HOPE — It was prom night for Hauser High School on Saturday, and the Class A No. 1-ranked Jets baseball team played like it had somewhere to be as soon as possible.
Hauser swept a doubleheader from visiting Jac-Cen-Del, and both games ended after 4 1/2 innings. The Jets dismantled a very young Eagles team, winning the opener 10-0 and the second game 12-1.
After a shutout victory in the first game in which it scored 10 runs, Hauser continued where it left off to begin the second game. Sean Miller began the bottom of the first with a leadoff triple and scored on a sacrifice fly by Trey Johnson to give the Jets a quick 1-0 lead after one inning.
Hauser starter Parker Eickenbush then struggled to find the strike zone in the top of the second, walking the first two Eagle batters. After the runners were sacrificed to second and third, a ground out by Conner Toops plated Jac-Cen-Del’s lone run of the day, tying the score at 1-1.
The Jets answered right back, scoring three runs in the bottom of the inning. Jacob Luken led off with a double, and a single by Aaron Mee immediately followed. It appeared that Jac-Cen-Del starter Miles McAdams may wiggle out of the inning unscathed after getting the next two batters out, but a double down the left field line by Kameron Lawson followed by a Miller single, allowing Hauser to score three runs in the inning, all with two out, for a 4-1 lead after two.
The Jets came to the plate in the bottom of the third still holding a three run lead, but an eight-run inning busted the game wide open. They sent 13 batters to the plate and laced seven hits, four of which were for extra bases, highlighted by a three-run homer by Trey Johnson to right for a 12-1 lead.
Alex Pattingill then took the mound in relief of Eickbush to close out the game. Eickbush finished the day with three innings pitched, striking out four and walking three, while allowing one earned run. Pattingill pitched the final two scoreless innings, striking out three and walking one.
“I feel like we hit quality pitches in our zone today, and we hit the ball hard,” Hauser coach Nate Long said.
“We have been working in practice on focusing on where we hit the ball the best and taking certain pitches. Our goal is to hit the ball on a line and hard.”
Long also was pleased with the performance of his pitchers.
“We threw the ball well and commanded the strike zone. We played a game Thursday and Friday, and we also have a game against Shelbyville Monday. So the plan was to pitch by committee today, and we will probably do that again on Monday.”
Leading the offensive attack for the Jets were Miller, who had two doubles, a triple, two runs scored and two RBIs; Johnson who had the home run and four RBIs; and Lawson, who ripped a double, a triple, and had three RBIs.
In the first game, Jets’ starter Aaron Mee was masterful. He pitched four shutout innings, striking out seven without walking a batter or allowing a run. Jacob Luken then came in to pitch a perfect fifth to close out the victory.
The offense was led by Eickbush, who launched a home run in the second, when the Jets scored six of their 10 runs. Also helping the Hauser cause was Jon Hatton, who reached base three times and scored three runs.
