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Photo by Brett Tennyson
If you had come to the Bluejays home opener this past Thursday and only watched the top of the first inning, you could be forgiven for believing the Jays were doomed to a rough season. But they got past it and exploded, with a victory that carried them through the weekend and gave head coach Terry Bennett a very promising debut.
Guthrie’s varsity baseballers overcame a very rocky start to explode to a 17-3 run-rule victory over the Chisholm Longhorns at Squires Field. And they carried that offensive momentum into their game on Saturday at Kingfisher, where they took down the Yellowjackets 11-7.
On Friday, Zach Henry started on the mound for the Bluejays, but it wasn’t his pitching that brought on the rough patch, as two errors, a passed ball, and a fielder’s choice led to a quick run and a man in scoring position. Then Chisholm’s Easton John smacked a bases-clearing triple deep to the right field gap for another run, and he scored himself on another fielder’s choice. In spite of the errors and issues, Henry held strong, though, getting two strikeouts in the first, including one to close out the Longhorns’ inning.
The Bluejays roared back as Chisholm had fielding problems of its own. The rain picked up during the Longhorns half of the inning and it was clear that it gave Chisholm starter Kelson Hamilton some real trouble, as he gave up two hits, 5 walks, two hit batters, and three wild pitches to go along with three errors by the Horns and a double to left from Luke Hubbard that gave the Bluejays 11 runs. Hamilton was pulled and replaced by Easton John, who immediately balked to bring in another Guthrie run. John finished off the Bluejays’ inning with a strikeout of Owen Wilder, but the damage was done, and the Bluejays took the field for the 2nd inning with a 12-5 lead.
Guthrie settled down as Henry got through the inning three up and three down, with a can-of-corn fly to right fielder Niko Pena, a strikeout, and an easy ground ball to short. Back at the plate, the Jays kept up the scoring as John also struggled with five walks, two hits, and three wild pitches of his own. The Jays also got singles from Henry and Eli Plagg and a fielder’s choice by Hubbard.
This concluded the scoring by both teams from both teams, and Luke Hubbard closed out a 10-after-4 run rule on the mound for the Jays when Chisholm went out 1-2-3 in the top of the 4th inning. Henry got the win. However, Luke Hubbard was the game’s star, as he shined in his two innings on the mound, giving up no runs and no hits, with three strikeouts. His only runners came from a walk and a hit batter. Hubbard also had a great game at the plate, with his double, a run scored, and two RBIs.
At Kingfisher on Saturday, Guthrie kept the offensive explosion going, never trailing in a 11-7 victory after putting up six runs in the top of the first. The Bluejays had 11 hits to go along with 2 errors by Kingfisher. The Yellowjackets worked hard to fight back, and came within one run after 5 innings, but a solid combined effort by starter Willie Clymer and freshman Owen Wilder in his debut on the mound kept Kingfisher in check. Clymer and Wilder combined to give up only two hits, four walks, and a hit batter while chalking up six strikeouts only three earned runs. Senior Cale Evans had a monster day at the plate, going 3-for-4 at the plate, including two doubles, and driving in two runs and scoring two more.
This week, Guthrie opens district play with a home-and-home against Del City Monday and Tuesday. The Jays then host Duncan on Thursday, March 9, before traveling to Ponca City on Friday, March 10.