Reliable arms push Jackson past Troy-Buchanan in baseball season opener

The Jackson baseball team struck early and often on Sunday afternoon, putting three runs on the board in the first inning and cruising to an 8-2 victory against Troy-Buchanan.

In the first game at the helm of the Indians, coach Josh Roach leaned on pitching depth when starter Caden Bogenpohl reached his pitch count in the third inning.

It paid off, with junior Carson McDaniel coming in relief during the fourth inning and willing the Indians through a scoreless four innings to notch a big season-opening win.

“Carson McDaniel came in and just pitched beautifully,” Roach said. “He did everything that we asked him to. He threw strikes, he changed speeds. He was a locating and the Troy guys just had a hard time with that.

“He's coming from the left side, [Bogenpohl’s] coming from the right, and the speed differential from those two guys – Troy just had a really hard time covering that and Carson just caught them up. It was a great job by Carson.”

Jackson’s opening three runs all came on one hit – a double from senior Dylan Hayman – to answer an early 1-0 deficit with a 3-1 reversal, scoring more runs in the first inning than Troy-Buchanan managed in the full seven innings.

Hayman’s three-RBI double saw him finish with the team lead in runs batted in, while classmate Baden Hackworth finished with two RBIs in the game as well.

In three innings of work, starting pitcher Caden Bogenpohl threw 63 pitches before exiting the game, striking out five and earning a single run in the process.

Bogenpohl, a Missouri State commit, became the talk of the town after clocking in at 95 mph on the mound and has become a reliable option on the mound for Jackson in the process.

“He did a fine job,” Roach said. “He wasn't his best by any means, but he kept us right where we needed to be. We had him on a pitch count, so when he got to his pitch count, we had to make a change.”

Arm management becomes a big issue for the Indians, as they play both Fort Zumwalt North and Hannibal on Monday afternoon in St. Louis. Playing three games of baseball in two days is strenuous for any pitching staff, and it’s no different in high school.

“Any time you're playing that many games, you have to have arms to be able to cover those innings,” Roach said. “That's one thing that we're blessed with in our programs. We have a lot of guys that throw, and they throw the ball well.

“Our top three guys would be probably number ones on any team around our area, and maybe in the state of Missouri, too.”

With the season just getting underway, these first few games in St. Louis serve as a key proponent in the new skipper getting his foot in the door.

Roach wants his team to understand its potential, and he stresses the importance of the team bond in getting the team to where it needs to be.

“It's about all of us as a team and how we're going to get to where we want to go,” Roach said. “They're a great group of young men that have worked really hard to get to where they are right now.

“As long as we stay committed to each other and committed to giving our best at all times, then, I mean, there's really nothing that we couldn't accomplish this year. There are going to be challenges, but we have definitely the talent to go deep into the playoffs. There's no doubt about that.”