Published: May 13, 2008 11:48 pm            

JV Jumpers down Monticello

Somerset — With big games against Southwestern and Mercer County looming on the schedule for later in the week, Somerset Head Coach Phillip Grundy saw an opportunity to do something he felt was way overdue.

“All these kids have put a lot of time and effort into this program, and they deserved to be rewarded with some varsity action,” said Grundy. “I wanted to give them something they can appreciate years down the road. I know I’ll remember it.”

With the struggling Monticello Trojans coming into The Patch still looking for their first win of the season, it was the perfect opportunity to reward the faithful reserves and younger players who were forced to watch for most of the season. There wasn’t much playing time to be had with a killer schedule and a roster full of experienced seniors. Several Jumper starters—Adam Wallen, John Cole, Corey Price, Kenny Hughes, and Jeremy Toohey—were given the day off. The normal starters who were in the lineup were in different positions, possibly to experiment with combinations they could use in case of injuries down the stretch.

When the Jumpers took the field in the top of the first, their defense looked like this: Colby Hall at first, Taylor Sears at second, Erik Manning at shortstop, Aaron Dockery at third, Nathan Waddle in left field, David Vanhook in center, Will Barnette in right, Chris Fitzpatrick catching, and, on the mound for the first time this millennium, Chase Hall.

With his first pitch the senior catcher showed why he hadn’t been on the mound much. He wound up and threw one that would have landed in the press box had there not been a net. (But since he had a big grin on his face as he walked back to the mound, chances are the first pitch was a result of losing a bet more than losing the strike zone.)

That would be when Hall began to look like an experienced pitcher. He faced the minimum through two innings, and pitched out of a jam in the third to record three innings of shutout baseball, while giving up only one hit.

“I was glad to see Chase get the win out there tonight,” said Grundy. “He’s always bugging me to pitch, but we’ve needed him behind the plate. I truly believe that Chase Hall is the best catcher in the state, and usually when you take a guy like that and move him to another position you end up weakening your team. So I was really glad to have this chance to hand him the ball and let him go out there and have some fun--because everyone around here knows he’s earned it.”

Monticello’s Dustin Coffey kept the Jumpers off balance early with an assortment of off-speed pitches, but Somerset caught up with the crafty lefty in the third inning.

Senior Nathan Waddle got the rally started by extending his streak of consecutive games having reached base, when he took a pitch off the torso and trotted to first without flinching. Grundy then sent reserves from deeper off the bench, and they responded beautifully. Ben Purcell singled and stole a base, and Chantz Dunham followed with an RBI single to make it 2-0. Colby Hall’s sac fly made it 3-0 and a single by Taylor Sears brought it to 4-nil. Aaron Dockery then smashed a two-out pitch into the outfield gap, driving in two before being cut down at third on a beautiful relay throw that nipped him in a bang-bang play.

Freshman Zach Bastin came on to pitch one-hit ball over the next two innings, while Matt Latham’s two-run single in the bottom of the fifth pushed to an 8-0 lead.

“Matt Latham had a big hit for us,” said Grundy. “It’s great when a kid gets his chance and takes advantage of it like that. Colby Hall also had some really good at bats tonight. These are the guys who are going to be our starters next year. It’s important for them to get this experience in the varsity action so they can step right in when it’s their turn. We didn’t want to rush them before we thought they were ready, though. So we’re glad to see them have success and build confidence, because we’re trying to build a program here that will compete at the top level year after year, and these younger players are the ones who are going to have to get it done next year.”

But the last act of this day would once again belong to a senior.

Will Barnette took the mound for the top of the sixth hoping to show the Jumper faithful some of the nasty pitches he’d kept hidden in his repertoire. At first, he didn’t impress. The first batter he faced, second baseman Tyler Duncan, smacked a hard single. Then Barnette walked Jordan Crabtree and gave up an RBI single to clean-up hitter Allen Cash. But that was all the Trojans could muster against the wily senior. He struck out the next batter, and coaxed the following hitter into a fly out to center which was turned into a double play on a sparkling catch by Hunter Nelson.

Now that Barnette had a lather up out on the mound, he mowed through Monticello like a hot knife through butter. The top of the seventh went strikeout, pop out, strikeout….and it was over. The Jumpers, specifically their JV’s had beaten the Monticello Trojans 8-1, running their record to 17-12 on the season.

“I thought Will Barnette pitched great,” said Grundy. “And so did Zach Bastin. And we were glad to get everyone on the team, except the ones we were resting, at least one at bat. It’s the least I can do for them for the sacrifices they’ve made this season.

“Now we’ve got to focus on the task at hand. We have a big game at Southwestern on Thursday, and Merecr County comes her on Friday. Then we go into the district tournament. So things are going to get real serious from here on out. We’re looking to do something special, and we need to kick it in gear and prepare for everyone’s best shot.”



MHS 000 001 0 — 1 4 1

SHS 015 020 x — 8 11 2

Monticello— Coffey 6IP, 8ER, 8R, 11H, 10K, 1BB, 1HBP, 1WP, 1BLK

2B—Fuller. SB—Duncan, Cash. RBI—Cash

Somerset — Ch. Hall 3IP, 0ER, 0R, 1H, 2K, 1BB

Bastin 2IP, 0ER, 0R, 1H, 3K, 1BB

Barnette 2IP, 1ER, 1R, 2H, 3K, 1BB

2B—Manning, Dockery. SB—Wilson 2, Purcell, Co. Hall, D. Vanhook, Nelson, Sears, Dunham. RBI—Latham 2, Dockery 2, Dunham, Co. Hall, Sears.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.