2023 Daily Chronicle Baseball Player of the Year: Sycamore’s Jimmy Amptmann

When the Sycamore baseball team clinched third place at the Class 3A state tournament June 10 in Joliet, it culminated a journey almost a decade in the making for a core group of Spartans.

And in the middle of that group was Jimmy Amptmann. The senior pitcher and designated hitter produced crazy numbers both at the plate and on the mound.

“We’ve known this is a special group and we could make some noise when we all got to play with each other. It was really great. It was a lot of expectations. It was one of those things if we were to go down early it would have been a big disappointment for us.”

—  Jimmy Amptmann, Sycamore baseball

“To go out like that, to get a win in our last game, and go out with these kids we’ve been with since we were 9 years old, it was really fun,” Amptmann said. “Everyone worked really hard to get there. Every single person on the team gave it all they got.”

Amptmann hit .404 with 31 RBIs and seven home runs, racking up a 1.193 OPS along the way. On the hill, he led the team in innings pitched, going 9-1 with a 1.66 ERA. He struck out 78 batters and walked 30 in 50 2/3 innings, often baffling hitters with his fastball that regularly hit 90 mph.

For his accomplishments, Amptmann was named the 2023 Daily Chronicle Baseball Player of the Year.

Amptmann was part of a group of six seniors who had played on the varsity club since their sophomore season, including Tommy Townsend, Kiefer Tarnoki, Joey Puleo, Hunter Britz and Owen Piazza.

“Everyone in this group really loves each other, and it [stinks] it had to come to an end,” Amptmann said. “Every game we play with each other means a lot.”

Two years ago, the Spartans bowed out in a regional final at the end of a strange, COVID-19-shortened season that started in the summer. Last year, the Spartans reached a supersectional, but lost.

“It was great coach [Jason] Cavanaugh was able to call some of us up early, our sophomore year,” Amptmann said. “It calmed a lot of nerves that I feel like a lot of other players have. ... I feel like that experience helped us stay calm. We lost last year in the supersectional. I feel it was great going back there. No nerves for us, just an expectation we were going to win that game.”

This year, the senior-laden team – 14 of them on the state tournament roster – qualified for the final four for the first time in program history.

Amptmann said the team was very good at keeping its eyes on the prize and not taking anything for granted.

“We’ve known this is a special group and we could make some noise when we all got to play with each other,” Amptmann said. “It was really great. It was a lot of expectations. It was one of those things if we were to go down early it would have been a big disappointment for us.”

With the team as deep as it was, Cavanaugh used a designated hitter for all his starting pitchers throughout the season. He said that benefited Amptmann and his high-energy approach.

The longtime Sycamore coach called Amtmann the high school Shohei Ohtani, the Los Angeles Angels All-Star who pitches and then plays DH for the Angels when not on the bump.

“That’s really what he does,” Cavanaugh said. “He goes out and wins once a week for you, and all the other days of the week he provides a better-than-consistent bat in the middle of the lineup.”

Cavanaugh said Amptmann and the Spartans had high expectations, and it wasn’t just internal. Other teams knew what they brought to the field.

Cavanaugh pointed to a doubleheader against Kaneland that started in Maple Park, with the second game under the lights in Sycamore. The Knights won the second game, which was the first Interstate 8 Conference loss of the season for Sycamore. They threw up their gloves and stormed the mound after the win, which Cavanaugh said was unexpected after a regular-season win.

“His name came with a reputation,” Cavanaugh said. “Teams knew what they were getting and were able to prepare for 90 miles per hour as well as you can in high school. We knew there was a bull’s-eye on our back.”

Amptmann will play for Heartland Community College in Normal next year. The Hawks are coming off winning the NJCAA Division II national championship for the first time in program history.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better high school experience,” Amptmann said. “Every single player I played with all three years, all the coaches that were there, really couldn’t have asked for better people. I just love them all. It was such a grind. It’s a thing I’ll cherish the rest of my life.”