Jackets sweep Berrien
Jeff Davis High School’s baseball team closed out its regular season last week with a sweep of Berrien County. The first two games of the 3-game series were close ones, with the Yellow Jackets winning 1-0 and 3-2 in Nashville. The final game, played Thursday in Hazlehurst, was a 10-0, 5-inning Jeff Davis blowout.
JD finished the regular season with a
The first game was scheduled to be held Tuesday in Hazlehurst but no umpires showed up for the game so the teams moved the first game to the last game Thursday.
The pitching dominated the series as the Yellow Jacket pitching staff allowed just three hits and one earned run over three games. In Nashville the Jackets’ Alex Mason and Duke Stone combined for a 1-hit shutout in the first game and Andrew White, Jonathan Bohannon and Chad Beach combined to throw a 1-hitter in the second game.
In Thursday’s finale Eli Saunders, and freshmen Reese Mullis and Treyton Webster threw a 1-hit shutout.
The Jackets out-hit the Rebels 27-3 in the series.
In Nashville Tuesday, Mason retired the first seven batters he faced before yielding a walk in the third. Catcher Reese Mullis erased that first runner as he tried postal second.
In the fourth, a Berrien runner tried to steal second and, again, Mullis threw him out, atoning the dropped third strike that got the runner to first.
Entering the fifth inning, Mason had faced the minimum number of batters before Berrien opened the inning with a single. But that runner also was erased with a double play on a grounder to Saunders, who threw to Ethan Picanso at second and Picanso threw to Stone at first.
The Jackets’ winning and only run came in the fifth and it was unearned. Kamo Munsayac opened the fifth with a singled and advanced to second on Cason Clance’s sacrifice bunt. Munsayac scored as Saunders hit a grounder to the pitcher who made a bad throw to first.
Jeff Davis threatened to score again in the sixth as Ethan Griffin and Duke Stone got 1-out singles and Webster reached on an error to load the bases. But the Jackets couldn’t capitalize.
JD managed only five singles in the game, one each by Griffin, Stone, Webster, Munsayac and Clance.
Mason struck out the side in the sixth as he finished the six innings facing the minimum number of batters. Stone pitched the seventh, retiring all three batters he faced, one by strikeout. Mason gave up one hit, walked one and struck out 9.
Saunders opened the second game with a triple to right field. Picanso followed with a single and the Jackets quickly had a 1-0 lead. Mason also singled and Mullis used a sacrifice bunt to move the runners to second and third with one out. But JD couldn’t increase their lead.
In the second inning, Clance hit a 2-out double and Saunder drove him home with a single to up the score to 2-0.
But Berrien fought back with a run in the bottom of the third, and an unearned run in the fourth to tie the game 2-2.
In the top of the seventh, Picanso got a 1-out single, Mason walked and Mullis reached first on a fielders choice. Then Stone lofted a deep sacrifice fly to center to drive in the winning run.
Beach took the mound in the final inning to preserve the 1-run lead. After the first batter reached on an error, Beach got the second batter to line out to third, and then struck out the next two batters swinging to earn a save.
White started on the mound and went three innings, giving up one run on one hit, a walk and six strikeouts. Bohannon also pitched three inns, giving up an unearned run on no hits, three walks and two strikeouts.
At the plate, the Jackets had nine hits, led by Saunders with a single, a triple and an RBI. Picanso had a pair of singles and an RBI, Clance singled and doubled, and Mason, Mullis and Webster each had single.
In Thursday’s game the Jackets jumped the Rebels in a hurry with a 6-run first inning and a 4-run second, winning 10-0 in five innings.
Saunders and Picanso opened the Jacket first with singles and Mason walked to load the bases with no one out. Mullis and Stone had singles and JD was up 2-0 with bases loaded and no outs. Griffin then hit a sacrifice fly to score Mason and send pinch runner Jose Pena to third. After a strikeout, Munsayac and Clance reached on consecutive error and Saunders singled to make it 6-0.
In the second, Mullis, Munsayac, Clance and Saunders each singled and Jude Worthington doubled as Jeff Davis put four more runs on the board.
In the Berrien third, the JD defense turned a double play as Jackson Sayer at second fielded a grounder, threw to shortstop Picanso who relayed to Stone to complete a double play.
The Jacket coaching staff got a lot of players in the game as 14 Jackets played.
Saunders got his first start of the season and picked up the win, going three innings and blanking the Rebels on one hit, no free passes and two strikeouts. Freshman Reese Mullis got his first varsity action on the mound, pitching one inning to his older brother Carter Mullis. He gave up no runs, no hits, no walks, a hit batter and two strikeouts. Webster pitched the final inning, retiring all three batters he faced.
Saunders not only got the win but he had his best day at the plate with three singles and two RBI. Clance and Carter Mullis both had two singles and an RBI, Picanso singled twice, Worthington got the only extra-base hit of the game with a double and two RBI, Stone had a single and an RBI, and Munsayac and Braydon Lolley both singled.
Score by innings:
JDHS 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 -1
BHS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -0
JDHS 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 -3
BHS 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 -2
BHS 0 0 0 0 0 – 0
JDHS 6 4 0 0 x -10
