The Gehlen Catholic baseball team jumped in front of South O’Brien with a 10-run first inning and never looked back on their way to a 15-6 win on Wednesday night.
The Jays had been struggling at the plate losing their first two games of the week. The 10-run first inning got things back on the right track for every single player in the lineup. Head coach Loi Kraft says his guys needed to be more aggressive at the plate, and they were in that first inning.
Alex Peters got his first start of the season on the mound and worked through just over three innings while only allowing two hits and striking out five. Coach Kraft says confidence and composure are key for Peters, and he showed that throughout the night.
After that, things seemed to fly off the rails for the Jays. Gehlen went up 12-0 in the top of the fourth inning and seemingly coasted their way through the end of the game. They allowed two runs in the fourth and three in the fifth to prevent them from mercy-ruling South O’Brien. Coach Kraft says the late inning mishaps were due to the guys getting overconfident, and that will become a problem in many games this season if not addressed quickly.
The Jays improved to 4-5 on the season with a 2-1 War Eagle Conference record. The Jays host Harris-Lake Park on Friday to continue the conference schedule.
