Altamont Ready For Class 1A State Baseball Tournament Run

Altamont High School will be competing in the Class 1A State Baseball Tournament Friday at Peoria's Dozer Park.

Altamont High School is making history. The Indians are headed to the Class 1A State Baseball Tournament for the first time in the school’s history.

Coach Alan Whitt and his squad went on a two-game winning streak to end the regular season and kept right on going. The Indians claimed the North Clay Regional over Dieterich 14-1 and North Clay (Louisville) 1-0. They then downed Bethany Okaw Valley 11-2 and South Central 5-4 to win the South Central Sectional. Then in a Monday contest at the Carbondale (SIU) Super-Sectional, Altamont won over Elizabethtown Hardin County 7-6 to advance to State.

Coach Whitt’s squad sports a 30-9 record and has 12 seniors on the 23-member squad.

“Dillan Elam, a senior, starts as a pitcher, third baseman and shortstop,” said Whitt. “He has been our No. 1 pitcher and played great defense at any position we have asked him to play. Offensively we moved him to the second spot because he has the second best on-base percentage at .496. He is tied for fourth in RBI at 25.

“Nathan Stuemke is a senior catcher and relief pitcher. On defense he handles the pitching staff very well. The team has a staff ERA of 1.864 which is phenomenal. Just so happens he can hit! He is fourth on the team in average with .347, third in on-base percentage at .471 and second in RBI with 27. He had the game-winning home run against North Clay in the regional finals.

“Keegan Schultz, a junior first baseman, is our cleanup hitter. He is third in batting average with.352, fourth in on-base with .463, first in RBI with 31 and first in home runs with six. He is a hitter and has played a very solid first base.

“Kaden Davis, a senior centerfielder, has been a lockdown defender for us. He has great range and is very quick with an above average arm. Offensively he has been our leadoff all year. He takes a quality at-bat every time and will do whatever it takes to get the job done. Had a big flare oppo hit against Hardin County to tie the game.

“Ethan Robbins is a senior pitcher and designated hitter. On the mound he has been stellar pitching to a 1.11 ERA. He has done everything and then some on the mound.

Offensively he bats fifth and has done a stellar job of picking up RBI and having clutch hits. He is tied for fourth on the team with 25 RBI.

“Kaidyn Miller, a senior, plays third base and right field. Kaidyn is a beast at the plate. His OPS is second on the team at 1.050. He hits the ball hard including a home run at SIU that was the longest home run I can remember from a high school athlete

"Clayton Arnold is a senior rightfielder. Clayton has developed into a really good high school player. He does what you ask him to do and does it the right way. His on-base is .420 which always helps to turn over the lineup at the bottom. Defensively, he is awesome. He can run down about anything and he has an above average arm.

“Eli Miller is a senior leftfielder. Eli is our Mr. Indian, whatever needs done he does it. He plays stellar defense in left field and has a great arm so nobody can run on him. He is a relief pitcher with good velocity and a killer curveball. Offensively he just seems to be doing one of those little things that wins us ball games, take a walk and score from second to tie at super-sectional then the next inning have a big at-bat and take a walk to win and go to State.

“Kade Milleville is a sophomore pitcher and shortstop.. Pitching-wise he has thrown in some very big ball games including a complete game at the super-sectional. His defense at shortstop has been well above average because he has the instinct to be moving in the right direction early. At the plate he is Mr Clutch with base hits at the bottom to roll over our lineup.

“Aden McManaway is a senior pitcher. He’s a lefty with above average stuff. Can pitch with the best of them.

“Riley Berg is a senior second baseman. Riley turned himself into a lockdown defender at second. When he bats, there is usually an at-bat that helps us win the game.

“Justin Magelitz is our utility guy. He can play shortstop, second base or any outfield spot. He is also our courtesy runner and can run the bases with the best of them.

“All the rest of my players are great role players, cheerleaders and future stars.”

Other players include seniors Alec Jahraus and Daniel McCammon; junior Dyson Wagner, sophomores TJ Hyatt, Will Reardon, Brayden Elam and Brayden Schnarre and freshmen Kaiden Wolff, Zaine Miller, Blake Berg and Parker Bell.

Leading the team in hitting has been Kaidyn Miller with a .345 average. He has 29 hits with 22 RBI and two home runs. Kaden Davis with a .339 batting average with 16 RBI, one home run and 30 runs. Milleville is at .314 with 18 RBI and 22 hits. Clayton Arnold had a .308 average with 18 RBI and seven doubles. D. Elam is at .305 with 25 RBI, 31 runs and two home runs. Eli Miller has a .280 average with 23 RBI and two home runs. Ethan Robbins has six doubles, two home runs and 25 RBI.

Coach Whitt talked about his team overall.

“Our season started with the seniors on their class trip and us losing two games,” said Whitt. “When the seniors got back, they played great. We have only lost to one Class 1A team and that was Father McGiveney.

“This team is a tough team and battle-tested. I credit that to playing in the National Trail Conference and also being in our region. The schools in this area are really good at baseball and it has helped us to develop into the team we are this season.”

Coach Whitt talked about his team’s strengths. 

“Our overall strength is our pitching: Dillan, Kade, Ethan, Aden, Eli and Kaden Davis. As a total we have a team ERA of 1.864. That is just the backbone of what we do.”

Dillan Elam leads the pitching staff with a 9-0 record and a 1.02 ERA. Aden McManaway and Ethan Robbins are at 4-1 on the season while Kade Milleville is 4-2. Nathan Stuemke is 3-0.

Altamont goes into a 1 p.m. game Friday against Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley, a team with a 22-7-1 record. The team won the Grant Park Regional, the Arcola Sectional and downed Kewanee Wethersfield to take the Bloomington Super-Sectional.

This is also the first tournament appearance in the history of the school. The coach of the squad is Dustin White, not to be confused with Dustin White announcing for Premier Broadcasting!

Leading the Falcons in hitting is Brayden Elliott with a .430 average, 41 RBI and 43 hits. Ty Cribbett has a .390 average with 39 hits and 29 RBI. Isaiah Johnson is at .365 with 31 hits and 19 RBI and David Hull has a .344 average with 33 hits and 16 RBI.

Elliott is the leading pitcher with a 6-0 record and a 1.98 ERA. Graydon Leonard is at 5-0 with a 1.26 ERA and Altin Nettleton is 5-1 with a 2.70 ERA.

“To compete well at State we have to keep pitching like we have and continue to play selfless baseball,” said Coach Whitt.

Assistant coaches for the Indians include Andy Beesley, Klaiton Wolff and Kollin Lowry. Mangers are JD Frederking, Lucas Berg and Zayden Lankford.

Also entered in the Class 1A field are Ottawa Marquette with a 29-3 record and Jacksonville Routt at 32-7. Those two meet at 10 a.m. The combined tournament field record is 113 victories, 25 losses and one tie.

The winners of the two games will meet at 1 p.m. Saturday for the Class 1A State championship while the losers play for third place at 10 a.m.