Jonathan Alder’s Jace Schrock (5) blasts a grand-slam homer during the first inning of Friday’s 11-1 victory over Benjamin Logan. The Pioneers improved to 14-1 with the win.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
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The baseball diamond at Jonathan Alder High School isn’t what you’d exactly call “home run friendly.”
With the power alleys measuring 355 feet, it would take a mighty powerful poke to get the ball exiting an outfield where potential dingers go to die.
Pioneer catcher Jace Schrock just smiled when he was reminded about that following the team’s 11-1 triumph over Benjamin Logan Friday evening.
That’s because Schrock hit his first round-tripper and only the team’s second of the 2024 season during a four-run first inning against the Raiders.
And it wasn’t your run-of-the-mill four-bagger, either.
The bases were loaded against Benjamin Logan starting pitcher Soli Hughes when Schrock stepped to the plate.
With one down, Alder’s Grant Horne singled to begin things.
The Raider southpaw then proceeded to issue free passes to Ashton Martin and Garrett Roach.
If juicing the sacks wasn’t bad enough, Hughes served up his second pitch to Schrock on a silver platter.
“It was a fastball right down the middle,” said the Pioneer junior.
With an 0-1 count, Schrock whipped around on the ball and sent it flying through the air.
Ben Logan’s center and left fielders both thought they might have a chance at making a catch if the ball decided to die.
It didn’t however, as the sphere cleared the 355-foot mark in left-center field with some room to spare.
The grand slam set the stage for Jonathan Alder’s 14th victory in 15 games.
It also gave Alder pitcher Cam Potter more than enough cushion to earn the win.
The senior righty got into a bit of a tight spot during the visitors’ portion of the initial inning.
Hughes and EJ Martin ripped back-to-back singles.
With one down, Bryden Morris walked to load the bases.
Potter, though, responded with a pair of strikeouts to get out of the jam.
The pitcher’s support continued to grow as the Pioneers put runs on the scoreboard in each inning.
The remainder of Alder’s runs, though, didn’t come in quite as dramatic fashion.
They just came on good, old-fashioned heads-up baseball.
JA scored twice in the second frame.
Chase Chopin singled and swiped second.
Horne followed by drawing a free pass.
A double steal put both runners in scoring position.
Martin was called out on a fielder’s choice which allowed one run to score.
Roach followed with a run-producing base hit that pushed the home team out to a 6-0 lead.
JA’s advantage grew to 8-0 in the bottom portion of the third inning.
With one out, Mason Keaton beat out a bunt for a single and took second on a wild pitch.
After a popup went for an out, Chopin laid down a bunt for a single that put runners at the corners.
Keaton raced home on a wild pitch and Horne doubled in the run that elevated Jonathan Alder to the 8-0 spread.
JA plated one run in the bottom of the fourth against relief pitcher Keaton Horney.
Schrock blasted a one-out triple and scored on a two-bagger from Greg Kennedy.
The Raiders tallied a consolation run during their portion of the fifth.
A couple of JA fielding miscues and a sacrifice fly kept the visitors from being shut out.
“We normally don’t make a lot of errors,” said Jonathan Alder head coach Craig Kyle. “However, if you’re around baseball long enough, you know it’s going to happen.
“What I like was the fact the guys who made those errors came right back and made plays for us,” he said.
Armed with a 9-1 lead, the Pioneers wasted little time in ending the game on the run rule.
Potter raced to first base and beat the throw for a bunt single.
Two batters later, Horne clubbed a triple that sent Potter in with the team’s 10th run of the day.
Jonathan Alder needed just one more score to cross the plate in order to invoke the run rule.
Horne made that happen when he ran home on Martin’s base hit.
The Pioneers’ lone loss of the season to date came during their spring break trip out of state.
Their record has not added a blemish since returning to the local area.
“The biggest thing in high school baseball is to not have a letdown,” said Kyle. “We learned a lot after losing in last year’s (Division II) tournament game to Bloom Carroll,” he said.
“We learned you always have to be ready to play,” he said. “This is a mature group and we’ve been ready to play games all season.”
“We’ve got a lot of good pitchers,” said Schrock. “We’ve got the defense and hitters to back them up.
“We’ve also got good team chemistry,” said the JA catcher. “We play for the guy next to us.”
BL 000 01-1 3 0
JA 422 12-11 12 3
WP: Potter
LP: Hughes