Grissom blanks Bob Jones with 9-0 win

MADISON – The wind whipped the American Flag planted beyond the outfield fence in center at Bob Jones High School last Saturday morning.

Small drops of rain flecked off the bleachers covered in a soft dusting of yellow pollen as fans peppered the sun-faded bleachers at the school on Hughes Road.

It was Kids Day at Bob Jones as the Patriots took time to visit with several small and excited fans before the game.

As the players made their way to their respective positions, the youngsters ran out with the Bob Jones team for the National Anthem.

The scene of the big players and the future next to them with the expansive field of green in front of them had a picturesque magic to it.

In a world with so much negative, this moment of time and this game can bring some peace to an onlooker.

If the views didn’t do it, the Bob Jones hot dogs seem to make the afternoon even better. The visiting Grissom Tigers cared nothing about the beautiful day at Bob Jones and wanted only to crush last year’s 7A State Champions.

Grissom did just that with a 9-0 blanking of the Patriots who struggled to generate offense.

The Tigers wasted no time in the top of the first inning with a 2-run home run by the left fielder Josh Burrell who smacked the ball over the fence in left.

Down 2-0, Bob Jones was unable to answer in the bottom of the first despite getting a runner on base when Cole Spanier reached on a throwing error.

When the Patriots’ right fielder Dylan Adkins stepped up to the plate in the first with two out, he appeared poised to hack into the Grissom lead with one swing.

Adkins got his pitch and cracked it straight toward left field, but the Tiger shortstop was there to halt the beginning of a rally with a pop of his glove.

The Bob Jones starting pitcher Cam Martin got back on the beam in the second inning with three up and three down to run the Patriot hitters right back out there in the bottom of the second.

The Patriot second baseman Robert Chatman gave his team a glimmer of hope with a one-out double in the second inning, but he would end up stranded by Grissom starting pitcher Carter Edwards who was dominant.

Edwards would go 7 scoreless innings where he allowed just three hits and three walks with six strikeouts.

The game got away from Bob Jones in the top of the third inning when Grissom racked up seven runs for a healthy lead that the Patriots were unable to challenge.

The Tigers burned Bob Jones with single after single in a third inning that chased Martin from the game as pitcher Josh Wilhide was brought in to stop the bleeding with no outs.

Wilhide was able get three outs eventually with a lot of game to play.

Despite being on the brink of a run-rule for the remainder of the contest, Bob Jones kept it at a 9-0 defect the rest of the way thanks to good defense and Wilhide holding Grissom scoreless over the final four innings.