'This Is Us': Summit Hill Junior High Baseball Claims State Title

FRANKFORT, IL — The Summit Hill Junior High baseball team earned the program's third state title Saturday in East Peoria after defeating Morton Junior High 10-1.

Summit Hill finished the season 23-1. The lone loss of the season was on Sept. 7 against Old Quarry Middle School (Lemont), according to Spartans coach Fred Pufahl. The Spartans' other state titles came in 2008 and 2014.

The team made it to the 2022 IESA Class 3A State Tournament by defeating Mokena Junior High 2-1 for the Sectional Title Sept. 24.

At the State Tournament, Summit Hill had to get through Rochester Junior High Friday, which the Spartans did easily 10-0 in five innings.

One of the Spartans' biggest strengths all season has been the depth of its lineup, Pufahl said. That depth was on full display in the team's first game Saturday against Edison Middle School (Champaign).

The Summit Hill faced what might've been their toughest game of the season against Edison that morning, and truly earned the team's unofficial nickname of "Cardiac Kids."

The Spartans were ahead 3-2 heading into the 7th inning. But Morton rallied with a 2-run home run in its half of the inning for a 4-3 lead.

That Spartans, however, tied the game 4-4 on a passed ball in the bottom of the inning. Then, in the bottom of the 8th, the Spartans came through in the clutch with a walk-off single in the right-center filed gap that scored a runner on second base for the 5-4 win.

"The composure they showed was phenomenal," Pufahl said. "They just believed that we're going to find a way, and we're going to get ourselves back in this game. And they did.

"... It was just every guy putting together quality at bats. I was just so happy for them because I was like this is us: We are great defensively, we have pitched well, but we can hit. So, to get to show it on that stage at that moment, it was special."

That win over Edison allowed the Spartans to move on to play in the championship game later Saturday afternoon against Morton, and may have proved to be just the spark the team needed heading to the title game.

Summit Hill fell behind early in that game, trailing 1-0 halfway through the 1st inning. But that would be the only run allowed by Summit Hill, as the team scored 3 runs of its own in the bottom half of the 1st and added a string of rallies over the rest of the game to clinch the title 10-1.

"It's an amazing accomplishment for them," Pufahl said. "They were a very deserving group, so to get down there and see them play the way the played — especially in the state title game — I just thought it was fitting."

The Spartans were treated to a community parade Monday — with escorts from the Will County Sheriff's Office and the Frankfort Fire Protection District, as well as a ride provided by the Frankfort Square Park District – that made stops at each of Summit Hill School District 161's schools.

The team made it back to Summit Hill Junior High later that afternoon, where they were welcomed home with a school-wide pep assembly.

The assembly was particularly special for the team and the school, Pufahl said, because it was the first time since the pandemic began that the students were all able to gather for such an event.

"That was special because I don't know with COVID that we'd had a full school assembly like that since maybe 2019 or early 2020 with everybody in the gym everybody together and the band's playing and the cheerleaders are out there and the administrators and the teachers," Pufahl said. "... You don't get that all the time, so it was pretty special. I know that the players appreciated all of it. It was great."

Here's a look at this year's roster for the Summit Hill Spartans (* indicates player was also part of the 2021 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.