As Johnsburg’s baseball team practices on a sunny Saturday, a skinny righty wearing black-rimmed glasses stands home-to-first distance from the backstop and swings hard.

Tyler Batt slugs tennis balls. This is a Batt any ball team would want in its lineup.

Yeeeeeeeer out?

Not Batt, who rarely hits the ball out. Johnsburg‘s cerebral senior consistently smacks it between the lines on the court, something he’s done since he was even lighter than the 140 pounds he carries on his 5-foot-10 frame today.

“When I was younger, like second or third grade, I played in a junior high league, and I think I won it one year,” Batt said. “I had the ability to keep the ball in play. And that was enough.”

Walk-off winners? Oh, the slammin’ Skyhawk has belted a few.

A Class 1A state qualifier the past two seasons, Batt is the most accomplished boys tennis player in Johnsburg tennis history and is on the cusp of 100 wins, which would be a first for the Skyhawks. He entered this week with 95 career victories and heads into Friday’s Kishwaukee River Conference tournament seeking a “four-peat” at No. 1 singles.

He has not lost a set all season.

“Hopefully,” Batt said, “my biggest achievements are yet to come.”

His postseason starts next week, when Johnsburg competes at Lakes, where Batt has lost in the sectional final the past two seasons to Grayslake Central’s Samay Patel. At state last year, Batt advanced to the round of 16, losing a third-set tiebreaker, which denied him a spot in the consolation-bracket quarterfinals.

He split four matches at state his sophomore year.

“I want to place pretty well at state,” Batt said. “There are a lot of good players, but I don’t think there’s anyone I don’t have the ability to beat.”

Batt has the cool-calm demeanor of a leader, which maybe isn’t surprising considering his presidential name. Tyler John Batt is named after John Tyler, who was the 10th president of the U.S.

Batt’s only sibling, Jackson, who runs cross country at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, is named after Andrew Jackson, the country’s seventh president. The father of Tyler and Jackson is Jefferson, who, yes, is named after Founding Father and U.S. President No. 3 Thomas Jefferson.

Even the family dog got the presidential treatment. Wilson, a Shetland Sheepdog, is named Woodrow Wilson, who served as the country’s 28th president.

“I’m pretty sure that was my dad’s decision [to name us Tyler and Jackson],” Batt said. “I think he just figured he’s named after a president, so he did the same with his kids.”

Tyler John credits his parents, Jefferson and Carole, both of whom play tennis, for exposing him to the sport when he was about 5 and allowing him to play.

“He’s a great leader, he’s a great kid and he’s dependable,” Johnsburg assistant coach John Rung said. “He’s like having another coach out there. He sticks around until the last match, and he helps everybody.”

Batt plans to play NCAA Division III tennis and study mathematics at Rose–Hulman Institute of Technology in Indiana. In 2025, U.S. News & World Report ranked Rose-Hulman as the No. 1 college in the country for undergraduate science, engineering and mathematics.

Batt, who tackled Calculus III during the fall semester, wants to become a data scientist. The problem-solving skills help him win in the classroom and on the tennis court.

“That’s probably where the similarities end,” he said.

Success hasn’t gone to the head of Batt, who has the ego of a JV player. He wins matches not necessarily with blistering serves, forehands or backhands but with precision, efficiency and a mental game befitting a future Rose-Hulman Fightin’ Engineer.

“My serve’s really a weapon, both first and second serves, Batt said. ”I can force a lot of missed returns, get some aces. I can usually hold serve pretty well. ... I’d say the other part of my game that’s pretty solid is my defense. I’m able to move around the court quickly, get in and out of the corners fast and just try to put the ball in a position that makes it hard for the opponent to put away.”

The 22-0 Batt counts 13 shutouts this season and has beaten his share of quality opponents, including Dundee-Crown’s Aarav Shah in straight sets, Woodstock North’s Jude Suay (twice) and Crystal Lake South’s Bayel Muktar. Batt has won three tournaments.

Don’t let the thick black rims fool you. Batt’s eyes are focused on spots where he can bury winners.

“He’s a great player, but he also has a great attitude for the game,” Rung said. “He doesn’t get down. If it’s love-40, or 40-love, he’s still got the same attitude. He doesn’t throw his racket, he doesn’t have a temper. But he wants to win. Don’t make any mistake about that.”