Winning away and losing at home, the Carrollton & Banks baseball team saw the same result come from its district series against Rummel as it did against Holy Cross. The Blue Jays took their first game at Kirsch-Rooney, 3-2, but were unable to complete the sweep after losing 1-0 in extras at John Ryan Stadium.

View the Photo Gallery from the Jesuit-Rummel District Series

The only difference between the Holy Cross and Rummel series was the amount of runs scored. Jesuit scored nine and gave up eight aggregate runs against Holy Cross but, with good pitching and defense throughout, the Jays tied Rummel 3-3 over the two-game stretch.

Game 2 was Jesuit’s third straight error-free contest. The Jays have committed just one error in their six district games.

Premier Pitching 
Game 2: Jesuit 0, Rummel 1

Thursday, March 29

Pitcher Christian Hess

A low-scoring nail-biter is typical for a game between Jesuit and Rummel, and that’s exactly what came to surface on Holy Thursday at John Ryan Stadium. After edging out the Raiders the day before at Kirsch-Rooney, the Jays could not wait to start their delayed game at John Ryan. Unfortunately, a great showing on the mound ended as the first 2018 loss for senior pitcher Christian Hess. Jesuit fell to Rummel 1-0 in extra innings.

Rusty Staub’s team hats on home plate at John Ryan Stadium

While both teams were happy to get the delayed game underway, everyone at John Ryan understood when a few minutes were added to the usual pre-game ceremony. Players, coaches, umpires, and fans paused for a moment of silence before the national anthem to honor Jesuit alumnus Rusty Staub ’61, the major league great and philanthropist who passed away that morning.

Jesuit’s Christian Hess and Rummel’s starter threw seemingly inspired complete games on the John Ryan mound, the same one stood on by Staub when he received a big applause at the stadium’s 2012 opening ceremony (see photo). The only Blue Jay base hits were senior lead-off Michael Torry‘s in the 1st and right fielder Zach Casebonne‘s in the last. Both pitchers threw eight innings and surrendered just two hits each.

In the top of the 1st, Hess struck out two batters and gave Jesuit a chance to take the lead in the bottom frame. It seemed even more likely when Jesuit’s 2nd-hole hitter Matt Alexander reached first on an error after Torry’s lead-off single. The inning ended as a sigh of relief for Rummel, though, as both runners were left stranded.

In the 5th, Hess gave up his first base hit. While his no-hitter was scratched, his streak of scoreless innings continued as the game remained 0-0.

After seven scoreless innings, the two teams began extras. With two outs and a runner on base, the Raiders broke the stalemate with an RBI single that would become the game-winning hit.

Down 1-0 in the 8th’s bottom frame, Jesuit’s Zach Casebonne fired up the dugout with a one-out double. Head coach Kenny Goodlett then subbed in a speedy Luke Eccles to pinch-run for Casebonne. Eccles as the game-tying run was left stranded, allowing Rummel to take the game, 1-0.

The Intangibles
Game 1: Jesuit 3, Rummel 2

Luke Eccles slides into third safely.

Wednesday, March 28

Smart decision-making by Jesuit’s players and coaches carried the Jays to a 3-2 victory in their opening game at Kirsch-Rooney Stadium. Ultimately, Jesuit won the game with intangibles—the little things that cannot be seen or measured statistically. Two of those little things were strike-zone awareness and base-running; and they were evident in the first and last inning, respectively.

In the 1st, the Jays took a 1-0 lead only because of patience in the batter’s box. Jesuit had Rummel’s pitcher in a hole with a pair of game-opening walks from center fielder Michael Torry and second baseman Matt Alexander. Two groundouts would follow, with designated hitter Alex Watermeier’s grounder scoring Torry from third.

The 3rd inning found Watermeier’s name yet again, and this time the cleanup hitter earned a base hit to go along with his second RBI. Watermeier hit a two-out single that scored Sean Seghers, who had executed an inning-opening bunt that earned a single. With Seghers stepping on home plate, pitcher Will Moran stepped on the mound with a 2-0 Jesuit lead.

Moran gave up the first Raider run in the bottom of the 3rd when Rummel’s batters tested every dimension of the Blue Jay defense. First came a hard-to-handle infield hit that required first baseman Brian Valigosky to field the ball and Moran to cover first. The Jays could not make the play in time. Under pressure, Moran then walked the second batter. With two men on, the next Raider turned on a hard-hit ball to right center field, where Michael Torry made a valiant effort but just missed the catch. The runner on second scored, but third baseman Will Hellmers made a clutch play to get the Jays out of the inning with just one run allowed.

With the game tied 2-2 in the top of the 7th, courtesy runner Luke Eccles subbed in for Parker Serio, who reached first after being hit by a pitch. Eccles put on a base-running clinic, reaching third base on a sacrifice bunt from Seth Dardar. Torry knocked an RBI-single that scored Eccles to give the Jays the lead and the eventual 3-2 victory.

Moran (5-0) finished his complete game in impressive fashion with six strikeouts and four hits allowed. The lefty remains undefeated on the season with 25 total strikeouts to his name.