KINMUNDY — Riley Berg caught the final out and Dillan Elam embraced a charging Nathan Stuemke.
The reaction could only mean one thing.
The Altamont baseball team was continuing its season.
The Indians defeated South Central, 5-4, in the championship game of the South Central Sectional to win its first sectional title in four years.
Stuemke, a senior catcher, said, “I don’t have words. That was awesome. Defense was a little shaky there, but that’s what we’ve done all year. This feels great.”
Kaden Davis, a senior outfielder, added, “The past three years, we haven’t really been satisfied with what we’ve done and this year, it’s been a huge jump from not playing many big games and then getting here and playing big games and still getting the job done.”
Kaidyn Miller, a senior infielder, continued, “We’ve been really close in just about every sport we’ve had all four years and every time, we’ve come up short. It’s that one play, that one error that really gets us. To finally win one feels great.”
Neither team scored in the first inning.
Callaway Smith started the game with a ground out. Trevan Sidwell was then hit by a pitch, but Colton Smith grounded into a double play, ending the inning.
Davis then hit a single to open the bottom half of the frame. Dillan Elam followed with a base hit and Stuemke grounded into a fielder’s choice.
Keegan Schultz then lined out to right and Ethan Robbins struck out to end the inning.
South Central would score once in the top of the second.
Maddox Robb started with a single. Coen West did the same and Brody Markley grounded out to third before Zane Montes hit an RBI single, making it 1-0.
Elam struck out Evan Hoover and Max Magnus, though, to end the inning.
Altamont responded with one in the bottom of the frame.
Miller grounded out to start. Clayton Arnold was then hit by a pitch and Eli Miller drew a walk.
Kade Milleville then hit an RBI single to tie the game before Davis popped out and Elam lined out.
Elam got Callaway Smith to ground out in the top of the third. Sidwell then reached on an error, but Elam worked around that, getting Colton Smith to ground out and Robb to strike out.
The Indians plated one run in the bottom of the third.
Stuemke started the stanza with a ground out. Schultz then drew a walk before Robbins struck out.
Schultz then advanced into scoring position on a passed ball and scored after Kaidyn Miller hit an RBI single, making it 2-1.
The Cougars tied the game in the top of the fourth after Markley reached on an error and Montes drove him in on a single.
South Central had a chance to retake the lead in the fifth.
Callaway Smith started the frame with a base hit. Sidwell was then hit by a pitch and Colton Smith drew a walk to load the stations.
Robb then flew out and West flew into a double play after Davis caught the ball and fired a dart to Stuemke, who made the tag to save a run.
Altamont would then use that play as fuel, scoring a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth and extending its lead to 4-2.
Elam started with a single, Stuemke then drew a walk and scored after a base hit by Schultz.
Robbins then flew out for the first out of the inning.
Justin Magelitz, a courtesy runner, would then score after Kaidyn Miller hit a grounder back to the mound.
Arnold then lined out to center and Eli Miller struck out to retire the side.
Errors then plagued Altamont in the top of the sixth.
Markley and Montes reached on back-to-back miscues.
Hoover then hit a grounder to second base, but the fielder allowed the ball to go right under him, allowing two runs to score to tie the game.
Magnus then laid down a sacrifice bunt, advancing Hoover to second. Callaway Smith followed with a base hit and Colton Smith drew a walk two batters later, but Elam struck out Robb looking to get out of the jam.
“We’ve preached, ‘Stay level-headed’ because at times, Dillan, Kaidyn Miller (and I), we all tend to get so up and down with the game, but we stayed with that,” Stuemke said.
“I just told them to breathe,” head coach Alan Whitt added. “Kaidyn had a rough inning but ends up making a play on the bunt and settling things down a little bit.”
Altamont did just that in the bottom of the sixth, scoring the go-ahead run with two outs. Milleville started the frame with a walk. Davis then hit a single.
Elam then flew out and Stuemke struck out before Schultz worked a walk to load the bases.
Robbins then came through with an RBI single to right, scoring Milleville.
“I got to be tough up there,” said Robbins on his mindset heading to the plate. “Not let an easy play happen. I got to be able to see my pitch and hit it hard and bring in the go-ahead RBI.”
“When he’s on, he hits the ball hard every time,” said Whitt of Robbins. “They gave him a pitch to turn on and when you do that, Ethan is going to put a good bat on it and finally got one there today.”
West then popped out to start the seventh. Markley hit a single and Montes grounded out to short, pushing Markley into scoring position before the final out.
Stuemke couldn’t be happier for Whitt, who has won 147 games — according to the Illinois High School Associaton website — while at Altamont.
“Freakin’ deserves it. That man loves us. He wants it more than any of us out here. He wants it for us.”
Davis, Elam and Milleville finished with two hits. Schultz, Robbins and Kaidyn Miller had one.
Elam finished allowing seven hits, four runs (one earned) and two walks to five strikeouts. He threw 112 pitches, 71 for strikes.
“I’ve thrown against them three times and they haven’t been easy ever,” he said. “I was working on staying on the outer half. I was leaving it up sometimes and then they would hit it, so I was thinking, ‘Keep this fastball down, keep it on the outer half.’”