Follow @PBRKansas

By Sean McCann
Prep Baseball Report Kansas

MARION, KS -- Going into the final week of the 2014 regular season Marion and Sedgwick are knotted at 11-1 atop the Heart of America standings with the League Championship on the line this week.  A big part of Marion’s success this spring has been the work of RHP/1B Taylor Heidebrecht, an unsigned senior. 

Heidebrecht, who seems to rack up Player of Week-caliber numbers every week, is hitting .643 on the season with a .946 slugging percentage.  He’s also reached base over 64% of the time and ripped 15 doubles and one triple on the year and has scored 38 runs while driving in 18 runs.  For good measure, he’s added 10-10 stolen bases. 

Marion head baseball coach Roger Schroeder is more than sold on what Heidebrecht brings to the table: “Taylor has been the catalyst for our ball club the last 4 seasons.  He is an outstanding athlete that always seems to find a way to catch the ball on the barrel.  He does a very good job of setting the tone for our team from the leadoff spot.  This season he is getting on base at a .724 clip, so it always seems like there is an opportunity for a guy in our order to drive in a run.”

On the mound, Heidebrecht is 5-0 with a 0.64 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 22 innings – only yielding 8 hits on the year. 

“Last year, Taylor didn’t throw a whole lot for us as he was coming off a shoulder injury during football season.  He is back in the rotation this year and is beginning to regain the form he had two seasons ago,” Schroeder added.

Clearly with numbers like that the Marion senior will be racking up numerous honors at year's end but also has an impressive track record too.  He was named All-Heart of America League 1^st Team in 2012 and 2013 as well as KABC 3A All-State last spring.  He’s had 41 career multi-hit games and has collected at least one hit in 62 of 80 varsity games he has played in during his career.

Schroeder says his senior first baseman has been an asset defensively for the 17-1 Warriors as well, “Taylor doesn’t fit the mold of your prototypical first basemen but plays it better than just about everyone I have seen over the last couple of years.  He fields the position very well and has a ton of range because of his great athleticism.  He also throws the ball well from there which is a huge asset for us in games where situational defense comes into play.”

Heidebrecht is a 3-sport star for Marion including playing quarterback in the fall and has earned All-League honors the last two seasons on the gridiron.  This past winter he racked up All-League 1^st-Team accolades in basketball as well.