By Fred Kroner
St. Joseph-Ogden’s 27-game baseball winning streak was halted on Saturday (May 28) with a 7-1 loss to Monticello in the championship game of the Decatur Class 2A Sectional.
The Spartans scored their lone run in the second inning when Adam Price raced home after Andrew Beyers’ sacrifice fly. Monticello took control of the game with a five-run third inning.
Price wound up with two of SJ-O’s six hits. Collecting one hit apiece were Beyers, Luke Landrus, Coby Miller and Charles Voorhees, who swatted a double.
Hayden Brazelton pitched three innings and absorbed the loss. He fanned seven hitters, but also walked six.
Caleb Ochs (three innings) and Colton Hale (one inning) were summoned in relief. Ochs struck out three batters.
SJ-O (35-3) had nine seniors on a team which tied the school record for wins in a single season. The team’s seniors were Tyler Altenbaumer, Andrew Beyers, Hayden Brazelton, Austin Cotter, Avian Gerdes, Nolan Grindley, Coby Miller, Ramsey Primmer and Griffin Roesch.
Among squad members who batted at least 25 times, SJ-O had seven .300 hitters, led by Brazelton (.532). Following him were: Price (.461), Voorhees (.429), Landrus (.381), Altenbaumer (.379), Roesch (.361) and Beyers (.311).
Brazelton scored a school-record 74 runs, a total which is third-best on the all-time IHSA state list. He also led SJ-O in hits (67), extra-base hits (25), home runs (six) and stolen bases (25). Price was the leader in doubles (16) and RBI (48).
Brazelton also had a team-high 22 multiple-hit games.
Altenbaumer was the pitching ace. He was 11-0 with team-high totals of 98 strikeouts in 60 1/3 innings. He had a team-best 1.04 ERA.
Brazelton was 8-1 with 90 strikeouts in 46 innings and an ERA of 1.83.
Ochs was 6-0 with 40 strikeouts in 39 2/3 innings and a 1.41 ERA.
Gerdes was 3-0 with 13 strikeouts in 19 2/3 innings and a 2.50 ERA.
Hale was 3-0 with 22 strikeouts in 20 2/3 innings and a 2.38 ERA.
Jack Robertson was 2-0 with 29 strikeouts in 17 2/3 innings and a 2.39 era.
