Diamond Hurricanes Win Two, Lose Two

The Jasper County-Monticello High School baseball team added more wins to its season total late last week but fell in two region contests on Monday and Tuesday.

The Diamond Canes completed the season sweep of Jackson High School last Thursday with a high-scoring 17-11 victory. Coach Brady McMichael’s team put runs on the scoreboard in all but one inning and pounded out 16 hits on its way to the win.

Mac Barton helped pace the offense with a grand slam, four hits overall and an eye-catching 10 RBI. Hunter Hays had three hits and Justyn Fields added two. Jasper County-Monticello also took advantage of several free passes as Graeme Williams, Baylor Edge and Cole Hays each drew two walks.

“It was our most complete game at the plate all season,” coach Brady McMichael said. “Mac really stood out at the plate.”

Myles Proctor worked five innings and recorded six strikeouts while Edge pitched the final two with three strikeouts.

The Canes scored two runs in the top of the first to get the contest started. After Jackson tied the game in the bottom of the first, Jasper County-Monticello scored two more in the second and five more in the third. A three-run fourth inning was followed by two runs in the sixth and three more in the seventh.

The host Red Devils climbed back into the contest with five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning but simply could not stop the Canes from pushing more runs across.

McMichael said one area about the game that concerned him was how his team allowed Jackson to hang around and climb back into the contest.

“Anytime we are in a situation like that we need to put the game away,” the coach said.

Jasper County-Monticello defeated Creekside Christian Academy 11-1 on Friday in a home game. The Canes needed just five innings to win on the mercy rule.

Fields, Williams and Cole Hays each had two hits. Williams and Cole Hays both drove in two runs.

Trent Maddox earned the win going all five innings with a strikeout.

“We did a better job of taking care of business and closing the game out,” McMichael said.

Jasper County-Monticello scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning. After Creekside pushed one across in the top of the third, the Canes answered with four runs in the third and three more in the fourth. McMichael’s team closed out the game with a run in the bottom of the fifth inning.

The Canes fell to Dodge County 3-0 on Monday in a home region contest. The game was scoreless going into the top of the sixth inning when some errors hurt Jasper County-Monticello.

McMichael said Cole Hays had a solid performance on the pitcher’s mound working six innings with seven strikeouts.

The Canes also dropped a 5-2 home region game to Lamar County on Tuesday. Trailing 4-2 in the bottom of the sixth, the team had two additional runners in scoring position but could not get them home.

Fields had two hits on Tuesday while Edge drew a pair of walks.

Edge worked 5.1 innings while striking out three batters.

The game was scoreless through four innings. Lamar County scored one run in the top of the fifth and added three more in the top of the sixth. The Canes cut the lead in half in the bottom of the sixth but could get no closer.