Published on June 5, 2025 6:28 am
Last Updated on June 5, 2025 7:06 am
Teutopolis High School won the Class 2A Carbondale Super-Sectional and will play at State Friday against Newman Central Catholic.
BY MILLIE LANGE
The Teutopolis High School baseball team has an “I’m not going to quit” attitude and that’s propelled them on to the Class 2A State Baseball Tournament this Friday and Saturday at Illinois Field in Champaign.
Coach Justin Fleener’s crew came up big in the Carbondale Super-Sectional Monday. Behind by a 5-0 count in the fifth, the Wooden Shoes pulled back within 5-3 in the bottom of the frame and then came through in the seventh to pull out the 6-5 victory.
Now it’s on to State.
Coach Fleener talked about his players and how the season has gone as the Shoes stand at 29-5.
The Wooden Shoes have five seniors and four juniors on the squad.
“Dawson Hoene, a senior, is our leadoff hitter,” said Fleener. “He has done a good job all year setting the tone for our offense. He’s a really good shortstop, a very athletic young man. He’s also part of the State bass fishing team that will compete Friday.
“Davin Worman, a junior, is our second batter. He’s one of our two pitchers. He’ll do some throwing up there this weekend. One of our top hitters. We look for him to be able to move runners over and drive in runs when he’s called upon. Real good athlete. He’s also a basketball player.
“Mick Niebrugge, a senior, is one of our top hitters. A real strong kid. He’s going to Millikin to play baseball next year. Another basketball player. We have looked to him all year long. He came up with a big double at the super-sectional.
“Jason Kreke is our catcher. He’s logged a lot of innings behind the plate. I spend a lot of time with them when we go from basketball into baseball. They have to put up with me a lot. Jason does a good job of handling the pitchers. He’s come along hitting-wise. He has been up in big situations and driven in runs for us.
“Austin Borries bats in the fifth spot and is our third baseman and pitches. But right now it is up in the air whether he can play because he hurt his knee at Carbondale. We look at him to throw some big games on the mound. He’s done his part at the plate and driven in runs.
“Carter Hoene has done a good job getting the bat on the ball. He’s driven in runs during the year when we needed them. He’s a big strong kid and can hit the ball to all fields and has power.
“Henry Thompson, a senior, is another baseball/basketball player. He plays second base and has become a really good defensive second baseman and his bat has come along. That leadoff triple Saturday put energy into us. He’s one of the leaders on the team, does a good job of seeing what’s needed. All of our seniors good job of leading.
Carter Hoene usually bats for Cooper Tegeler, a senior, and I think Cooper has had a good year. We had some guys out and he’s done a good job. He has really done a good job of playing left field for us. He didn’t play much last year and he played soccer in the fall. It was a pleasant surprise.
“Gavin Addis, a junior, is one of our top arms. He came in Monday night and did a great job of holding DuQuoin until we got going. He plays third base, pitches and plays right field. Another one of those guys who was a basketball player.
“Aidan Niemerg bats in the ninth spot. He pitches, plays right, center and left fields. A sophomore who has really come along nicely this year. He does a good job at the plate, getting big hits and getting on base. H’e also done a good job on the mound.
“Andrew Probst is one of our senior pitchers. We are still waiting for him to come in and do pinch hitting. He is a relief pitcher. He started a few games this year and has really come along nicely with the size he has. He has really improved a lot.
“River Vahling, a junior, comes in and helps out. He has really improved and does a good job in whatever we need in the infield. He’s had a couple of at-bats and got a hit.
“Michael Habing, a sophomore, is our backup catcher. He has a bright future in front of him.
“Caleb Deters is another sophomore. He has been on the mound for us and done a good job. He came in the post season in tight situations and did well. In the top of seventh against St. Anthony, he kept them from scoring any more.
“Bryce Niebrugge, a sophomore, does pinch running and courtesy running for us.
“Teagan Pals got a huge at-bat and came through big for us in the super-sectional. That’s the potential some of these sophomores have.
“Nolan Schumacher, Andy Lustig, Kendall Mette and Jake Kocher. They are all sophomores and gaining a lot of experience and being able to experience some of the excitement. Hopefully they can bottle that up and have that drive to do it in the future.”
Leading the Shoes in hitting is M. Niebrugge with a 487 batting average. He leads the team in hits with 55 and RBI with 49. He’s had 14 doubles and four home runs.
Kreke is hitting .400 with 42 hits and 37 RBI. He’s had eight doubles and leads in home runs with six.
Niemerg has a .369 average while Borries is at .310. Niemerg had 31 hits. Borries finished has 21 RBI.
The leading pitcher has been Deters with a 6-0 record. He has an ERA of 1.31. Niemerg stands at 4-0 with a 0.44 ERA, Borries is 4-1 with a 1.75 ERA and Addis is 4-2 with a 3.72 ERA. Probst has a 2-0 record with a 1.67 ERA.
Coach Fleener talked about his team overall.
“Our strengths include our pitching, We have depth in pitching. I think we have some pretty good arms. Our hitting has done a good job of putting the ball in play and making things happen. We’ve been more aggressive this year.
“And, they have a I’m not going to quit attitude. They make things happen and the energy is there.”
The Wooden Shoes will meet Sterling Newman Central Catholic at 7 p.m. Friday. The opening game features Eureka (34-4) against Springfield Sacred Heart Griffin (24-8) at 4. The winners will advance to the championship game at 7 p.m. Saturday while the losers will play for third place at 4 p.m.
“I prefer us to score early and then hold them instead of the waiting until last inning,” said Fleener. “We have to play better defensively, get solid pitching and put the bat on the ball. We’re going to face good pitching.
“Basically everybody’s arms are going to have to be ready. We have to cut down on the freebies, walks, errors. We need strikeouts and to make the plays. And, we need to score more runs than the other teams.”
Sterling Newman Central Catholic is 28-7-1 on the season. The Comets finished fourth last season in the 2A State Tournament.
Leading the Comets in hitting are Miner Ashton with a .438 average with 38 RBI, 14 doubles and one home run. Daniel Kelly with a .394 average, 39 hits and 28 RBI. He’s had nine doubles and three home runs. Chase Decker is at .387 with 46 hits including six doubles, two triples and three home run.
Leading pitchers include Evan Bushman with a 9-0 record and a 2.44 ERA, Michal Morse with a 5-1 record and 2.63 ERA and Drake Cole with a 5-1 mark with a 4.67 ERA.
This is Coach Fleener’s ninth trip to the State Tournament. The Shoes, under Fleener, have claimed four first place finishes in 2010, 2011, 2017 and 2019, second in 2018 and third in 2005, 2013 and 2015 and did not place in 2004. The Shoes have appeared at State four other times during their history.