The Green Bobcats secured their third consecutive SOC I Championship with a 7-2 victory over Ironton St. Joseph. Jon Knapp delivered a standout performance with 10 strikeouts, while Riddick Jenkins and Gabe Blevins contributed five hits collectively.
FRANKLIN FURNACE ā Coaches harp on the so-called ālittle thingsā often.
Thatās because maintaining the concentration and focus to do a job for seven innings, when factoring in the different elements that factor in a baseball game, can be more difficult that it appears on paper.
The Green Bobcatsā baseball program clearly executed on the little things at the highest of levels in all three phases throughout the 2026 season in SOC I play and beyond.
That execution resulted in Green winning its third straight SOC I Championship on Monday, as the Bobcats took down Ironton St. Joseph 7-2 Monday evening at Green High School in Franklin Furnace behind a 10-strikeout complete gamer from Jon Knapp on the bump and five hits between junior sluggers Riddick Jenkins and Gabe Blevins offensively.
Green, who improved to 17-2 on the year while winning the Southern Ohio Conferenceās Division I with a record of 7-1, won by again executing in all facets.
Along with Knappās performance on the bump, the Bobcat defense committed just one error while the Green offense put itself in position to score five runs off of three St. Joe passed balls, a balk and an error.
āGreat win,ā Green head coach David Shoupe said. āWe came out and gutted it out (on Thursday). Thatās just been this team all year. Iām very excited. Weāre all excited. We wanted (the league title) to ourselves, and thatās what we got. Three in a row, baby.ā
āItās the little things that beat us (on Monday),ā Ironton St. Joe head coach Nick Medinger said. āWe hung right with them through our pitching and defense and hitting, it was just the little things that beat us.ā
Following a leadoff single by Ironton St. Josephās Mason Weber to begin the second inning, Weber, who advanced to third following a failed pickoff attempt and a groundout, scored on an error as Blake Medingerās grounder got past the infield and rolled down the third base line, giving Ironton St. Joe a 1-0 lead to play with.
Green countered later in the same frame.
Brennan Renison and Conner Blanton each combined to draw back-to-back walks to lead off the bottom of the second, and after a sacrifice bunt by Kase McIntyre, Jenkins, the leadoff batter in the Green order, hit a ball back up the middle of the diamond to score Renison standing up and Blanton sliding in, putting the Bobcats ahead by a 2-1 margin.
Jenkins combined with Blevins to collect all five of Greenās hits in the SOC I outright-clinching effort. The duo went 5-for-8 at the plate with a double and two RBI between them in doing so, with Blevins posting a .542 average and Jenkins a .458 in conference games.
āThatās why theyāre there,ā Shoupe said. āWeāve just got to load the table and let those guys do their job.ā
āIt feels great being able to contribute to the team,ā Blevins said. āWe just try to put the bat on the ball and get on base any way that we can.ā
The Green Bobcats won the SOC I Championship by executing well in all phases of the game, culminating in a 7-2 victory over Ironton St. Joseph.
Jon Knapp was pivotal with 10 strikeouts, while Riddick Jenkins and Gabe Blevins combined for five hits in the game.
The Green Bobcats finished the 2026 season with a record of 17-2 and a 7-1 record in SOC I play.
The Green Bobcats clinched the SOC I title on Monday evening with their victory over Ironton St. Joseph.
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Green then added to its lead again in the third ā as with one down, Knapp walked, then advanced on a two-base passed ball that would be followed by a sacrifice fly by Noah McMackin, leading to a 3-1 margin after three innings of work for the Bobcats.
Weber again got things started for St. Joe in the top of the fourth, as the five-hole hitter and teammate Carson Willis combined for back-to-back walks and moved into scoring position after Knapp was called for two balks in the inning.
But after Brayden Nealās sacrifice fly to score Weber, Knapp countered by fanning Medinger on a full count to work out of trouble.
āJon kept his composure and made adjustments,ā Shoupe said. āHe kept filling the zone up and let the defense make the plays behind him. We put some runs on the board too. That was thanks to a few plays that they made, but thatās baseball. Weāll take the runs any way we can get them.ā
āJonās done a great job all year and heās been big at keeping teams from scoring with how well heās pitching,ā Jenkins said. āWhen they are able to put the ball in play, we know that we need to do all we can to make plays around him.ā
Green then matched St. Joeās run in the fourth with one of its own in the bottom half on a two-out error on a pickoff attempt to increase its lead to a 4-2 gap. The Bobcats then tacked onto its lead, grabbing a 7-2 advantage after five as two additional passed balls and a balk call on Willis, St. Joeās starting hand, allowed Shoupeās group to tack on three additional runs to its advantage.
āIn the scorebook, we actually were nearly even with them hitting-wise (5-4), but you canāt put guys on base through free walks and you canāt throw balls away or let balls get by you with guys on base,ā Medinger said. āThe little things beat us.ā
Green now sits just three wins away from reaching a 20-win season with five games left to play. The Bobcats host Fairview (Ky.) on Tuesday before a big nonconference bout at Ironton on Thursday.
āHopefully, we can just keep on moving,ā Shoupe said. āItem 1 on the checklist, winning the SOC, is done. Itās time to start working toward districts now.ā