitter, pitcher, middle infielder and base-stealer for the Kennedy Cougars.

His crowning achievement came Saturday morning when he was named the Player of the Year for the entire state by the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association.

Daniels hit .438 during his career at Kennedy, topped by an eye-popping average of .519 this season. He recorded a 17-5 record on the mound with a career 1.85 ERA. He stole 59 bases in 63 attempts, made dazzling plays on defense and helped the Cougars make two straight trips to the Class 4A state tournament.

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