By FRED KRONER
For the fourth time in the past seven years, the St. Joseph-Ogden baseball program is among the Elite Eight in Class 2A.
The Spartans captured their fourth sectional championship in baseball since 2015 on Saturday (June 12) when they tripped Paris 5-1 at home.
Tyler Altenbaumer (9-0) allowed the Tigers a first-inning run, but pitched shutout ball the rest of the way.
He pitched from behind until the bottom of the fifth inning, when his teammates erupted for five runs.
The key hit in the inning was a three-run double by Isaiah Immke, which broke a 1-1 deadlock. Immke came around to score the team’s final tally.
The tying run to start the fifth inning was scored by Altenabumer, who had doubled.
Immke’s double drove in Andrew Beyers, Ty Pence and Coby Miller. None of the SJ-O runs in the inning were earned.
Immke finished with two of the Spartans’ five hits.
Altenbaumer walked two and struck out 13. All four of the hits he allowed were singles.
The Spartans (33-2) return to action at 4 p.m. on Monday (June 14) at Decatur’s Millikin University in a super-sectional game against Class 2A state favorite Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin.
Sacred Heart-Griffin (32-1) had won regional titles in baseball in five of the past 10 years, all in Class 3A. This is the first year the school has been assigned to Class 2A by the IHSA.
The Cyclones hold a 25-game winning streak and dispatched both sectional foes by 10-0 scores.
According to the latest Illinois state rankings, released by Maxpreps, Sacred Heart-Griffin (which has an enrollment of 645 students) is the state’s top-ranked team, regardless of class.
SJ-O will carry a 21-game winning streak into the super-sectional game, which will determine which school advances to the state semifinals. SJ-O is 15-0 in games played away from home this season.
