IT’S still February, but Jefferson’s pitchers appear to be in mid-season form.
Dragon hurlers combined to throw a one-hitter Thursday with 10 strikeouts and no walks in a 5-0 win over rival Commerce at home.
Click here for photos.
“They threw the ball well,” said Jefferson coach Tommy Knight, whose team also committed no errors. “No walks in the second game of the season – I might have to take them all out for dinner. That’s great.”
Jefferson (2-0) allowed just one base runner.
Max Ford (1-0) threw four innings for the win, allowing the Tigers’ lone hit while striking out four. Micah Carpenter and Ryan Johnson combined for three innings of perfect relief. Carpenter struck out four batters in two innings of work. Johnson fanned one batter in retiring Commerce in order in the seventh.
Jefferson pitchers faced 22 batters, just one over the minimum.
After an 0-for-3 performance in the season opener, Drew Carson more than made up for it in game two. The Dragon junior went 3-for-4 with two doubles and four RBIs to spark Jefferson offensively. Carson’s two-out, three-run double in the bottom of the second inning put the Dragons up 3-0. Ryan Johnson’s run-scoring single two batters later pushed the lead to 4-0. Carson added an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth.
Jefferson finished with six hits.
“It doesn’t matter if you get five or six hits in a game if you get them at the right time,” Knight said.
Cody Streetman (1-for-3) collected the Tigers’ lone hit.
Sam Lewis got the starting nod for Commerce on the mound but was chased from the game in the second inning after surrendering Carson’s three-run double. Lewis was charged with four runs on two hits in one and two-third innings of work. Colton Davis pitched the final four and one-third innings, surrendering one run on four hits.
