Hobbs makes history

VERSAILLES, Ohio — Jackson Hobbs had just given up an RBI single.
With the potential game-tying run standing in the on-deck circle, the senior just wanted to get back to throwing strikes.
The bases were loaded, and Austin Knapke whiffed at Hobbs’ first offering. Knapke put Hobbs’ second pitch in play, a routine ground ball to Cade Wendel at second base. The sophomore flipped it to shortstop Jacob Homan.
It was out No. 21 for win No. 27.
As Hobbs jogged to the dugout, both relieved and grateful the game was over, he raised his arm above his head as if to signify his place in Fort Recovery history.
The top.
Hobbs led the Division IV No. 9 Fort Recovery High School baseball team both at the plate and on the mound Monday in a 7-2 victory over the Versailles Tigers, who were previously unbeaten in Midwest Athletic Conference play.
And with the victory, Hobbs now stands alone as the school-record holder for wins in a career, surpassing Dale “Whitey” Bruns’ mark of 26 set in 1955.
“My arm felt good,” said Hobbs, who moved to 4-2 on the season. “All three of my pitches were working tonight. When that’s happening we’re pretty good. It was a great win, and I’m happy to break the record.”
But it was not without dramatics.
He had great command for the first six innings, using a steady diet of effective curveballs while also mixing in a fastball and changeup to keep the Tigers (13-4, 5-1 MAC) hitters guessing and looking foolish when they missed.
He had at least one strikeout in every inning but the sixth and finished with eight total.
Hobbs gave up eight hits — half of them game after the fifth inning — and Versailles had a leadoff guy reach third base twice but advance no further.
And when his arm fatigued — his only two walks were with two outs in the seventh inning — his defense helped him out.
“It was rough,” he said of the final inning. He quickly got two outs on five pitches, but gave up two walks and a single to load the bases before an error and a single plated two runs to break the 7-0 shutout. “The (umpire) started to squeeze me a bit. We had two outs. I felt pretty good but you never want to let off the gas.
“You just want to throw strikes. I was running out of gas a little bit but we pounded through it and I finished what I started.”
When Hobbs’ pitches became more laborious, it was the defense that picked him up.
But all eyes were on No. 11 getting No. 27.
“This baseball game was basically about our senior, experienced pitcher Jackson pitching extremely well,” said FRHS coach Jerry Kaup. Hobbs helped himself out at the plate with an RBI groundout in the third inning for a 2-0 advantage, and he added a sacrifice fly in the seventh to make it 7-0. “He dictated what was happening. That is a true senior leader pitcher.
“For the rest of the team it was about execution. We did a lot of executing our offense and defense with our plays.”
That included two sacrifice bunts from Wendel, the first of which was a squeeze bunt in the top of the first inning to score Nick Thwaits for the game’s first run. The second was in the seventh to set up Hobbs’ sac fly.
The Indians (14-6, 4-2 MAC) also put pressure on the Tigers’ defense by swiping five bases, one each from Jacob Homan, Kyle Schroer, Ross Homan, Will Homan and Thwaits.
“That is what we are trying to do, put pressure on and doing it in a way that we help our team and not hurt our team,” said Kaup, whose team has won three consecutive MAC games and hosts New Knoxville at 5 p.m. tonight.
Defensively, Jacob Homan made a pair of diving stops at short, but his throw to first was late both times. Had the 6-foot, 6-inch, senior not dived to keep the ball in the infield, the Tigers may have taken extra bases both times.
Homan and Schroer also had RBI singles.
Thwaits tracked down a fly ball from Keaton McEldowney at the warning track to end the fifth inning. To lead off the the sixth, Brett McEldowney and Kurtis Rutschilling hit back-to-back singles, but Hobbs induced a 4-6-3 double play and a groundout to Ross Homan at third base to keep the Tigers off the scoreboard.
Stout pitching, solid defense and near-perfect execution offensively gave Hobbs a place in Tribe lore, ahead of Bruns and a spot he never dreamed possible when he walked in the doors at Fort Recovery four years ago.
“To break that record and to be up there with some great names like him, it is just awesome,” he said.