Ithaca High baseball ends six-year playoff drought

Tompkins County has been a hotbed for phenomenal baseball teams at both the college and high school. Multiple postseason titles have successfully been brought home, especially over the past few years. That hasn’t been the case at Ithaca High School. The Little Red entered this year six years removed from their last sectional appearance. That drought has finally come to an end.

The Little Red wrapped up the regular season with a 7-9 record, good enough to surpass the magic number of a .400 winning percentage to qualify for sectionals for the first time since 2019. But they didn’t have to wait until their final game to know they had made it.

The other stipulation for postseason qualification is to have at least a .500 winning percentage against Class AAA teams. With three losses to Corning followed by three wins against Elmira, the Little Red’s 3-3 mark was enough to get them over the line.

“There was obviously a large amount of excitement throughout the team knowing that it’s a bit of relief to be able to know right then and there that we did it,” said head coach Ron Amato. “We’ve made the goal of getting to the postseason, so now it’s kind of reevaluating. We don’t just want to get there. Now we have something that we’re playing for, trying to win the whole thing. The kids were super excited. It was great to see, and they deserve that. They’ve been working hard.”

It was particularly special for the senior class who had not gotten a taste of postseason play in their high school careers. Amato lauded his eight seniors for leading the Little Red back to where they belong.

“I think it was a big deal for them to set their sights on what we want to do, and the seniors have been a big part of that,” Amato said. “Two of the seniors are our go-to starting pitchers. Those same two guys are leading us offensively, as well. A lot of the seniors are either starting or playing a large role in what’s happened this year. We talked to the seniors about, ‘Listen, that’s your team. We were going to go as far as you guys can take us.’ The coaches can only say so much, and you need the seniors to buy into what you’re trying to do. They help run and keep everything on track.”

The senior pitching duo that Amato mentioned is Estyn Elkouh and Isaiah Smith, both of whom will be continuing their careers in college. Elkouh—who will be playing at Middlebury College next year—is more of the flamethrower between the two.

“Estyn has a little bit more velocity to his game,” Amato said. “This year, I think he’s really started to thrive because he’s found his command. Sometimes you get guys that throw hard that are a little bit more wild, and to be honest, that’s where he was last year. He had the live arm, but his control and his command last year weren’t as good as we had hoped… Estyn has found that command this year. He throws a really good slider that he keeps guys off balance with in addition to his fastball.”

Smith will be playing right in his own backyard at Ithaca College—which is Amato’s alma mater—and the 2024 STAC All-Star brings a strong sense of control whenever he steps on the rubber.

“Isaiah has been a little bit more tactical in hitting spots and changing up pitches and throwing more diversity at you in terms of what he’s doing on the mound,” Amato said. “He’s got to do that because he doesn’t have the same type of velocity that Estyn has, but his command has been a little bit better and what he’s been able to use to get guys out. Both guys have been effective. But they definitely come at you with a different arsenal than the other. You’re not getting the same look.”

The Little Red have complemented their commanding pitching with a vastly-improved defense and hitting. For both those aspects, John Walker has been a shining example. The senior is also a reigning STAC All-Star, and he’s acted as Ithaca’s Swiss Army knife thanks to his positional versatility.

“He can run a little bit, he can swing the bat, he can put the ball in play,” Amato said. “I think that probably more so than anything, he’s got kind of a utility-ness to him. Defensively, he’s played the outfield for us, he’s played shortstop, he’s played third place, he’s played second base. He works hard. He does everything the right way. He’s one of those guys that you love to have on the team and you’d like to see succeed, and you feel good for him anytime that he does something positive.”

Ithaca has all the pieces to make some noise in the Section IV Class AAA tournament. Regardless of what happens over the next couple of weeks, the fact that the Little Red are back in sectionals helps Tompkins County’s case for the place to be for postseason baseball.