6 Highland County players named D-IV All-Ohio by Prep Baseball Report
Pictured are Prep Baseball Report's All-Ohio selections: (top row, l-r) Whiteoak's Landon Barnett, Fairfield's Gabe Fouch and Whiteoak's Luken Roades; and (bottom row, l-r) Fairfield's Cade Miller and Whiteoak's Nate Price and Eli Roberts. (HCP Photos/Stephen Forsha)
In their annual All-Ohio list, Prep Baseball Report selected six players from Highland County as 2023 All-Ohio honorees, with four players from Whiteoak and two players from Fairfield honored in Division IV for their 2023 high school seasons.
From Whiteoak, players selected PBR All-Ohio were Landon Barnett (senior, first team), Luken Roades (senior, second team), Nate Price (senior, honorable mention) and Eli Roberts (junior, honorable mention).
From Fairfield, players selected were Gabe Fouch (junior, second team) and Cade Miller (junior, honorable mention).
In his final season with the Wildcats, Barnett was a member of their district championship team for a second consecutive season, and his numbers were some of he best in the state of Ohio in Division IV.
In his senior season, Barnett was selected by PBR as a two-way player for his production as a pitcher and at the plate. On the mound, the first-team selection Barnett pitched 65 innings, earning an 8-1 record with a 0.97 ERA in ‘23. Barnett also had a 0.85 WHIP (walks plus hits per inning pitched), along with collecting 87 strikeouts and walking 28 batters.
At the plate, Barnett had a 447 batting average, a .528 on-base percentage, 11 doubles, seven triples, one home run, 48 runs, 37 RBI, 18 walks, and he was hit by a pitch twice, plus he stole 36 bases.
Earning a second-team selection was Luken Roades for his play in his senior season. Roades was a two-way choice on the Division IV team with his 49 innings pitched on the mound, and in that time pitching he went 7-1.
Roades also had an ERA of 0.71, a 1.10 WHIP, plus he collected 72 strikeouts and he had 15 walks.
While batting, Roades had an average of .395 with a .547 OBP, with eight doubles, three triples, two home runs, 41 runs, 21 RBI, 27 walks, three hits by pitch, and he finished with 38 stolen bases.
Another second-team selection from Highland County was Fairfield junior Gabe Fouch, who was another two-way All-Ohio selection by PBR. Starting with his batting numbers, Fouch finished with a .357 BA, with a .489 OBP. The junior also had six doubles, two triples, 28 runs, 26 RBI, 19 walks and 14 steals.
On the mound, Fouch had an excellent season with 60.2 innings pitched, finishing with a 7-3 record and a 1.15 ERA. Fouch in ’23 also had 100 strikeouts and walked 16 batters to gain his All-Ohio selection by PBR.
On the Division IV honorable mention list was Whiteoak senior Nate Price as a catcher. Price finished the ‘23 season with a .358 BA, and with that he added a .527 OBP, 10 doubles, one triple, two home runs, 37 runs, 28 RBI, 19 walks, three hits by pitch and 20 steals.
Whiteoak’s Eli Roberts was also an honorable mention choice as an infielder. In ‘23 as a junior he totaled a .381 BA, a .500 OBP, eight doubles, three home runs, 29 runs, 38 RBI, 19 walks, three hits by pitch and 20 steals.
For Fairfield, honorable mention selection Cade Miller was chosen as a two-way choice, and in ‘23 as a junior, he pitched 37.2 innings and finished with a 7-0 record. He also had a 1.48 ERA, a 1.11 WHIP, 46 strikeouts and 13 walks on the mound.
At the plate, Miller batted .344, with a .482 OBP, and collected 10 doubles, one triple, 26 runs, 20 RBI, 11 walks, was hit by a pitch seven times and finished with 17 steals.
For the complete Prep Baseball Report list, click here.