J-M hands Avella first loss, gives Curtis milestone win
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John Curtis was more worried about picking up a key Section 1-A baseball victory than a milestone win the afternoon of April 9 when his Jefferson-Morgan team hosted undefeated Avella.
Both were accomplished thanks in large part to Drew Adams.
The junior right-hander twirled a five-hit shutout and the Rockets got two hits and two RBIs from Brayden Ellsworth and a double, single, two runs and a stolen base from Jaymison Robinson in handing the visiting Eagles their first loss of the season, 3-0.
The win also was No. 400 for Curtis at J-M.
“We picked a good time to do it because that was a very key section game for us today,” Curtis said. “The 400 was secondary when it came to that because you’ve only got 12 of them (section games) so they’re all important.”
The Rockets improved to 2-3 in the section and 3-3 overall while Avella fell to 4-1 and 8-1.
Deakyn Dehoet added a single and an RBI for J-M.
Logan Fedak had two hits for the Eagles.
The Rockets got the only run they would need in the first inning against hard-luck losing pitcher Bryce Wright, who allowed seven hits and one walk with nine strikeouts. Robinson led off with a double and scored on a single by Ellsworth.
Jefferson-Morgan made it 2-0 in the third when Robinson singled, stole second, went to third on a fly out and scored on another Ellsworth single.
The Rockets capped the scoring in the fifth when Dayten Marion singled, stole second and scored on Dehoet’s single.
Adams, who walked one and struck out three, did the rest.
Avella had a golden opportunity in the top of the sixth when it loaded the bases on three consecutive singles to start the inning, but Adams got a pop out to shortstop Marion, a pop out to first baseman Brenton Barnhart and then a groundout to Marion to escape the jam unscathed.
“Drew had a lot of first-strike pitches,” Curtis said. “He was ahead in the count most of the time. He has really good movement on his curveball and his slider. His control was good and he keeps the ball down.”
All that was left was the celebration for Curtis, who wasn’t sure how many of his players or coaches were aware it was his 400th win.
“More of them knew than I thought apparently,” Curtis said. “They had a big banner ready and then they hit me with the Gatorade.”
The Rockets entered Wednesday in fifth place in the section behind first-place Greensburg Central Catholic (3-0), Avella, Carmichaels (4-1) and West Greene (2-2).
“The pitching in this section is good,” Curtis said. “Every team has two, maybe three good pitchers. You have to take what you can get. When you get a single you’ve got to steal second, you’ve got to bunt them up or score on a single or score on a fly ball.
“It’s hard to score in bunches in this section.”
The Rockets were scheduled to play the Eagles again at Avella on Wednesday.
“I’ll celebrate at home by having a nice supper tonight,” Curtis said with a chuckle. “Then I’ll sit back and get my lineup ready for tomorrow.”