Jefferson County tops New Philly prepping for the Beast
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MINGO JUNCTION -- The air may have been filled with a smokey haze, but it wasn't from the bats lighting it on fire.
In a game dominated by pitching and defense, in which every hit was a single and no one drove in a run with a base hit, Jefferson County Post 33 was still able to scratch out enough runs for its third win in as many meetings this season against district opponent New Philadelphia Post 139.
Jefferson County, after falling behind by a run in the top of the first, tied the game in the bottom half, plated four in the second and a trio of pitchers made it stand up for a 5-1 victory at a hazy Muth Field.
"The bats were kind of hit and miss, we put some balls in play and were able to beat out some throws," Jefferson County coach Clayton Criss said. "We executed some bunts. We've been stressing our approaches at the plate, we're getting there, but I think that we can get a little more selective early in the count … if we make a little bit of an adjustment and put more hard balls in play (on hitters' counts) our bats will get even better.
"It's nice to get a win against New Philly, they're a team in our district and we've played them three times already. We're definitely going to see them again down the road. All three games have been close and came down to one inning that swung the momentum. They're a quality ball club."
Silas Hyde fired the first two-plus innings, fanning the side in the second and racking up five punchouts, before Hakim Edwards came on to get out of a jam and went 3 2/3 strong innings and Brayden Moses fired the final 1 1/3 to finish things out.
"All three guys threw really well," Criss said. "We're gearing up for the Beast of the East and anybody that knows the tournament, has played in the tournament, seen the tournament knows it's a long weekend. So, this game we were putting some guys out there on pitch counts to see what they can do in case we need them over the weekend, and all three guys showed they are ready to contribute this weekend in terms of throwing strikes."
Behind the pitchers, the defense made a few really nice plays. Sal Barcalow made a diving grab in right and both Aydan Manning and Cooper Blackburn tracked down some hard-hit balls in left and center, while the infield did not commit an error on some equally challenging knocks from the New Philly bats.
"We've been preaching that everybody needs to be expecting to have to make a play at any point in the game," Criss said. "It's a testament to our players, they seem to always be ready, our infielders are always on time, our outfielders are getting good reads off the bat."
Kaden Jurosko scored from third on a double-steal to knot the game in the first, then, in the second, Post 33 (15-4) loaded the bases before Eli Fayak drew a bases loaded walk, Barcalow scored on a throwing error on a pickoff attempt, Zach Smith scored on a wild pitch and Moses grounded out, allowing Fayak to head home on the throw to first.
BUSY WEEKEND
Jefferson County was set to open play in the 34th annual Beast of the East tournament bright and early today, taking on Wheeling Post 1 at 10:30 a.m. and Armory Baseball at 1 p.m.. both at the I-470 complex in Wheeling.
Post 33 then plays its next three games (Friday and Saturday) at the Edison Unified Sports Complex before closing pool play back in Wheeling on Saturday night. The championship bracket will be played out on Sunday.
"It's a big weekend ahead for us," Criss said. "We'll see what happens, we're excited for it."
Jefferson County 5, New Philadelphia 1
NP 1-0-0 0-0-0 0 – 1 5 1
JC 1-4-0 0-0-0 x – 5 4 0
NEW PHILADELPHIA (12-8): Herman (LP, 4 1/3IP, 5R, 3ER, 2H, 4K, 7BB), Brown (1 2/3IP, 0R, 2H, 2K, 0BB) and Nate. Crosier 2S; Brown S; Herman S; Lehman S; Haver RBI.
JEFFERSON COUNTY (15-4): Hyde (WP, 2 IP, 1R, 1ER, 5K, 2BB), Edwards (3 2/3IP, 0R, 3H, 1K, 4BB), Moses (1 1/3IP, 0R, 0H, 1K, 1BB) and Smith. Jurosko S; Pownall S; Blackburn S; Barcalow S; Fayak RBI.