The Jefferson City Jays brought some momentum back from Kansas to the Capital City.
“We had two gritty wins (Thursday) and I think that carried over to being able to come through when we needed to,” Jays coach Kyle Lasley said Friday after Jefferson City topped Helias 3-1 in Central Missouri Activities Conference baseball action at the American Legion Post 5 Sports Complex.
On Thursday in the River City Shootout in Lawrence, Kan., Jefferson City posted an 8-2 win against Shawnee Mission South before rallying for a 9-8 victory against Washburn Rural.
“I think we’re playing some good baseball,” Lasley said.
The Crusaders weren’t able to overcome an early deficit.
“That’s happened to us a lot this year,” Helias coach Chris Wyrick said. “In a lot of big games, we’ve been giving teams runs and with Jordan (Martin) on the mound, you can’t do that.
“They capitalized on our mistakes.”
Gallery: Jefferson City Baseball at Helias
Martin got the start for the Jays and got strikeouts on eight of Helias’ first 10 outs. Four of those strikeouts were looking.
“We struck out too many times, especially looking,” Wyrick said. “You can’t score if you don’t swing the bat.”
The Jays jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second, scoring the run without the benefit of a hit.
Brody Johns was hit by a pitch to start the inning. After a strikeout, Dylan Wallace of the Jays reached on a throwing error to put runners at first and second. After a double steal, Will Carroll walked to load the bases.
Ethan Lipp, the Jays’ leadoff batter in the order, then laid down a sacrifice bunt to score Johns.
“That’s been our goal all year, trying to manufacture runs,” Lasley said. “It’s playing small ball.”
That was even more important Friday.
“In games like this, a big rivalry game that you figure will be close, you have to do what you have to do to get runs,” Lasley said. “We want to score first, put pressure on the other team as early as possible. Especially when you have a guy on the mound who can deal it.”
The Jays were poised to extend their lead in the fourth, using three singles to load the bases with two outs. But Helias starter Sam Wyrick got out of the inning with a strikeout.
“He threw well enough to win the game,” Chris Wyrick said. “We just have to do a better job on offense.”
Helias had opportunities to score early in the game, stranding a runner at second in the second, third and fourth innings.
The Jays made an adjustment at the plate that led to two runs in the fifth inning.
“When we were swinging at one of the first four pitches in the count, we were successful,” Lasley said. “We told our guys to look for that first-pitch fastball. Look for something early in the count you could jump on and our guys did that.”
Zac Arnold and Mason Wall led off the inning with first-pitch singles. After a strikeout, Ryan Tadsen hit a first-pitch double down the line in left to score pinch-runner Adam Scheperle to make it 2-0.
Wallace followed with a sacrifice fly to center to score Wall.
Helias looked to have cut into the deficit in the bottom of the fifth when the Crusaders had runners at second and third with nobody out. After a strikeout, Patrick Baker hit a fly ball to center field that appeared to bring home the runner from third. But on appeal, the runner was ruled to have left early and the inning was over.
“We should have had one in the fifth,” Wyrick said.
The Crusaders got on the board in the sixth. David Hofherr led off with a single. After a strikeout, Sam Wyrick walked to put runners at first and second. They moved up a base on a passed ball before a grounder by Ben Miller brought home Hofherr. But Martin got a strikeout on his 100th pitch of the game to end the threat and his day on the mound.
Martin allowed one run on six hits and two walks while recording 10 strikeouts.
“He’s had two good starts back to back,” Lasley said. “He was really good early, around the zone, you could tell his velocity was there.
“He battled and got us what we needed.”
Lipp came on to pitch the seventh for the Jays, setting down the Crusaders in order to end the game.
“We’ll see what shakes out, but it was huge to get this one,” Lasley said. “It’s always nice to win a conference game, but it was probably more important for the district.”
Jefferson City and Helias are both in the Class 5 District 5 Tournament that starts next month. The seed meeting is scheduled for next Friday.
Martin finished with two of Jefferson City’s nine hits. The Jays (15-7 overall, 3-3 CMAC) are back in action Thursday at Kirksville.
Sam Wyrick took the loss for the Crusaders, pitching five innings. He allowed three runs (two earned) on eight hits and two walks while striking out seven. Trey Rice pitched the final two innings, allowing one hit and striking out one.
Maddox Alfutis had two hits for Helias (14-6, 0-3), who will play Monday at Springfield Catholic.
In Friday’s JV game, Helias defeated Jefferson City 6-5. Brayden Means drove in three runs for the Crusaders (13-2-2). Calen Jones pitched the first four innings to get the win, while Jonas Schanuth pitched the fifth for the save.