That didn’t matter for Jefferson junior starter Mike Rahrig, who tossed a 5-inning no-hitter at the Pirates in a 12-0 victory.
“Mike continues to get stronger and stronger. He had outstanding command; he only had one walk,” Jefferson coach Troy Montenery began. “He had (71) pitches (46 for strikes), a great total for five innings. He just keeps rolling along.”
Rahrig (4-1; 8 Ks) had plenty of help from the offense; a 14-hit attack spearheaded by a 3-for-3 performance from senior Damon Joseph (2 triples and a double; 3 runs, 2 RBIs).
“To score 12 runs and get that many hits in five innings is outstanding. We have been and continue to hit the ball well,” Montenery continued. “We had seven extra-base hits, so we’re driving the ball well. We’re hitting around .350 for a batting average; we’ve raised that over 100 points in the last 10 games.”
It started in the bottom of the first for the Jeffcats (10-5, 4-2 NWC). Cory Bastian walked to lead off against losing pitcher Andrew Keeler but was doubled off on a line shot back to the pitcher by Sean Fisher. Josh Miller (2 runs) walked and scored on an error on a fly ball hit by Adam Kraning for a 1-0 lead.
The hosts sent 10 batters to the plate in inning No. 2 and plated five. Chris Wilkin reached out for a bloop single to left center. He took off for second and scored on Matt Gerdeman’s double to the fence in left center. In turn, he came across on Joseph’s bad-hop triple to center. He scored as Taylor “T-Bone” Hesseling singled up the gut. An out hence, Fisher singled to left. A wild pitched moved them both up and Miller walked to finish Keeler and bring in Joel Groman.
Kraning greeted him with a 2-run single to left. Aaron Schuerman popped behind the second baseman; hustling shortstop Devin Kisor threw to third and Miller was called out by the base umpire. Wilkin lined out to center for the third out.
With one down in the home half of the third — with the weather turning nasty — Joseph launched a wind-aided triple to right and scored on Hesseling’s single, finishing Groman and bringing in Eric Skilliter. Bastian had a bad-hop double to right but Fisher’s line shot to Kisor was ruled to have been caught — to which Montenery vehemently disagreed to no avail — and he doubled up Bastian at second.
Rahrig issued a 2-out walk in the fourth to Matt Sunderman but he was forced at second for the third out.
The hosts blew it wide open in the bottom half. Miller’s liner hugged the third-base line for a double and he scored on Kraning’s single to right; on the throw home, he headed for second but was thrown out. Schuerman walked, stole second and third and scored on pinch-hitter Ryan Kortokrax’s poke to right. He swiped second and Gerdeman walked. Joseph looped a double down the right-field line and scored Kortokrax. On the throw back to the pitcher, an error was made and Gerdeman scored for an 11-0 lead. An out later, pinch-hitter Craig Carder slapped a double to left that got Joseph in for the final run.
“Offensively, I think you’re just seeing more confidence. Early in the season, we weren’t settled on an everyday lineup,” Montenery added. “We had so much depth — something we haven’t had the last few years — that we were experimenting and using different lineups. We’ve decided on a set lineup and the kids are getting more comfortable. Plus, they’ve put in a lot of time in the offseason and that hard work is paying off.”
Ben Eiserle led off the Bluffton (3-6) fifth by getting aboard on an error on strike 3. A balk by Rahrig got him to second and he moved to third on another strikeout. He was left there when Rahrig fanned the final two looking.
Jefferson visits Fort Jennings at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
