NTSPY BASEBALL: A Dragon, Pioneer, Highlander & Brave up for top honor (2024)

Silver Creek senior Tommy Holman, Providence senior Luke Kruer, Floyd Central senior Clayton Schroeder and Borden senior Alex Schuler are the four finalists for the News and Tribune Sports Performance Yearly (NTSPY) Awards Baseball Player of the Year.

The winner will be announced during tonight’s NTSPY Awards, which will start at 6:30 p.m. at Eastside Christian Church in Jeffersonville.

TOMMY HOLMAN, SILVER CREEK

The first-time finalist had a superb senior season for the Dragons, who won sectional and regional titles before falling in the semistate.

“I couldn’t really ask for better,” the left fielder said. “I wouldn’t have wanted to do it with any other team than I had. We didn’t really get the outcome that we wanted, but that’s baseball. I couldn’t have really asked more of our team and our coaches. I think we had a great year and there’s really nothing to be sad about, or mad about.”

Especially for Holman, who had a breakout final campaign after being a reserve on Silver Creek’s 2023 state title squad.

He topped the team in batting average (.402), hits (33) and doubles (13) while tying for first in home runs (three). He also was second in runs scored (27) and tied for second in triples (two) while stealing 10 bases.

“I think that comes with wanting to prove a lot of people wrong,” said Holman, who also had a .510 on-base percentage, a .720 slugging percentage and a 1.229 OPS. “Not starting last year, it wasn’t a big deal but it definitely made me want to work a little harder and that was my fuel to get these numbers that I had this season.”

He also had one of the biggest hits of the season for the Dragons. His two-RBI single in the top of the seventh inning, helped them rally for a 7-6 win over Batesville in the Class 3A Floyd Central Regional championship.

“You dream of those type of games,” Holman said. “It was a very ‘team won’ game and I think people overlook that. We have a shirt that says, ‘Practice and Act Like a Champion.’ What really caught my eye about that game was we were acting like champions going into the top of the seventh, knowing that we had to score at least two or three to stay in the game. I think that really showed. I was very proud of our team.”

He has signed to continue his career at Spalding University in Louisville.

LUKE KRUER, PROVIDENCE

The first-time finalist had a sensational senior season for the Pioneers, who won sectional, regional and semistate titles before capturing the program’s third state championship Saturday.

“We’ve had a great group of guys helping us succeed, especially my seniors who I’ve grown up with my whole life. I’ve really enjoyed playing this last year with them,” Kruer said a few days before the title tilt.

The right fielder/pitcher boasted a .412 batting average while topping the team in triples (six), home runs (eight) and RBIs (46). Additionally, he ranked second in runs scored (35) and tied for third in doubles (six).

“I think one of the most important things for our team is just doing a job. Not focusing on your stats or doing this or doing that, just really getting on base or getting that hit and helping the team out any way we can,” said Kruer, who recorded 20 strikeouts in 14 innings pitched this season.

In the Pioneers’ 9-0 win over Illiana Christian this past Saturday, Kruer drove in a pair of runs.

“It’s extra special in that way for me, playing with my younger brother one last time,” Kruer, whose brother Lincoln was the team’s sophom*ore catcher, said. “It was a big, emotional day for me and I’m glad we came out on top.”

Afterward, he was presented with the L.V. Phillips Mental Attitude Award.

Kruer has signed to continue his baseball career at the United States Merchant Marine Academy, where plans to become a commissioned officer and a military pilot.

“I’m really excited for what’s to come for me in the future,” he said.

CLAYTON SCHROEDER, FLOYD CENTRAL

The first-time finalist had a strong senior season for the Highlanders, who went 25-4 and won Hoosier Hills Conference Tournament, sectional and regional titles.

“It was great,” the infielder said. “It was good to win sectional, especially after last year how we lost to Jeff(ersonville) in the finals. To push past sectionals and win the regional, it was really big — the first (Class) 4A (title) in Floyd Central history — and to make it to semistate.

“Coach (Casey) LaDuke was telling us how we were the team to make it the farthest (in the state tourney), so it was just great to be a part of that.”

Schroeder batted .396 while topping the team in hits (36) and doubles (12). He was also second on the squad in RBIs (27) and tied for third in runs scored (23). Additionally, he had .433 on-base percentage, a .549 slugging percentage and a .982 OPS while striking out only nine times.

Defensively he was second on the squad with 26 assists and finished with a .938 fielding percentage.

Schroeder also helped the Highlanders in their postseason run. He doubled in the team’s 2-1 win over Bedford North Lawrence in the Seymour Sectional final. Then in the regional championship against Castle, he reached first base on a dropped third strike in the bottom of the seventh. A couple of batters later, Seth Newkirk’s two-run homer gave Floyd a 2-1 walk-off win and its first regional title since 1996.

“We really came up big as a team in those games. We really fought hard and stuck together,” said Schroeder, who was named All-HHC after the season. “Especially doing it in front of the home crowd (at regional) was wild. It pushed us to work even harder. Unfortunately the season ended in semistate, but I’m still very proud of the guys.”

That, however, will be his last game.

“I’m going to attend trade school,” Schroeder said of his future. “Baseball, I love it and I’d do anything to play baseball again, but I just don’t think it’s for me anymore.”

ALEX SCHULER, BORDEN

The first-time finalist had an outstanding senior season for the Braves, who won their fourth straight Southern Athletic Conference title before falling in the Class A South Central Sectional final.

“Our season went well,” the shortstop-pitcher said. “We got off to a slow start, as we played some good teams. Then once our hitters started hitting, we started clicking as a team and went on a bit of a run and started playing well.”

Schuler topped the team in batting average (.566), home runs (nine) and RBIs (42) while also tying for first in runs scored (37). Additionally, he had 10 doubles and three triples.

“I didn’t play basketball this winter, so I tried to hit and work out (as often as I could),” he said. “I got everything down to where I could translate it into the games.”

After the season, he was voted as the Indiana Baseball Coaches Association’s District Player of the Year and was selected to participate in the North/South All-Star games.

“It was really exciting because I saw some of the other players in the past get it and they were good too. It was really exciting seeing that I can live up to them as well, said Schuler, who was also voted as the Co-Most Outstanding Player of the SAC.

He has signed to continue his career at IU Southeast, where he plans to study business.