It wasn't long before the Jefferson City Jays got down on the scoreboard Friday. It also didn't take long for them to take the lead and never trail again the rest of the day.
The Jays tied it at 1 against Eureka only three batters in and took the lead five batters in on their way to a 12-2 win in five innings in the Capital City Invitational at Vivion Field.
Top-ranked Jefferson City (10-1) closed out pool play with a 3-0 record by never trailing sixth-ranked Hickman in a 4-1 win, advancing to the championship game against Helias. The crossstown rivals will play at 11:15 a.m. at Vivion Field.
"Here we go," Jays coach Brian Ash said. " Bottom line is we're playing in the championship and that's where we wanted to be."
Jefferson City made sure it was going to close out its game against Hickman by sending Jacob Weirich to the mound in the seventh.
The senior, who struck out the side to close out Thursday's win against Fatima, struck out the side Friday night.
"As long as you've got a bullet in your gun you're going to use it," Ash said. "He's healthy, he hasn't pitched since the Helias game."
That was a 3-0 win March 31 at the American Legion Post 5 Sports Complex.
Weirich will not be available today since he's pitched two consecutive days.
Hayden Hirschvogel took care of the first six innings, allowing one run on six hits with three strikeouts and no walks. Fourteen of the 18 outs he recorded were by either by groundout or flyout.
"Why not? You preach to them all the time, 'You don't have to strike everybody out, we've got a very solid defense up the middle,'" Ash said.
Jefferson City didn't commit an error Friday, while its opponents combined for six.
Friday was Hirschvogel's first appearance on the mound this season.
"We've been kind of nursing him along," Ash said. "Nothing major, just kind of had a sore arm a little bit. But we kind of nursed it along and he's been throwing pens and been looking good and keeping the ball down. I knew against Hickman if he could keep the ball down we'd have some success and he did for the most part.
"What a performance. He was just cruising along. His changeup, his curve and his fastball, all three pitches he threw for strikes."
Hirschvogel got run support from the heart of the Jays' lineup. Grant Wood and Gaven Strobel hit back-to-back home runs with two outs in the third inning to make it 2-0.
"Those guys have the potential to do it," Ash said. "Any given time they can do it. Grant didn't get all of his. It didn't fly very well but Gaven got all of his."
Wood went 2-for-4 in both games, combining for three RBI. Strobel collected five hits Friday, totalling six RBI.
The Jays will see Hickman again Monday at Vivion Field.
"We took care of them tonight and we need to take care of business Monday here with them," Ash said.
Payton Bodenstab continued to show his power by sending a high fastball over the left-field fence in the second inning against Eureka. He sent a two-run shot to left field Thursday against Fatima. Bodenstab was 3-for-4 against Eureka.
The Jays kept the line moving against Eureka, scoring five in the first, one in the second, four in the fourth and two in the fifth to end it by run-rule.
Strobel doubled to right field to send in the final two runs.
Joseph Travis went all five innings on the mound for the win, giving up two runs on six hits with four strikeouts and a walk. He retired the side in order in the second, fourth and fifth innings.
"His last two starts he's kind of gotten off to a little bit of a slow start, but once he gets in there and gets his rhythm he settled in," Ash said. "He had command of his pitches."