Four Chiefs named MHSBCA all-state

(Chris Allen/Democrat-News) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

Four members of the state-finalist Santa Fe Chiefs were selected for the 2009 Missouri High School Baseball Coaches Association's all-state team.

Making the first team were (clockwise, from upper left) seniors Logan Kirchhoff, Ben Catlett and Taylor Wesley -- with junior Matt Lovercamp on the second team.

It was the third time Wesley has been named, this year as a shortstop. He led Santa Fe with a .579 batting average, 13 stolen bases, .619 on-base percentage and .544 slugging percentage. Wesley was second on the club with 31 runs scored, 29 runs batted in and eight homers.

Kirchhoff is a two-time all-state pitcher, posting an 8-0 record with a 1.14 earned-run average. In over 49 innings, he struck out 53 batters and walked only nine.

Catlett, who had the tough job of taking over at catcher from four-time all-stater Kenzie Thorp, was on last year's MHSBCA all-state team. He put up a .421 average with two homers, 20 RBIs and 16 runs out of the clean-up spot in the batting order.

Lovercamp wasn't on the coaches' team last year, but made the Missouri Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association squad. He played shortstop -- for which he was honored -- outfield and pitcher for the Chiefs, leading them with nine homers, 33 RBIs and 39 runs while racking up a .477 average and 1.045 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage).

Santa Fe (17-2) made its third straight trip to the MSHSAA Class 1 Championships at Springfield under head coach Josh Fisher, although unable to defend its state title as Dora came from behind in the seventh inning for an 8-5 decision in the finals.