Dylan Alsop’s first season with the Wellsville-Middletown baseball team was a memorable one last spring.

Alsop was the Tigers’ top pitcher with five wins with 103 strikeouts and a 2.44 earned run average. He helped W-M win 11 games and come within a victory of going to the Class 1 Final Four.

The efforts helped Alsop earn a big award. He was named Class 1 honorable mention all-state pitcher by the Missouri Coaches Baseball Association.

Alsop was one of two W-M players on the all-state team. The other was now-graduated Jacob Hollensteiner.

“It’s an honor,” Alsop said. “I didn’t expect it, but seeing my name on the card of all-staters was a surprise. I liked it.”

Alsop found out about his honor while looking at the all-state teams on the internet.

“When I saw my name, I was like, ‘Whoa!” Alsop said.

The all-state honor gave Alsop a boost of confidence for this spring. He’s one of eight returning players from last year’s team.

“Seeing that I got it last year, I was thinking that I’m only going to get better and better,” Alsop said. “Hopefully, I’ll get it again this year and my senior year.”

Alsop pitched in a pair of games this season. He was the starting pitcher in the Tigers’ Eastern Missouri Conference opener against Louisiana on March 28, but he didn’t pick up the win. W-M lost 12-10.

“We had it in the beginning,” Alsop said. “We were up 9-1, but then we fell apart in the sixth. But we played well for the first half of the game.”

Alsop plays in the infield when he’s not pitching. First-year W-M coach Justin Caldwell said he’s pleased with the way the junior is playing after the first month of the season.

“Dylan has performed admirably,” Caldwell said. “He’s not quite 100 percent, but at the end of the day, that’s OK because I need him to be 100 percent when the season matters, which is district time.”

Caldwell said Alsop came to W-M from St. Charles County.

“He played at a higher level of ball,” Caldwell said. “He’s been honestly a gift to this school because you don’t necessarily always see that level with kids who grew up out here because it’s an hour drive to Columbia and it’s an hour drive to St. Charles. It’s really hard to commit to something like that as a family or a parent. But the ones who do, you can tell it. The ones who grew up like that, it really shows.”

Alsop pitched in 10 games last year. Against Bevier in a Class 1, District 12 quarterfinal game at Sturgeon High School, Alsop struck out 11 batters and gave up just one hit in four innings of work to help the Tigers pull off a 13-1, five-inning victory.

Alsop was also one of the Tigers’ top hitters last year with a .373 batting average, 27 runs scored and 23 runs batted in.
In addition to his all-state award, Alsop also earned all-EMO honors. He was named first-team utility player.

Alsop played select baseball in St. Louis over the summer.

“We played over 30 games over the summer and we played tournaments during the fall,” Alsop said. “So I’m always playing baseball.”

Alsop also plays basketball. A month ago, he helped the W-M boys basketball team finish fourth in the Class 1 Show-Me Showdown.

Alsop immediately joined the baseball team after basketball season ended on March 12.

“I love basketball, but I was really excited for baseball to start,” Alsop said. “I love the sport and I missed it.”