'Cardiac Kids': Summit Hill Advances To Baseball State Tournament

FRANKFORT, IL — Earning a spot in the IESA Boys Baseball State Tournament has become almost an annual tradition for the Summit Hill Junior High Spartans, as the team is set to make its second appearance in a row following a 2-1 win in seven innings at home Saturday over Mokena Junior High to take the Sectional title.

The Spartans are set to face Rochester Junior High School in the first round of the Class 3A State Tournament at 10 a.m. Friday, Sept. 30 at Eastside Centre, 1 Eastside Drive in East Peoria.

Rochester earned its spot in the State Tournament by defeating Glenwood Middle School (Chatham) 6-0 Saturday.

Rochester will enter the game with a record of 16-2, while the Spartans stand at 20-1. The Spartans' only loss of the season was back on Sept. 7 against Old Quarry Middle School (Lemont), according to Spartans coach Fred Pufahl.

Pufahl credited this year's team for its ability to win games with pitching, speed and defense, which are all necessary facets needed to win a championship.

"'Battle-tested' is kind of a cliche, but we've been in a lot of tight ballgames, so I think that helps us going forward," Pufahl said. "Down there at [the State Tournament], that's what you expect to expect to see is more of the same."

The winner of the Summit Hill/Rochester game will move on to the semifinals to face the winner of the Limestone Middle School (Herscher)/Edison Middle School (Champaign) game.

Summit Hill will make its ninth appearance since 2008 at the IESA Boys Baseball State Tournament, according to Pufahl. The program had a string of seven straight years in the tournament from 2008-2014.

"We've done this quite a bit, and I've been fortunate enough to get to go along for the ride with a lot of different groups," Pufahl said. "We've always had some tight games, but [this year's team] has been more the 'Cardiac Kids' than any other group I can remember in recent memory."

Here's a look at this year's roster for the Summit Hill Spartans (* indicates player was part of last year's team):

• #1 Landon Martinez
• #2 Vince Imhoff
• #3 Matthew Ritter
• #4 Ryan Harris
• #5 Nate Kaminski
• #6 Zach Viravec
• #7 Abdullah Khatib
• #8 Tyler Osmanski*
• #9 Mick Babcock
• #11 Casey Mikrut*
• #12 Lucas Ervin*
• #14 Kaden Dangman
• #15 A.J. Wagner
• #16 Liam Mecher
• #17 Luke Ingram
• #18 Curtiss Crossley*
• #19 Wes Shelby
• #21 Aidan Dillon*
• #22 Reece Kras
• #25 Evan Smith

Summit Hill Junior High School is part of Summit Hill School District 161, and includes students from Frankfort, Mokena and Tinley Park.