SJ-O baseball sending its seniors out in style
· Yahoo Sports
Jun. 12—They gathered on Meier Field for one of their final times together on Wednesday evening. Soaking in the
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moment after rainstorms soaked their home field in St. Joseph. But before the St. Joseph-Ogden baseball team
takes on Ottawa Marquette at 7 p.m. on Friday in a Class 2A state semifinal game at Illinois Field in Champaign,
Sports Editor Matt Daniels caught up with the Spartans' nine seniors — right fielder Trevor Ames,
pitcher/left fielder Parker Fitch, catcher Will Haley, first baseman Bryson Houchens, shortstop Kodey McKinney,
outfielder Branson Pearman, pitcher/second baseman Asher Pruemer, center fielder Logan Rosenthal and
designated hitter Cam Schluter — on coach Josh Haley's record-setting team to discuss this memorable season:
How fun is this postseason run?
➜ Branson Pearman: This is great. This whole postseason experience has been great and something I've never been a part of. To do it with this group of guys has been great because we're all so close.
What do you think Friday night
will be like?
➜ Logan Rosenthal: It's going to be an experience that we won't forget and will remember for a long time. Just being with the team is going to be so much fun. Our bond is so strong. We're going to cherish the times that we have together.
What was the bus ride home like from Springfield on Tuesday night after you guys beat Williamsville 9-0 to win a super-sectional game?
➜ Parker Fitch: I was one of the last ones to get on the bus, and when I got on there, I saw Will eating pizza off the plaque. That was a sight to see. We just listened to music all the way home. It was great.
What has it been like going on this run and knowing you'll end the
season at the state tournament this weekend by playing so close to home at Illinois Field in Champaign?
➜ Trevor Ames: I feel like it's been a long time coming for us. All the work we've put in throughout the year, it's great to finally see us accomplishing the goals we've set for the last couple seasons. Especially with this team being able to do it, it's been very special.
You carry a 38-2 record into the state tournament, but lost your season opener 3-1 to Columbia on March. What happened?
➜ Will Haley: It was a tough game. They had a great guy on their mound, and one of their top hitters hit a two-run bomb. That was the story of the game. I wouldn't say it was motivational for us, but it reminded us we're not invincible.
Your team has started off the season in southern Illinois the last several years playing in the Metro East
Kickoff Classic. Why is that trip fun?
➜ Asher Pruemer: I'd say it's just the time we get to spend together, where we can all hang out and do different things. We're just around everybody.
What are the highlights of that trip outside of playing baseball?
➜ Cam Schluter: We usually watch March Madness games together, especially if Illinois is playing. That's a big one, where we all watch it together. Only Asher cares about Purdue, so we usually turn that game off by the time the second half starts. We play card games and just eating dinner every night with the team and their families makes it a really great time.
Cam, I hear you're a pretty good pickleball player.
➜ Cam Schluter: I'm a beast. I'm all right. I don't play in tournaments, but I play casually on occasion.
Is Cam better at baseball or pickleball?
➜ Bryson Houchens: Probably baseball. He's not that fast side to side with pickleball, but his paddling skills are pretty good.
How would you describe the bond this group of seniors have?
➜ Kodey McKinney: We have a lot of seniors, and I've never played on a team with nine guys that are just this close together. Our sophomore year was a lot of fun and the seniors were leaders, but there was just three of them. I feel like we're all leaders, and we bring the team close.
Who is the team dad?
➜ Logan Rosenthal: I'd say I'm the team dad. I've got to make sure everyone is in check. It's fun to joke around. That's baseball. You've got to have fun. If we're winning, whatever is working is working.
What about Logan's qualities
make him suited for that role?
➜ Branson Pearman: He's always calm and collected. Trevor will throw a helmet every time he strikes out, but every game, Logan has a great at-bat the first time up, and he always sets the tone for us.
Pearman is the only senior who hasn't started on this postseason run. What has it been like seeing him handle his role this season?
➜ Parker Fitch: It's great to see because you've always got to be ready. Even if you're not in the lineup every game, you've got to have that mentality that you could play at any given time. You could only get one shot, and you've got to take advantage of that opportunity.
Who is the funniest senior?
➜ Trevor Ames: I'd probably say Will. Will doesn't even realize he's funny sometimes because the things he does are entertaining, and he doesn't even recognize it. Will likes to add letters to words a lot of times. You don't even recognize it sometimes until you hear him talk.
Who could you see being a future coach among this group?
➜ Will Haley: Easily Kodey McKinney. He talks about it more than anyone of being a hometown hero someday.
➜ Kodey McKinney (laughs): Shawn Skinner, Kiel Duval and Josh Haley better watch out (Skinner is the SJ-O football coach, and Duval is the SJ-O boys' basketball coach).
In football, SJ-O reached the Class 3A state semifinals and now the baseball team is two wins away from a 2A state championship.
How special has that been?
➜ Kodey McKinney: It shows the amount of work that me and my teammates have put in our whole lives. I've been playing baseball with these guys together since I was 10. I played football with those guys since I was 6. It gets hard, but the success is really paying off, and it's fun to see.
Bryson, you had cornrows for the sectional games as a nod to your
junior-high days when St. Joseph made a state run. Where did they go?
➜ Bryson Houchens: They were intact-ish. I had about six bobby pins in to keep them in because the braids weren't really working. After Tuesday, I feel I don't really need them. I feel confident without them.
Cam, your older brothers Aaron and Brent are former SJ-O athletes who played multiple sports for the Spartans. Brent helped the SJ-O boys' basketball team place fourth in state in 2013, while Aaron helped the SJ-O boys' basketball team win a state title in 2016. If you win a state title this weekend, how will those family discussions go?
➜ Cam Schluter: In this group chat I'm in with my brothers and some of their friends, they were clowning on Brent for being the only one who won't have a ring if we win. That's been brought up a couple times.
Asher, you'll get the start on Friday night against Ottawa Marquette. What is that going to be like?
➜ Asher Pruemer: It'll definitely be exciting to be in that atmosphere and to be with all of the guys. I know they'll be ready behind me to make plays.
Your last loss was May 4 at Unity. How special was it to beat Unity for the sectional title last Saturday?
➜ Will Haley: It was pretty sweet, especially after they got us the first time around.
Who would you say is
the best player on this team?
➜ Trevor Ames: It's hard to pick one. One guy we've all trusted this year is Asher. Whenever he's on the mound, I feel like we're a really, really hard team to beat. It's a huge testament to all the work he's put in and the success he's seeing now.
The starting pitchers actually get to pick what uniform tops your team wears. You've worn Columbia blue jerseys this whole postseason run. Is that still the plan this weekend?
➜ Parker Fitch: We've done that the past two years for every postseason game. Our old maroon jerseys, no one really liked them because the sleeves were really long and they weren't the most comfortable. We've been blue in the big games and in the postseason.
What are you going to remember about this season in 20 years?
➜ Branson Pearman: I'm going to remember all the experiences with the guys. This is by far the greatest group I've ever been a part of. All the memories we've made — from the Edwardsville trip to going to Springfield for the super-sectional game and getting to play at Illinois Field this weekend — are going to stay with me.
Last question to Will. Parker
mentioned you eating pizza off the super-sectional plaque on Tuesday night in Springfield. Why?
➜ Will Haley: I didn't know this, but I was talking to former SJ-O baseball player Mason Coon after the game (Coon graduated in 2017 and was a key part of the Spartans reaching the state tournament in 2016 and 2017) and he said back in 2017 that they did it because in 2016, former SJ-O baseball player Dalton Parker did it as well after they won a super-sectional. So, I had to keep the tradition going and ate some sausage pizza from Papa John's off the plaque. I got a little grease on the plaque, but it was all worth it.