Talented, young Jackson baseball learning from growing pains in early action

Jackson baseball, at its core, is incredibly inexperienced together. Whether that be from youth or little play time, there isn’t a ton of varsity tenure in the Indians’ batting order.

Early in the year, that hasn’t been too evident. Jackson’s gotten some big victories already this season, including a win over Christian Brothers and a conference-opening win over Dexter.

But in the Indians’ 15-1 loss against Farmington on Wednesday, with Jackson opening its 2024 home slate matching up with one of the top teams in Class 5, it couldn’t have been more evident.

“Farmington is a good team,” second-year Indians coach Josh Roach said. “They swung the bat really well, and the guy they had on the mound I felt threw the ball very, very well.

“He exposed a lot of things that we need to work on and we need to get better at.”

Farmington junior Aiden Redmond diced up the Indians on Wednesday, striking out seven batters while allowing just one hit, two walks and a hit-by-pitch, allowing one unearned run.

The consensus breakdown is that, while Redmond didn’t come in too hot on the radar, he kept the Indians unbalanced with his fastball.

That uncertainty, to a young, inexperienced team, can create a lot of discomfort in the batter’s box, and you could certainly see some of that on Wednesday afternoon.

This is largely expected for Jackson, fresh off graduating a nearly double-digit 2023 class a year ago that helped redefine the bounds for Jackson baseball.

Days like Wednesday can help further down the line as Farmington gave those younger Indians a little bit of a punch in the mouth in their home opener.

“We told them that,” Roach said. “We knew that there would be a few bumps in the road, but it's a talented group.

“They're extremely hardworking and they have a really good mindset.”

Jackson’s pitching staff is incredibly deep, with a rotation that can compete with just about anybody in the state.

Senior pitcher John-Paul Sauer is set to make his return soon, and the Indians’ top starters alone are enough to put away most teams in the area.

That being said, Wednesday saw a little bit of a humbling for the Indians as they got hit up and down the lineup, not just from one pitcher or one batter.

Jackson threw four pitchers before it could even begin to stagnate some of Farmington’s momentum, and by the time Brynson Garcia came in to hold off the Knights, it was too late.

Farmington’s Jackson McDowell blasted a three-run bomb in the second inning to double the Knights’ lead to 6-0, and they just continued to pound the rock en route to a huge win.

After such a strong start to the year for Jackson, with its only prior loss coming in a 4-2 game against Fort Zumwalt West last week, there are some key takeaways for the Indians.

“Today, we had a little bit of a scuffle,” Roach said. “And that's gonna happen. We're gonna get hit around a little bit and give up some runs.

“Offensively, we need to have our pitcher’s back a little bit. Our pitchers, we want them to always be on, but the reality is that there are games when we're gonna get hit around a little bit, like today.”

They’ll look to recoup and learn from their shortcomings with short notice, preparing to reload for Thursday’s home matchup with Northwest.

The Lions, an even .500 on the year at 3-3 following a Tuesday loss to Festus, serve as a key fixture in Jackson’s first district matchup of the year.

“This was a little bit of a hiccup,” Roach said. “But we'll be back at it tomorrow ready to go.”