Blacksburg junior Sam Szefc helped lead his high school team to postseason appearance and regular season district championship and is considered one of the top players in the state of Virginia.
The shortstop finished with a .625 batting average with a .733 on base average with 40 hits that included 12 doubles, four triples, five homeruns, 42 runs batted in, 26 runs scored and nine stolen bases.
Szefc was named the River Ridge District player of the year, along with the first team Region D first team. He has committed to play at the next level at Virginia Tech under his father.
On the mound, Szefc had a 5-2 record with 85 strikeouts while only allowing 15 walks. He was also named a first-team All River Ridge and Region D pitcher. He threw a complete game in the final regular season win against Christiansburg to clinch the RRD title and then in a 2-1 win over Salem in a region quarterfinal game.
He finished the season with a 1.93 earned run average.
For his effort, he has been chosen as the All-County, All-City baseball player of the year.
Blacksburg finished 15-7 this past season and made it to the second round of the postseason for Region D.
Blacksburg’s Jonathan Hagee and Auburn’s Eric Altizer share the coach of the year honors.
Altizer, who announced his retirement after his 39th season at the school, led the school to a 21-6 record this past spring.
The 2026 all-county, all-city pitching list includes Auburn’s Matt Altizer, Christiansburg’s Walker Overbay, Radford’s Micah Ray and Blacksburg’s Szefc.
Altizer, who will play at Concord beginning in the fall, was named the all-county, all-city pitcher of the year. He finished with 9-1 record, 96 strikeouts in 49 2/3 innings pitched and earned run average of 1.97. His only loss was to eventual state champion PH-Glade Spring. He had 30 RBIs at the plate with a .507 batting average.
Overbay finished the season with a 6-1 record and 2.83 earned run average.
The catcher is Collin Roark from Auburn. The sophomore had 29 RBIs and a .486 batting average.
The all-county first baseman is Brady Hensel of Auburn, who was this year’s Mt. Empire District and Region C player of the year. He finished the season batting .514 with 26 extra base hits including 11doubles, 11 triples and four homeruns. He was tied for the team lead with 30 Runs Batted In and 40 runs scored.
For most of the season, he split his time between first base and outfield and was first-team all-state.
Second base is held down by Ethan Wayman of Christiansburg,
Szefc is the all-county shortstop, while his teammate Jack Mann is the third baseman.
Mann, who is also a junior, finished with 27 RBIs.
The group of outfielders were led by Colton Gunner of Eastern Montgomery,
The other outfielders were Mason Cullop and Brasen Hutchens of Christiansburg and Alex Young of Auburn.
Conner had a .510 batting average with an area high 32 RBIs and 22 stolen bases.
Eastern Montgomery’s Caleb Jones made the honor list as the utility player and Blacksburg’s Noah Owczarski at designated hitter.
Owczarski played first base for the Bruins and hit. .397 for the season, including 23 hits. Jones hit .492 with 39 runs scored and 25 stolen bases.
A player to watch on this year’s all-county, all-city list is Zay Noble, a 10th grader who had a 5-1 record on the mound in 34.2 innings pitched. His only loss was the region semifinals where he only surrendered two runs to eventual region champ, Jefferson Forest. He also had 36 strikeouts with only 12 walks.
