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That Jeffcat coach Troy Montenery was pleased about.
He wasn’t pleased that his team committed nine errors in getting run-ruled 14-3 in six innings by the visiting Wildcats in the nightcap.
The opener saw both starting pitchers: Jefferson’s Josh Miller (6 walks in 3 innings; 3 hits, 5 runs, none earned) and Bath’s Cameron Garver (7 walks in 3 1/3 frames, 4 hits, 4 runs, 3 earned); struggle with a seemingly narrow strike zone.
“That was tough for both pitchers. We had Josh at 79 pitches and that is way too many,” Montenery said.
The visitors loaded the bases in the top of the first inning with two down but Miller induced Tyler Black into grounding out to second baseman Sean Fisher.
The home team also loaded the sacks in the bottom half. Cory Bastian (2-for-3) led off with a single, plus Fisher (2 runs, 2 walks) and Aaron Schuerman (2 walks) walked. On a strikeout, the ball got away from the catcher, but Josh Runda nailed Bastian at home for a double play. Ryan Kortokrax (3 RBIs) walked. However, a groundout ended the threat.
Bath loaded the bases with one out in the second but Miller got a ground ball to first, with Mike Rahrig gunning down Garver at home. However, Kevin Korkate walked to force in Brandon Mohr and Matt Loudon (3 ribbies) doubled in three runs (Scott Goedde, Johny Simindinger and Korkate) for a 4-0 lead.
The Jeffcats got one back in the home half. With two down, Craig Carder got aboard on a 2-base throwing error and scored on a double to right field by Bastian.
Black got aboard on a throwing error to lead off the third and later scored on a sacrifice fly to right by Zach Collins to make it 5-1.
Carder (1-0; 4 innings, 1 walk, 1 hit batter) came on in relief in the fourth and shut down Bath for the rest of the game (47 pitches; 30 for strikes).
The Jefferson offense could then make its rally.
In the fourth, Taylor “T-Bone” Hesseling led off with a single to center and Adam Wollenhaupt pinch-ran. An out hence, Carder singled him to second. Bastian, Fisher and Schuerman walked to bring Wollenhaupt and Carder home and keep the bases juiced, ending Garver’s stay on the mound and bringing in Dillon Bok (tagged with the loss). Miller’s bouncer to third forced Bastian at home but Kortokrax was plunked, scoring Fisher for a 5-4 deficit.
Jefferson went down 1-2-3 in the fifth but the sixth was a different story.
With one down, Fisher lined a hit to right and went to second on a bounceout. Miller walked. Kortokrax doubled deep to right to plate Fisher and Miller, taking third on the throw home. Matt Gerdeman hit a ball that hit the base umpire, leaving him safe but keeping Kortokrax at third. Hesseling was hit by a pitch, ending Bok’s pitching and bringing in Simindinger. Matt Antalis greeted him with a ground ball that handcuffed second sacker Loudon and went into right center to score Kortokrax and Gerdeman for an 8-5 advantage.
With two down in the seventh, Black was hit by a pitch but Carder induced Garver to ground out to end the game.
“Craig did a great job in relief,” Montenery noted. “We had to battle back and I was pleased that we could get it done. The defense played well to help us come back.”
In the second game, Jefferson (3-1) made things easy for Bath (6-2), giving the visitors eight unearned runs with its defensive problems.
Bath scored four runs in the first inning against Jefferson rookie starter Austin Clarkson, scoring on a RBI single to deep short by Runda (scoring Simindinger), a wild pitch (Korkate) and a 2-run-double by Black (plating Loudon and Runda) for a 4-0 spread.
The Red and White got one back in the home half against winning Bath starter Black (5 innings, 3 hits, 3 runs, 2 earned, 2 walks, 5 Ks). Bastian walked to lead it off but was forced out by Fisher. In turn, he was forced out by Schuerman, who proceeded to steal second and score on a single to left by Miller.
The visiting Wildcats scored twice more — unearned — in the second: a bases-loaded walk to Black (Goedde) that chased Clarkson for Antalis and a wild pitch that scored Loudon for a 6-1 lead.
Bath tacked three more on in the third without benefit of a hit. Five errors and one walk resulted in those runs, Drew Loudon, Mohr and Simindinger coming across in the process to put the visitors up 9-1.
Jefferson got a runner to second (Fisher) on a fielder’s choice and a stolen base with one down but he was left stranded.
Bath got a lone tally in the fourth, with two hits (D. Loudon and Mohr) around a stolen base and an RBI bouncer by Goedde making it 10-1.
Bath again loaded the bases in the fifth frame against third Jeffcat hurler Schuerman but he struck out the next two batters to keep the deficit at nine.
Jefferson got two home in their frame. Jordan Jettinghoff tripled to deep center. One out later, he scored via a ground ball by Bastian, beating the throw from third sacker Goedde. Bastian got to third on a throwing error to second on a bouncer by Fisher. An out later, Bastian scored via a sacrifice fly to right by Schuerman for a 10-3 deficit.
Bath put it away with four in the sixth. The big blow was a 2-run triple to right-center by Korkate, followed by a triple to the same spot by M. Loudon and a run-scoring grounder by Runda.
“Our defense didn’t help our pitchers out in the second game. That was uncharacteristic for us,” he explained. “Austin was making the first start if his varsity career and so was Matt. This is the first year we’ve had Aaron pitching. All in all, they did a nice job. It was hard to gauge because of how poorly we played defensively in game 2.”
The host Wildcats got two hits in their half of the inning (Mike Rahrig and Gerdeman) but Rahrig was erased as relief pitcher Mohr picked him off first.
“You’re never thrilled to get a split but Bath is a good team year after year,” the coach added.
Jefferson visits Lincolnview tonight (5 p.m. first pitch).
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