Jack of all baseball trades:

Baseball honors in the North Shore Conference mirrored the seven-team league’s logjam in the standings.

Grafton, Homestead, Slinger and Whitefish Bay all tied for the title at 7-5, with Nicolet and Hartford close behind at 6-6. Cedarburg went 2-10.

When it came to all-conference voting, Slinger and Homestead tied with seven selections. Hartford and Whitefish Bay each had six. Nicolet and Cedarburg each had five, and Grafton had four.

Senior Jack Schmanski led the Black Hawks’ selections as he was named to the first team as pitcher and was chosen as Grafton’s co-most valuable player.

In the NSC, Schmanski was 2-1 in five starts with a 4.48 ERA. He struck out 23 batters in 20-1/3 innings. Of the 13 earned runs he allowed over the season, four came in a tough first inning against Slinger.

Schmanski tied for the team lead with 14 hits, hit .400, had a .543 on-base percentage, a .629 slugging percentage and an OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) of 1.172. He tied for the team lead with 12 runs scored, had seven walks and got hit by pitches four times. He had two doubles and three triples in 12 conference games.

“He closed out his career on an incredibly strong note. He’s a versatile athlete who made a significant impact for us on the mound. He really produced well as a hitter in the 3 spot in our lineup,” coach Brian Durst said.

Schmanski also played left field, third base and was a designated hitter.

“He’s a kid who can play any position on the field as well as anybody. It was really a matter of where we had a position open to get his bat in the lineup when he wasn’t pitching,” Durst said.

The Hawks had three players named to the second team.

Senior right-fielder Zach Plier was named to the second team for the second straight season, and he earned all-district honorable mention. He was chosen as Grafton’s other MVP.

He was bumped up from the third to the second spot in the batting order and thrived.

Plier hit .333 in the NSC, tying Schmanski for the team lead with 14 hits in just 42 at-bats, and tied for the team lead with 12 runs scored. He had six RBIs, three doubles, one triple, a slugging percentage of .452, an on-base percentage of .417 and an OPS of .869.

“He was the igniter in our lineup, always a threat every time he came to the plate. He is truly one of the great natural hitters that I’ve had the opportunity to work with over the years,” Durst said.

For the season, Plier hit .384 with a 1.085 OPS. He had nine doubles, two triples and a homer, scored 25 runs in 21 games, was 7-for-7 on steals and struck out just four times. He led the Hawks with 44 total bases.

“The ball jumps off his bat. He puts the ball in play so frequently and puts such velocity on it that he is a tough out,” Durst said.

Plier was also a team leader and a strong right-fielder.

“Something that shouldn’t be overlooked, how strong he emerged defensively over the years,” Durst said.

Senior Everett Bonk emerged as the starting first baseman after playing backup last season and took advantage of his opportunity.

“When you look at a player who just exemplifies what it means to improve every single year, there’s no better example to what Everett did,” Durst said.

“Each year we talk about someone entering their senior year quietly as someone under the radar. Everett was that guy this year. He just came out hitting the ball, kept collecting two hits a game early in the season. People started to take note of that. He was the guy driving in the run with two outs.”

Bonk hit .333 and was second on the team with nine RBIs. He had 13 hits, one behind the Hawks’ leaders, an on-base percentage of .395 and an OPS of .754.

“He was typically hitting out of the 6 spot so we’d have some insurance in our lineup as a run producer with the middle of our order getting on base as well as they did,” Durst said. “He’s just a great competitor and a really tough out.”

At first base, Bonk had a .988 fielding percentage.

When he joined the program as a freshman, he was one of 15 second basemen. He tried third base before being moved to first. He earned one of the Hawks’ Gold Glove Awards and was named the team’s most improved player.

“I just loved seeing his progression and his emergence as an all-conference player,” Durst said.

Ryan Butts came onto the varsity scene with a bang. The junior hit a home run in his first at-bat, facing Division 3 champion Cedar Grove-Belgium, but his biggest impact was on the mound.

Butts led the team with 24-2/3 innings pitched and had a 1.99 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP (walks plus hits per inning pitched).

He allowed seven earned runs in the NSC, struck out 11 and walked 10, and allowed batters at .207 average.

“Ryan was our most consistent player. Every time we put him on the mound he kept us in games. Without doing anything off the charts, he shut teams down,” Durst said.

Butts was the team’s third pitcher but moved to No. 2 during the season. He shut out Port Washington in a nonconference game, allowing three hits while striking out three and walking one.

He led the team with a .429 average with 12 hits in 28 at-bats. He had two doubles and six RBIs, an on-base-percentage of .515 and an OPS of 1.015.

Butts was selected as the team’s Cy Young Award winner and was named Rookie of the Year.

“He had just a really great junior year that he can be proud of and that gives Ryan momentum coming back as one of the top two-way players in the conference,” Durst said.

The Hawks finished 12-10 overall.