Five straight

After a poor start to the season, the Patriots have started to pick things up.

After winning their first game, the Rebels have been trending downward.

When the teams recently clashed, nothing changed the direction each team was headed.

The Jay County High School baseball team extended its winning streak to five and dominated the Randolph Southern Rebels, which just dropped its fifth straight game,  23-2 Saturday.

The Patriots (5-5) had a disastrous first week of the season, dropping their first four games. They added a fifth straight loss in the first game of a doubleheader against Centerville before starting to turn things around in the second game. That win sparked what has now grown into a five-game winning streak over the past week.

“I feel good,” JCHS coach Todd Farr said. “You always hate to win big like that because you don’t want to show anybody up, but it ended a good week of baseball for us. That’s why it feels good.

“We were 0-5 and now back to 5-5 so I’m pleased with our guys right now.

“We didn’t panic. We got a little more time to practice to clean some of those things up and get comfortable with their spots.”

While much of the Patriots’ lineup reflected the other four games of the winning streak, Joe Geesaman moved from right field to get his first varsity innings as a pitcher.

The freshman got to work right away. He got Noah Allen to look at the first two strikes before a swing and a miss to record his first strikeout. Geesaman then struck out Jackson Wolfal before Vance Taylor flew out to shortstop to end the inning in short order.

Geesaman’s only hiccup came in the top of the second inning when he gave up back-to-back singles to Bryson Grimes and Trenton Jeffries. A pair of groundouts and a strikeout ended the inning, but not without allowing a run to score.

The third inning went just as smoothly as the first with a pair of strikeouts and a fly out to right field. 

As the Patriots had developed a 15-1 lead by the fourth inning, Farr started to empty his bench, including taking Geesaman out of the game. He finished with the win after striking out five batters and giving up one earned run on a pair of hits.

“I felt great,” Geesaman said. “It being my first high school outing, it was awesome.

“My fastball was really good and I just stuck with it. My teammates made plays and we won the game. It feels awesome to help my team like that and come through. It really means a lot.”

Following Geesaman’s exit, Brock Wasson tossed the fourth inning, giving up one unearned run. Camden Fraley finished the fifth with a walk, a strikeout and a double play to end the game.

JCHS freshman Joe Geesaman hurls a pitch during the Patriots’ 23-2 win over the Randolph Southern Rebels on Saturday. Geesaman earned the win in his first varsity pitching experience, while striking out five batters in three innings. (The Commercial Review/Andrew Balko)

 

Nearly all of the Patriots contributed to the offense. It started slow with back-to-back two-out singles from Sam Myers and Parker Nichols leading to a pair of runs in the first inning.

The game opened up in the second inning as two hits, three walks, one hit batter and three consecutive errors by Wolfal led to eight runs. The second inning was just the first of three consecutive innings in which they batted around the order.

The Rebels (1-5) gave up five runs in the third despite no errors and another eight in the fourth with three defensive mistakes.

Nichols led the Patriots in RBIs with three, while Jackson Edwards, Garrett Bennett and Kade Sommers all had two. Edwards, Myers, Nichols, Ryne Goldsworthy and Cody Rowles all tied for the most runs scored with three apiece. Bennett, Myers, Nichols and Sommers all had a pair of hits in the game.

“It’s getting better as we’re going,” Farr said. “We’re getting that production throughout the lineup. If one guy doesn’t get it, it’s the next guy stepping up and getting it done. I’m very pleased with the offense and where it’s going — still got a long way to go — but it’s headed in the right direction.”