PREP BASEBALL: DeMotte deals in first varsity start as Goshen eases by Jimtown

GOSHEN — A junior varsity start for Goshen sophomore Aaron DeMott over the weekend was just to get the feet wet. The real opportunity was saved for Wednesday.

After throwing a no-hitter in his JV start last Saturday, DeMott dealt again at the Goshen Baseball/Softball Complex Wednesday against Jimtown. In five innings and 67 pitches of work, the underclassman allowed three hits and struck out seven in a spotless showing on the scoreboard. It was his first-ever varsity appearance.

“He looked awesome,” head coach JJ DuBois said. “That was kind of our goal the whole preseason was get him a JV start because I just wanted to get him settled in for the year. We were planning on using him [today] so it was nice for him to get a quality start out here.”

Goshen defeated Jimtown 11-3 Wednesday evening to improve to 3-1 on the season and send the Jimmies to 2-2. The RedHawks beat Jimtown last season on the road 10-3. This showing was not as close as the scoreboard showed, despite both teams tallying six hits.

The hosts scored in all but the second inning, taking a 7-0 lead after five innings before DeMott left the mound and Goshen briefly let their opponents back into the game. A four-run inning in the bottom of the sixth put the game out of reach for an easy seventh inning.

Baserunning was a mix of good and bad, but Goshen had no trouble plating runs nonetheless.

“Aggressive,” DuBois said when asked about the decision-making on the basepath. "Which, I tell them I want them to run the bases fearlessly. I want them to put pressure on teams and make them throw it around. Sometimes it worked, oftentimes it did not. Braxton [Cline] didn’t tag up on one and he just totally forgot how many outs there were. I told him he gets one mistake all year and hopefully it’s just one. He does everything else for us so well though.”

Cline, one of the more dangerous and consistent hitters in northern Indiana, finished the day 1-of-2 at the plate, driving in two runs and also scoring twice. He scored runners off a sacrifice fly to the wall in the first inning and took a bases-loaded walk in the sixth. A run also scored when his liner to shortstop glanced off a defender’s glove for an error.

Goshen led 2-0 after one inning. Following Cline’s sac fly was Colton Rapp, who scored off a bouncer to shortstop off the bat of Bryson Wilson. Wilson made it safely to first and Rapp touched home while Jensen Meikle distracted the defense with his self-inflicted pickle between third and short.

He would get into another pickle later on between first and second, helping Goshen plate another run.

“We talk about getting into the pickle as long as you can so we can score the run,” DuBois said, taking blame for the second instance. “All that chaos going on, [Meikle’s] got no idea what else is going on but we just preach them to stay in it, stay in it, stay in it. He did a good job.”

Jimtown starter Landon Garretson struck out Goshen’s bottom of the order in the second but allowed another run in the third before losing his no-hitter in the fourth. Sophomores Manny Pizana and Brycen Eaton collected base-knocks in the fourth to give Goshen a 5-0 lead.

DuBois credited the baserunning in that instance.

“We’re also trying to test some stuff like that on the base path and see what we are capable of,” DuBois said. “We were stealing bases really well and I think we had some really good jumps. That’s going to have to be a staple for us if we’re going to be successful.”

DeMott was pulled after five innings and holding a 7-0 lead. Junior Deivis Freitez came in for relief but was flagged for three balks and an error on a throw to first, helping the Jimmies score thrice. Goshen would add four runs in the bottom of the frame to make up for it before junior David Castillo came out and shut things down in the seventh.

“Just to manage [him] honestly,” DuBois said about DeMott’s exit. “Early in the year, I don’t want to overdo it with pitching. We thought we had a game where at least we felt like we’re in control of how things are going. Now, we lost it for a second, but we thought we were in a pretty good spot so we got some other guys that hadn’t thrown in.”

Rapp finished the game 1-of-3 at the dish, driving in two runs and also scoring twice. His triple screamed off the bat and scored Cline from first in the fifth inning.

“It’s huge; someone has to protect [Cline],” DuBois said about his cleanup hitter. “Colton does such a good job for the most part. When he doesn’t try to swing too hard or get big, he does a really good job. Sometimes he gets too confident and swings out of his shoes but teams are going to figure out that Braxton is going to get his hits so they’re going to try and pitch around him. If we have guys that can do damage behind him, we’ll be in good shape. Hopefully that’s what Colton can do.”

Senior Bray Hoag appeared with a boot on his right foot Wednesday. Hoag was recently injured, meaning Goshen is thinner on the pitching side.

“We’re still hopeful that Bray will maybe be back by next week and see where he’s at, but if not, we really like what Aaron can do. He’s kind of our other starter there. I think he’ll work himself back in. I don’t know if JV is going to see him much more.”

Goshen returns to the diamond this Friday when the RedHawks resume play against Elkhart. The Lions had opened up a 4-1 lead over Goshen in the top of the fifth before play was paused due to weather. The game will resume Friday at 5:30 p.m. at the Goshen Baseball/Softball Complex. The RedHawks will then travel to LaPorte for a doubleheader Saturday, starting at 11 a.m.

PREP BASEBALL

Jimtown – 0; 0; 0; 0; 0; 3; 0 – 3; 6; 3

Goshen – 2; 0; 1; 2; 2; 4; / - 11; 6; 1

Records: Goshen (3-1), Jimtown (2-2)