I know it’s been a pretty long time since I’ve last posted, but the winter sports season can be pretty hectic. And because it is so hectic, most of us in the sports department get our meals on the run. In short, there is no better sight for a sportswriter than a well-stocked hospitality room.

So this blog is going to be more or less a “thank you” to all the people that fed me this winter at various hospitality rooms.

No. 1 on this list has to be the hospitality room at Carrollton High School. Whether it be boys’ or girls’ basketball, there is always a familiar face and a hot meal in this room.

Other schools where a delicious, hot meal can be found include: Beardstown, North Greene, Winchester and Waverly. I’ve gotten a good meal at plenty of other schools, but these stand out. It is often said that the key to a man’s heart is through his stomach. That also goes for sportswriters.

The summertime is kind of a slow time around the Journal-Courier sports department. Once the spring sports seasons conclude, our primary tasks before the start of fall sports are selecting our all-area teams and writing our Player-of-the-Year stories.

This summer, our Player-of-the-Year choices in the aforementioned sports were more clear-cut than usual. Virginia’s Eric Jokisch was easily the best baseball player, and Carrollton’s Kimber Meyer was definitely the best softball player. ISD senior Lacedrix Brown was the best boys’ track athlete, and Pittsfield’s Ashlyn Ruebush ran the anchor leg on three state-qualifying relay teams — a great ending to a great career for the relay specialist.

Filling in the rest of the positions wasn’t as easy. Picking one athlete at each position in baseball and softball is more difficult than it sounds. Questions like: ‘Is batting average more important than RBIs?’ and ‘Are strikeouts more important than a low ERA?’ are constantly asked when we pick these teams.

Let me give you an example of how tough it was to pick this year’s team. In baseball, at the catcher position, there were several qualified candidates to be our first-team catcher. You had Triopia’s Cody Nergenah (.474, 6 HR, 48 RBI), Beardstown’s Kylor Bell (.383, 5 HR, 41 RBI) and Jacksonville’s Levi Graham (.380, 9 2B, 20 RBI) at the top of the list.

Nergenah clearly had the best numbers, but Bell led his team to the state tournament, and reached base in 7-of-11 plate appearances there. Bell drove in four runs in three games at the state tournament, and hit a moon shot home run to get Beardstown into the semifinals. Graham, on the other hand, was one of Jacksonville’s best players. You could argue that he was the best catcher because he produced those statistics against tougher, Class AA competition.

In the end, we picked Nergenah. His 48 RBIs were the most in the area, and he only had 78 at bats — in part because he worked a team-high 23 walks. I’m sure others will disagree with our picks, and that’s understandable. I’m sure the debates we held the night we picked the team will be repeated on baseball and softball diamonds all over the area in the coming weeks.

The point I make is this: Picking these teams isn’t easy. In my experience, there’s almost never a clear-cut pick.