VJHS wins second straight state baseball title
The Valmeyer Junior High School baseball team won its second straight Southern Illinois Junior High School Athletic Association Class S state title on Friday, defeating Aviston 11-0 in five innings to complete an impressive 22-1-1 season.
In the past two seasons, head coach Mike McCarthy’s program has compiled an overall record of 43-5-1.
“This season was unbelievable,” McCarthy said.
The team’s only loss of the season was to Mascoutah. For the first time, Valmeyer swept the Cahokia Conference — not only the small schools but also larger schools such as Waterloo, Columbia and Freeburg.
And Valmeyer did it using only three eighth grade starters, with the rest being underclassmen.
“We mostly play teams with all eighth graders,” McCarthy said.
Valmeyer lost seven starters from the 2013 squad.
The Valmeyer Junior High School baseball team gathers after winning Friday against Aviston to win the SIJHSAA Class S state title in Coulterville. Pictured, front row, from left, are Drew Shevlin, Logan Henerfauth, Sam Fitzwilliams, Jacob Rowald, Riley McCarthy, Gavin Kohnz, Clay Juelfs, Mitchell Kohnz, James Eschmann and Jake Kempfer; second row: Jordan McSchooler, Konnar Stellhorn, John Fausz, Philip Reinhardt, Corey Peterson, Logan Seidler, Mason Williams, Gibson Sippel, Logan Whitlock and Henry Weber; See back row: assistant coaches Chad Kempfer, Brad Juelfs, Eric Seidler and head coach Mike McCarthy. (submitted photo)McCarthy, now in his fourth year at the helm, said a key advantage for his team was the fact that they carry players from fifth through eighth grades.
“This way, they gain experience early and get a head start on learning our system,” he said. “It’s a big advantage.”
Three of Valmeyer’s wins were of the walk-off variety — 3-2 over Columbia in eight innings in which Valmeyer stole home to tie it late; 5-4 over Smithton in a game they were trailing 4-3 in the seventh; and 3-2 over Steeleville in eight innings to win the SIJHSAA Class S semifinal.
“The Steeleville win was amazing,” McCarthy said. “They were a very tough team.”
Don’t expect Valmeyer to let up anytime soon — they return seven starters from this year’s squad for 2015.
team in pitching with a 7-0 record, 0.71 ERA and 45 strikeouts in 39.6 innings. He also hit .456 with 32 RBIs.
Key eighth graders on this year’s squad were Cory Peterson, who hit a whopping .593 with 35 stolen bases, and Logan Seidler, who hit .410.
McCarthy credited the work of assistant coaches Brad Juelfs and volunteer assistants Eric Seidler and Chad Kempfer.
“We have a good thing going here at Valmeyer and hope to keep it up,” McCarthy said.
