The second-seeded Altamont Indians were unable to overcome four errors and key hits by the top-seeded Bulldogs in a 5-2 loss to St. Anthony in the Championship game of the National Trail Conference Tournament on Friday night at Altamont High School. It looked as if the Indians would take an early lead with one out in the top of the first inning on a deep shot to centerfield by Kaidyn Miller, but Bulldog centerfielder Beau Adams made a highlight reel grab, snagging Miller’s ball on the fly as he jumped up against the fence and holding on to it while flipping over the fence for the out. St. Anthony would take the 1-0 lead in the bottom half of the first with a run and would double it to a 2-0 lead with another run in the bottom of the third inning. After holding the Indians scoreless for the first five innings, the Bulldogs again doubled their lead with two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to go ahead 4-0. The Indians bats came alive in the top of the sixth as Kaden Davis hit a leadoff single and was followed up by a single from Nate Stuemke. A wild pitch would advance the runners to second and third before a lineout by K. Miller would have Davis tagging up at third and scoring and Stuemke tagging up at second and advancing to third. Dillan Elam then hit a sacrifice fly to right field that allowed Stuemke to tag up and score as the Indians cut the St. Anthony lead to 4-2. Ethan Robbins followed up with a single but was stranded on base to end the top half of the inning. St. Anthony pushed their lead back out to three runs at 5-2 with one run in the bottom of the sixth inning. Altamont would get a single from Justin Magelitz with two outs in the top of the seventh inning, but a ground out would end the game as St. Anthony closed out the 5-2 win over the Indians. Altamont finishes up the fall season at 17-7.
Altamont Offense:
Kaden Davis – 1-4, R
Nate Stuemke – 2-3, R
Kaidyn Miller – RBI
Dillan Elam – RBI
Ethan Robbins – 1-3
Keegan Schultz – 1-3
Eli Miller – 1-3
Justin Magelitz – 1-3
