Gaels anchor 4A All-Southern Nevada squad

Jeff Malm, Joey Rickard and Stephen Manthei proved to be three of the most dominant baseball players on the state’s most dominant team.

And the Bishop Gorman trio was rewarded by being selected to the All-Southern Nevada first team by area coaches.

Malm was named the Southern Nevada Player of the Year.

Gorman, ranked fourth nationally by Baseball America, went 40-4 this spring to capture its fourth consecutive state title.

Malm, who batted .564 with 17 home runs and 69 RBIs, and Rickard, who hit .545 with seven homers and 62 RBIs, were four-year fixtures for the Gaels, who never had won a state title before the two’s freshman year.

“They were a big part of our first state championship, and now to wrap it up their senior year and win four straight is just a tremendous feat,” Gorman coach Chris Sheff said. “I’m going to miss them. It’s going to be a little different playing without them.”

Malm was a first-team All-Southern Nevada pick at first base and as a pitcher, where he went 11-1 with a 1.50 ERA, including two dominant performances in the state tournament.

Manthei, also a senior, gained first-team honors as a pitcher, after going 10-1 with a 1.55 ERA.

“Jeff was magnificent. He was outstanding and kind of stole the spotlight,” Sheff said. “And Stephen threw just as many big games as Jeff did and, over the course of the whole season, probably threw a little better than Jeff did.”

Rickard was a first-team outfielder. He scored 76 runs and drove in the 62 from the leadoff spot.

“You understand why he scores runs because he’s got guys in the middle of the lineup to bang him in,” Sheff said. “But you don’t understand how many runs he can drive in from that spot.”

Joining Malm and Manthei as first-team pitchers were Cimarron-Memorial’s Dyllon Nuernberg and Green Valley’s Nolan Kohorst.

Las Vegas High’s Bryce Harper was the catcher, and Green Valley’s Jordan Van Hoosier (second base), Sierra Vista’s Jake Hager (shortstop) and Arbor View’s Chris Manning (third base) rounded out the infield.

The other outfielders were Cimarron’s Kris Kaplan, Sierra Vista’s Brooks Klein and Silverado’s Braden Keathley.

Silverado’s Drew Robinson was picked as an extra infielder, and Palo Verde’s Alex Bonczyk made the team as a utility player.

Kaplan (Northwest), Malm (Southwest), Harper (Northeast) and Van Hoosier (Southeast) took the league Player of the Year awards.

Cimarron’s Mike Hubel was named the Sunset Region Coach of the Year, and Foothill’s Matt Iglitz took the Sunrise coaching honor.