Altamont capped off an historic season for their baseball program by clamming runner up in Class 1A over the weekend in Peoria. On Monday the week started in Carbondale where the Indians walked it off with a walk to advance to their first state baseball tournament appearance. So of course on Friday, Altamont would have more late inning heroics.
In Friday’s semi final the Tribe squared off against the Falcons of Gibson City Melvin Sibley, who were also making their first appearance in the state baseball tournament. It was Altamont who struck first offensively in the second inning. Kaydin Miller got on with a one out double and sophomore Kade Milleville drove him in with a single to give the Indians the 1-0 lead.
GCMS would get back in it and take advantage of a couple of walks and a hit by pitch. Altin Nettleton and Isaiah Johnson would drive in runners to give the Falcons the 2-1 lead in the fourth.
The lead did not last for very long however because in bottom half of the inning the Tribe evened things up. Kaydin Miller would get on base again, Riley Berg would bunt him over into scoring position and it was Milleville coming up big again. Milleville got enough bat on the ball to get it to drop in front of the right fielder to score Miller and tie up the score at 2.
Both starting pitchers were great on the mound with Altamont’s senior ace “Dealing” Dillan Elam and GCMS senior Altin Nettleton going pitch for pitch and navigating the opposing lineups very well.
A tight spot for the Tribe in the sixth inning with the bases loaded full of Falcons but it was Elam getting a huge strike out to keep GCMS off the board.
The seventh inning was not short on drama.
Eli Miller came in to pitch and GCMS would get a one out base runner on but was quickly erased by a double play to set up the bottom of the seventh all tied at 2 with a spot in the state title game on the line.
Enter senior lead off man Kaden Davis.
KD starts the seventh with a lead off base hit, Elam gets him to second with a hit of his own. And with the Tribe’s clean up hitter Keegan Schultz up at the plate, Davis broke for third on the steal attempt and the catcher throws would be off target going into left field. Davis would get to his feet, dash towards home, and with a head first slide into home plate would send Altamont to the “ship” with a 3-2 winner.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
| GCMS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 |
| Altamont | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 2 |
Altamont Stats
Milleville 2-3 2 RBIs
Winning Pitcher (in relief) Eli Miller 1.0 inning 1 hit 0 runs 0 bb 0 ks
Elam 6.0 innings 3 hits 2 earned runs 4 bb 3 ks
GCMS Stats
Nettleton 0-3 1 RBI, Johnson 1-3 1 RBI
Losing Pitcher Nettleton 6.1 innings 9 hits 3 runs 1 earned 0 bb 5 ks
Altamont’s opponent for the championship was decided in the pervious game with Ottawa Marquette using a eight spot in the second inning to go on to win 9-3 over Jacksonville Routt.
The Crusaders of Marquette were no stranger to the state tournament making their fifth appearance in school history, most recently in a 3rd Place finish in 2022. As you would might except in the state championship game the pitching was superb.
Marquette had their senior ace Carson Zellers, who led the Crusaders here winning in the super sectional game. Altamont would turn to their super sophomore Kade Milleville, who was also victorious in the Tribe’s super sectional win.
Both pitchers carved their way thru their opposing lineups not allowing a hit until the third inning.
Eli Miller would finally get Altamont’s first hit on the board but was immediately wiped away with a inning ending double play.
Alec Novotney got Marquette in the hit column in the next half inning. He eventually got all the way to third but was left stranded after Milleville got a huge punch out to get out of the jam.
Marquette would finally break thru in the scoring column soon after. Griffin Dobberstein got a lead off base hit in the top of the fifth inning, eventually being brought around to score to give the Crusaders a 1-0 lead in the fifth.
Then the flood gates would open for Marquette in the following inning. The Crusaders would load the bases, Milleville would get a ground out and bring up Anthony Couch to the plate. Just when the Tribe thought they were out of the inning an absolutely deflating dropped final out on a pop up in the infield allowed Marquette to bring around all three runners to take the 4-0 lead. And with the Indians emotionally shaken, Charlie Mullen would triple in Couch to take the 5-0 lead.
Marquette would add to their lead with a sacrifice fly by Payton Gutierrez, up 6-0 heading into the bottom of the seventh.
The Tribe would show some life in the last inning however. Indians took advantage of free passes by: Nathan Stuemke, Keegan Schultz and Clayton Arnold. Eli Miller would single to right field to bring in Justin Magelitz (courtesy runner for Stuemke) and Schultz to make the score 6-2. However the Tribe’s late inning magic would run out, with a pop up to the first baseman to give Marquette the state championship.
Altamont historic season comes to a close with the most wins in program history with a 31-10 record and a runner up finish also a program best.
Marquette would end the season with a 31-2 record and their second state championship in school history.
Jacksonville Routt would be victorious 3-0 over Gibson City Melvin Sibley to take home third place.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
| Marquette | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 0 |
| Altamont | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
Altamont Stats
Eli Miller 2-3 2 RBIs
Losing Pitcher Milleville 5.2 innings 7 hits 5 runs 1 earned 1 bb 3 ks
McManaway 0.2 innings 1 hit 1 earned run 1 bb
Robbins 0.2 innings 0 hits 0 runs 0 bb 1 k
Marquette Stats
Mullen 2-3 2 RBIs, Gutierrez 0-0 1 RBI
Winning Pitcher Zellers 7.0 innings 4 hits 2 earned runs 3 bb 5 ks
(Top photo credit to the Altamont Community Unity 10 Schools Facebook Page)
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