There’s just something special about the third inning for the JC Brager American Legion seniors baseball team.
JC Brager (Lincoln Southeast) drilled Anderson Ford (Lincoln North Star) for eight runs in the third inning in Wednesday's regular-season meeting, so it should come as no surprise that when facing Anderson Ford for the second day in a row, JC Brager knew exactly what to do.
Whether déjà vu or destiny, JC Brager roared out to another eight-run third inning on Thursday night in claiming a 9-0, five-inning victory at Sherman Field in the opening round of the Mike Peterson/Coach K Tournament.
“The same thing happened yesterday where we had an eight-run third inning, so when the pitcher started struggling a little bit, we just recognized it and started having fun,†JC Brager pitcher Jacob Aldridge said.
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Before the third-inning explosion occurred, Aldridge kept his team in front thanks to a stellar pitching performance. After allowing a leadoff single to open the second inning, he pitched out of trouble with four consecutive strikeouts, not even allowing a dropped third strike to shake his cool.
Aldridge finished with seven strikeouts while allowing just four baserunners.
“We got off to a little bit of a slow start on offense, but defensively we did a really good job and Jacob threw a really good game,†JC Brager coach Montana Jones said. “His pitching performance really helped us finally get going offensively in the third inning.â€
It took a whole lot of patience from JC Brager to score in the third inning, its eight runs coming on four hits, four walks and a hit by pitch. Ethan Steer scored the first run of the inning after reaching on a walk, and he also ended the inning’s scoring with a two-RBI triple to deep center field.
JC Brager finished with just four hits, but Jones was happy with his team’s ability to put together quality at-bats.
“Those are team at-bats, you don’t care how you get on, you just get on base and let the next guy do his job and then it starts to trickle down,†Jones said.
The win marks JC Brager’s fifth in a row after opening the season with a loss, and momentum will be important as Peterson Tournament play continues this weekend. Jones was happy that Aldridge could go the distance in order to save arms for the remaining tournament games, such as a tough contest against Papillion La-Vista South on Friday night.
“We just played our third game of the week and we’re probably going to play six total,†Jones said. “When you have to play that many games in a week, you have to be efficient on the mound.â€
Games will continue Friday at Sherman Field and Den Hartog, beginning at 10 a.m.