Rockets have tough act to follow after stellar 2017 season
The 2017 baseball campaign for Jefferson-Morgan was an unforgettable season, as the Rockets won Section 2-A, posted 12 wins and advanced to the Class A semifinals under veteran coach John Curtis.
Despite the departure of five senior starters, J-M will look to continue the upward trend in 2018.
鈥淚 thought we had something special with that team at the very beginning of the season,鈥� Curtis said. 鈥淲e had five experienced seniors and the guys were really hungry to win. The leadership on the team was off the charts. As the season went along, we just jelled and put together a run.鈥�
The Rockets went 12-7 overall last season and posted an 11-1 mark in section play.
J-M won the section outright on the last two days of the regular season with back-to-back wins against Class A powerhouse Greensburg Central Catholic.
After receiving a first-round bye, the Rockets defeated Sewickley Academy in the quarterfinals. They would then lose to GCC in the semifinals and dropped a consolation contest to Union to end their season.
With only 12 kids on their roster, the Rockets will need to be highly aggressive on offense to produce runs.
鈥淲e are going to have to manufactured runs this year,鈥� Curtis said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 have a lot of big boppers on our team and we are going to have to use our speed on the base paths. Just like with most of my teams, we are going to play small-ball and work on our bunts and squeezes.鈥�
Offensively, J-M will be anchored by senior newcomer Colten Davidson, senior Holden Headlee, juniors Jacob Broadwater and Devin Stoneking, and sophomore Zach Gamble.
鈥淭his is Colten蘑菇视频 first year playing baseball for us, but he is just a natural athlete,鈥� Curtis said. 鈥淗e will be our shortstop and lead-off hitter. Holden has gotten some varsity time for us the last couple of years and he is very fundamentally sound. Jacob, Devin and Zach are ballplayers and will need to be run-producers for us this season.鈥�
The Rockets do return an experienced duo of Broadwater and Stoneking to the mound this year.
鈥淏oth pitched in some high-leverage situations last year for us,鈥� Curtis said. 鈥淛acob is a good athlete and has a really strong arm. Devin is very composed out there on the mound and I think he has a really good curve and changeup. Both have improved a lot since last year and both will need to step up this season.鈥�
Joining J-M in Section 2-A will be GCC, Jeannette, Monessen, West Greene, Mapletown and Geibel Catholic.
鈥淕CC is always strong, year in and year out,鈥� Curtis said. 鈥淛eannette and Monessen bring a lot of kids back and will once again be competitive. West Greene and Mapletown are right there, and are getting better every year.
鈥淲e are young and will play some freshmen, but our expectations are still the same. We want to be competitive in the section and make the playoffs.鈥�
J-M starts section play on April 5 against Geibel at home.