James Clemens seniors ready for Bob Jones
MADISON- The final baseball games of the season start tonight at 6 pm at Bob Jones as the Patriots host James Clemens in game 1 of the three game series. A doubleheader is scheduled for tomorrow starting at 4 pm at James Clemens.
Players and coaches will play these final games like an area title or even a state championship is on the line. But it isn’t. Both teams will miss the playoffs.
Both teams come in off senior night victories using lineups filled with senior players, some who have not played much this season. But the seniors played well enough to beat ranked opponents impressively.
Bob Jones beat Madison Academy 8-1 and James Clemens beat Austin 4-2.
James Clemens has 12 seniors.
Notable among them are leading hitter and pitcher Garrett Brown, a Wallace St. signee. Brown is hitting .397 and leads the team in hits, RBI’s, and runs. On the mound he is 5-2 with 70 strikeouts. Mississippi St. signee Jordan Anderson is surging and hitting .328. Shortstop Jared Barnes, a Bevill-Fayette-CC commit, is hitting .307 and is a relief pitcher. Grant Hopkins played second base and Hill McCrory pitched and played first on senior day.
Grayson Koesters, coming back from a labrum injury in his throwing shoulder, pitched one scoreless inning and played first base.
Other seniors playing on senior day were Carter Richardson, Charlie Crider, Thomas Demirjian, and Tyson Ward.
Jake Elder and Immanuel Wilder are seniors but have not played this season.
“A lot of these guys have been playing varsity baseball for four years and have put a lot into this program,” said James Clemens baseball coach Cory Hamrick. “They have poured a lot of heart and sweat into this program. What I have is multiple guys with 3.5 or higher GPA and 27 to 30 on ACT so these guys are destined for great things. They are all ready for the next step in life. Statistics tell us most of these guys won’t play baseball professionally. For the most part we have had five or six seniors in our everyday lineup.”
In area games so far Hamrick has used Garrett Brown, Zach Toth, and Cannon Clark as his starters.
Some underclassmen who have played well for Hambrick include catcher Tommy Crider hitting around .300 and Dylan Kridner.
“We know the playoffs are out of the picture but this is a big rival so it doesn’t really matter what the record is because it’s a cross town rivalry and bragging rights are on the line. These guys take a lot of pride in that.”
Last year Bob Jones posted 6-5 and 2-1 wins over James Clemens to punch their ticket to the playoffs so the Jets will be looking to turn the tables this year.
