The Jaguars JVR baseball team split a doubleheader with the Humboldt Wildcats on Monday in Humboldt. Game 1 was a 3-2 loss and Game 2 was a 7-1 win.

The opener was a disappointing loss for the Jags. They left 2 runners on base in the 1st, 4th and 5th innings, but could not get a key hit to knock in the runners. The team also struck out looking 5 times.  

Tucker Ollinger went the distance in the 5 inning game, giving up 3 runs, all in the 2nd inning. He struck out 6 Wildcats. He gave up 2 hits, and walked 5.

Things were looking bright for the Jaguars to start Game 1, when Josiah Hefley reached on an error on the first pitch of the game, and Ollinger got a base hit on the 2nd pitch of the game. But the remaining batters were unable to punch them home to score.

The Jags lone run in the 2nd came when Colton Bachel walked to lead off the inning, and then advanced to 2nd, 3rd, and Home, all on passed balls. The other Jags run came in the 4th, when Carter Lloyd walked and after advancing on a passed ball, scored on a Jackson Bintz single. August Akins led the team in hitting, with 2 hits in his 2 plate appearances.

“That game was a bit frustrating,” said Coach Fritz. “We had more base runners than the Wildcats, but we just couldn’t string them together to manufacture runs.”

Game 2 went better for the visitors. It was shortened to 4 innings due to the high actual and feels like temperature. The team continued their ways of Game 1, by leaving runners on base, 2 in the 1st, and 3 in the 2nd, and 3 in the 3rd. But they were able to push runs across in this game, to take the 7-1 win.

August Akins and Colton Bachel each pitched 2 innings, and kept the Wildcats off balance. Akins gave up 1 run on 2 hits. He got into trouble in the 2nd when he walked 4 consecutive batters. But he was able to strike out a batter for the 2nd out, and induce a fly ball, with the bases loaded, to pitch out of the jam.

Bachel came in to relieve in the 3rd, and allowed no runs. In the 4th, he struck out the first 2 batters, then walked the next two batters, and then struck out the following batter for the 3rd out.

Six of the ten Jaguar batters scored runs, with lead off batter Jackson Bintz being the only player to score 2. Bintz walked and came around to score in the 1st, and then had an RBI single in the 4th, and then eventually scored on an August Akins base hit.

The Wildcat pitchers struggled hitting the strike zone. The Jaguars only had 3 base hits, 2 by Akins, but walked 11 times.

“I want to give a shout out to Colby Peterson,” said Coach Fritz. “He had a well played game outside the bat. In the 3rd inning, after walking and stealing 2nd, he did a delayed steal of 3rd, on his own, when he noticed the catcher softly lobbing the ball back to the pitcher after a pitch. He showed good situational awareness. Then while playing 3rd, a position he rarely plays, but put there to allow another player to get out of the heat, he fielded a ball at 3rd base, while the Wildcats had a runner at 2nd with 1 out. He fielded the ball cleanly, stared down the runner at 2nd to force him back, and then made a good throw to first to record the out. He did everything perfectly. It is so nice to see kids with their heads in the game, making nice plays when it was so hot and easy to check out.”

With the split with Humboldt, the team’s record goes to 7-4 on the year.