Jim Mashek

JAGGERS’ SQUAD TAKES 14-1 RECORD INTO HOME GAME AGAINST E-TOWN

GLASGOW — Greenwood High School baseball coach Jason Jaggers is a personable sort, a man who likes to keep his squad loose.

Just the same, he’s got a way of getting his message across at crunch time, too.

Greenwood’s Zach Davis needed 31 pitches to get a rare two-inning save on Thursday evening at Glasgow’s Gorin Park, closing the door on the Gators’ tense 4-3 victory over homestanding Glasgow High School where treasured Richardson Stadium once stood for decades.

(The stadium was destroyed in an early morning fire last summer.)

“We’ve got all the confidence in the world in Zach,” Jaggers said. “He throws strikes, hits spots. He’s a gamer.”

And he’s one of several sophomores playing key roles in the Gators’ early season success in 2023.

Greenwood earned its 11th consecutive victory on Thursday, with darkness approaching, and Jaggers’ Gators will take an impressive 14-1 record into Friday evening’s non-district game against Elizabethtown High School.

First pitch is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.

Glasgow picked up some momentum late in the game, pulling to within 4-3 of the Gators on Davey Williams’ sacrifice fly to deep left-center field in the bottom of the fifth inning. Greenwood reliever Easton Talley avoided further damage, however, retiring the Scotties’ Weston Carroll on a ground ball to end the inning.

That’s when things really got interesting.

Try as they might, the Gators couldn’t get an insurance run across the plate in the next two innings.

And the Scotties sensed their opportunity.

“We were trying to win a baseball game against a good team,” Glasgow coach Sam Royse said when it was over. “We’re 4-9 right now. We’ve lost some close games, gotten spanked in two or three, too. We’ll be on the road (Friday) against Monroe (County). Just gotta keep working.”

The Scotties seemed poised to strike for the tying run in the bottom of the sixth.

Zach Davis moved from shortstop to the pitcher’s mound after Talley issued a leadoff walk to Glasgow’s Camden Nolley. The Gators had to make wholesale changes, defensively, to finish the job, and Jason Jaggers’ squad was equal to the task.

Easton Jessie’s check-swing single to right field put base runners at first and second with no outs in the sixth, and the Scotties’ players began swaying and chanting on the edge of the dugout, sensing their chance to strike for a comeback.

Glasgow’s Connor Davis then put down a bunt to the right of the mound, and Zach Davis’ throw to first drew the Gators’ Andrew Jolly off the bag to create a bases-loaded situation with NO OUTS.

“Yes, they had some momentum,” Zach Davis said afterward. “We just had to stay locked in. You can’t focus on what the other dugout is saying. Just had to throw some strikes.”

Throw some strikes.

At its essence, baseball is a simple game, after all.

Davis struck out the Scotties’ Mason Bass on a 1-2 curveball, giving Greenwood the chance to get out of the inning unscathed with a double-play ball.

The Gators got just that. Well, sort of.

Glasgow’s Josiah Driver lofted a fly ball to medium depth in right field in an expansive high-school park, and Greenwood freshman outfielder Chaze Huff settled under the ball before backing up two or three steps.

“That’s the way we teach it,” Greenwood coach Jason Jaggers said.

Huff made the catch and unleashed a perfect throw to the plate, a throw that took one bounce before Greenwood catcher Jake Russell could apply the tag on the Scotties’ Camden Nolley. Russell used a sweeping tag to retire Nolley and snuff out the threat, but the Scotties still weren’t finished.

“I scooted in (on the fly ball) and then adjusted to the right side,” Huff said.

Glasgow right-hander Brayden Emmitt finished a complete game with little trouble, needing just 104 pitches to go the distance against the Gators. It would all come down to Zach Davis and the Glasgow lineup in the bottom of the seventh.

Glasgow’s Zachary Poole, who finished the game with a 2-for-3 performance at the plate, delivered a one-out single in the bottom of the fifth

Davis slipped a called third strike past the Scotties’ Davey Williams, again on a curveball, Then Glasgow’s Weston Carroll lined Davis’ first pitch into center field for another single, the Scotties’ ninth hit of the game.

Davis completed the task at hand, fanning Glasgow’s Camden Nolley on a 3-2 pitch to end the game. The Gators poured out of their dugout to celebrate their 11th consecutive victory. Greenwood is unbeaten since its 4-3 loss to Ohio County on March 24.

“Every day, we’re 0-0 when we take the field,” Greenwood’s Jason Jaggers said. “We’re just trying to get better every day.”

Jake Russell, the Gators’ junior catcher, said Greenwood had big ambitions after last year’s 19-11 finish. Sophomore right-hander Nathan Howard, the first of four Greenwood pitchers, earned the win to improve to 2-0 on the season.

“We’ve got a better mindset out there this year,” Russell said. “Our pitching is a lot, lot better. We played (Glasgow) at our place last year … I’m pretty sure we lost.”

They did, 8-6.

Russell was wearing the Gators’ faux professional wrestling belt for the bus ride back to Bowling Green, and you could tell he was looking forward to it.

“We’re jammin’ … Yeah,” Russell said.

Jaggers laughed.

“Yeah, they’ll be back there, in the bus, listening to music and singing,” he said.

These Gators seem to be going places. Stay tuned.