The Jackson Indians are rolling into the Class 6 District 1 Finals after dispatching both of their first two opponents with shutout victories. The two Ws extended the Tribe’s winning streak to 15 games and moved their record to an impressive 31-6 on the season. Jackson hasn’t lost a game since April 22nd.
The top-seeded Indians took on the Poplar Bluff Mules in the first round of the tournament and quickly made mince meat of them in five innings with a 10-0 victory on Wednesday. They followed that up with their third consecutive shutout (they beat Greenville 15-0 last week) with a 6-0 blanking of the Oakville Tigers in the Semifinal match.
In the opening game against Poplar Bluff Jackson struck first. Caden Bogenpohl got the scoring started in the first with an RBI triple and then Quinton Borders brought him home in the the best possible way. Borders jumped on the first pitch he saw and clubbed a frozen rope to left that cleared the wall for a two-run homer and a 3-0 Indian lead. It was one they wouldn’t relinquish.
Henley Parker added a sac fly in the bottom of the second to boost the lead to 4-0, but the real fireworks came in the fifth. Jackson put up six runs to nail the coffin shut and it started with Baden Hackworth, who singled in a run to get the game-ending rally going. Landon Watkins followed with one of his own and then Jack Wyatt doubled him home in the next at bat. Grant Dotson followed that up with an RBI triple and then Parker brought him home with a single to ice the game.
They had the run support, but Carson McDaniel certainly didn’t need all of it. He pitched a complete game shutout and allowed just one hit to usher the Indians into the next round of the tournament. The talented hurler allowed just one hit and a pair of walks while striking out seven.
Parker and Borders had big games with two RBI apiece and four other players each drove in a run. Jackson collected 11 hits, three walks and stole 11 bases. Cooper Rhodes had three swipes in the game.
That win sent the Tribe into the Semis against the Oakville Tigers, and once again, they didn’t disappoint. Rhodes got things started in the first inning with an RBI single, and with Bogenpohl on the mound, the Indians wouldn’t need any other support.
Bogey was phenomenal in this one, throwing a seven-inning no-hitter that featured… wait for it… 18 strikeouts. 18! His only blemish was a trio of walks, but he was literally unhittable. The 18 Ks is the third highest total of all time in MSHSAA history.
Jackson didn’t want to leave anything to chance though, so the offense went ahead and tacked on three more in the fourth inning to go up 4-0. And guess who got it done? Having the game of his life, Bogenpohl went ahead and cranked a two run bomb to left to put an exclamation point on his day.
But he wasn’t done yet. In the sixth he sent one to right that just kept going and going and going energizer bunny style for his second two-run homer of the game. That made it 6-0 and Bogey handled the rest of the game himself while toeing the rubber. Oh, and just for those keeping score at home, the two-homer day gave Bogenpohl eight on the year, which broke the single-season record in Jackson school history.
Have a day, young man.
Rhodes had a nice game with a 2-for-2 effort that featured an RBI, two walks and four steals, but outside of that it was the Bogenpohl show.
The win sent the Indians steamrolling into the finals and they will now take on third-seeded Mehlville in the finals on Saturday. The Panthers are 23-6 this season, so they’re not just going to roll over, but the Indians are clearly the favorite.
A win makes it 16 in a row and sends them to State with another District Title under their belt.
