BARNEY ELSER AWARD

   Established in 2000, the Barney Elser Award is given annually to the Senior American Legion player who best exemplifies the spirit of Hilgards' baseball.
    However, in many ways, the award and its recipients reflect Barney Elser.
    Recognized as the longest reigning manager of the Hilgards, Elser compiled a 486-215 record and .693 winning percentage from 1963-85. His 23-year total includes two state championships (1968, 1975), and numerous 22nd District and Fifth Division titles.
    The first person inducted into the Hilgards' Hall of Fame in 2000, Elser displayed outstanding leadership not only as a manager but as a player for Belleville's 1947 state American Legion champions.      
    On the high school level before entering professional, he also excelled. In 1947, as a sophomore, he set a state record by hitting three doubles in the state championship game won by Belleville Township High School.
    In 1949, the Maroons gained another state crown behind the hitting of Elser, and coaching of Al "Boots" Budde, also a future Hilgards' Hall of Famer.
    Often referred to by Whitey Herzog as "one of the best baseball players ever in the southwestern Illinois area," Elser played minor league baseball for eight seasons, including stints with the Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, and Chicago White Sox. He missed two years of play while serving in the U.S. Army.
    After returning home in 1958, he was an all-star infielder and batting leader for several men's league championship teams. In 1984, he became a charter member of the Mon-Clair Baseball League Hall of Fame.

Thank you to Art Voellinger local sportswriter, author and former Hilgard ('58,'59) for writing this article.

AWARD WINNERS:

2000 – JAKE FRIEDERICH

2001 – MIKE MEDDOWS

2002 – RYAN SWITZER  
2002 - JERRY VICKERY

2003 – MATT LAUBER

2004 – AUSTIN FRAZIER
2004 - JAY MARTIN

2005 – JORDAN HARRES
2005 - GREG STEEN

2006 – COREY MUENDLEIN
2006 - TOM KELLEY

2007 – TONY MATECKI
2007 - ROD MUETH

2008 – SCOTT JOHNSTON
2008 - JOSH SCHAEFER

2009 – KYLE GEOLEAT
2009 - TYLER BURK

2010 – JOE BENDICK
2010 - RORY HERRINGTON

2011 – TONY KOSSINA
 

2012 -  CAMERON LOFTON

2012 -  RYAN RIST

2013 - AUSTIN BAMMER

2013 - ALEX SANDHEINRICH

2014 - BRENDAN SAAK

2014 - BRYCE RICHTER