Baseball: Will Klumpp scores winning run on wild pitch; Sycamore takes third in state

JOLIET — Will Klumpp noticed Effingham reliever Jack Harper throwing pitches in the dirt earlier in the ninth inning of a tied Class 3A third-place game, so when Harper uncorked a wild pitch, the Sycamore junior was ready.

Klumpp crossed the plate easily, giving the Spartans a 2-1 win over the Flaming Hearts and a third-place finish in their first trip to the state tournament Saturday.

“I just didn’t want to end the season with two losses. Obviously, you want to go first. You want to go be playing for the state championship. But I think it’s kind of a downer when you end your season with two losses, so we just battled and hung in there today.”

—  Jason Cavanaugh, Sycamore baseball coach

“Just a couple of pitches before that, he spiked two in the dirt,” Klumpp said. “You’ve got the third baseman playing back so I’m just looking for something low. I see it skip by and it’s an easy chance to score the winning run.”

The Spartans (34-6) bats entered the game cold after a 3-0 loss to Nazareth in a semifinal on Friday, the first time they were shut out since May 19, 2021. Down 1-0, they tied things up in the sixth before winning in the ninth.

Jimmy Amptmann and Kyle Hartmann singled, with Klumpp coming in as Hartmann’s courtesy runner. Conner Williar bunted them over to second and third, then the Flaming Hearts (22-17) walked Lucas Winburn to load the bases.

Collin Severson grounded to third and Evan Waymoth came home for the force, the second out of the inning. But with Joey Puleo up, Harper through into the dirt and Klumpp scored.

“You kind of thought at that point, is this ever going to end,” Winburn said. “I knew either way Joey was going to get a hit or we were going to get that run in. So I’m just glad we got that run in and won the game then.”

The Flaming Hearts scored an unearned run in the fourth before the Spartans snapped a 13-inning scoreless streak in the sixth to tie things up at 1-1.

Puleo reached on an error, Tarnoki singled him to third and Rosado singled to bring him home. It was the first run off Effingham starter and Missouri recruit Josh McDevitt, who struck out 14 batters in eight innings before hitting the pitch count.

Nazareth starter John Hughes threw five shutout innings against the Spartans in the semifinal on Friday.

“I mean their pitcher was, you know, I said this two days in a row, but that’s the best pitcher we’ve seen all year,” Sycamore coach Jason Cavanaugh said. “We haven’t been shut out for a couple of years and then, you know, we got shut out yesterday and then we get to the fourth fifth inning today. You’re thinking, we’re gonna get shut out again. We get our first trip down to state and we get, shut out two times.”

It was the Spartans’ first trip to state and the first for Effingham since 1942. The Spartans scored just two runs in 16 innings but also gave up a total of four.

“I just didn’t want to end the season with two losses,” Cavanaugh said. “Obviously you want to go first. You want to go be playing for the state championship. But I think it’s kind of a downer when you end your season with two losses, so we just battled and hung in there today.”

Sycamore had seven hits in the game, including two each for Tarnoki and Hartmann.

It’s the third time in the past two school years Tarnoki has been on a team that reached a semifinal. The Sycamore football team reached the semifinals the past two years, losing to the eventual state champ both times - Fenwick in 2021 and Nazareth in 2022.

“The beautiful thing about state baseball is you get another game,” Tarnoki said. “It gave us the opportunity to play on the field one last time. Coming out on top is kind of icing on the cake for my high school career.”

Klumpp is one of a handful of juniors on the senior-loaded Spartans.

“It’s been fun watching these guys all year and playing for them and to be able to score that final run,” Klumpp said. “That’s just, that’s a moment I’m always gonna remember, and especially in a state final.”