JV Bomber Baseball

5/1--JBS 3, Lutheran South 1

Six in a row! Adam Blumoff was the star of the game. He was 3 for 3 with 2 RBI's. He pitched five shutout innings before being relieved by John Abbott, who gave up an unearned run in the sixth. Adam Guller was solid behind the plate and almost recorded the first runner caught stealing at second base--until the ball was dropped, nullifying the call. Will DePlanty had a hit and a hit-by-pitch, the seventh time he has been hit this season, an unofficial JBS JV Baseball team record. If this is the last game the team plays this season (lots of rain forecast for the next few days), it certainly was a fine finish.

 

4/23--JBS 14, MICDS 4

Five in a row! John Abbott started and finished the game. He outpitched the Rams hurlers, recording 7 strikeouts while giving up just 4 hits and 3 earned runs. Meanwhile, the Bombers broke open a close game in the 4th inning, aided by 6 walks and 3 hit-by-pitch, as the Rams relievers could not find the plate. Two long doubles by cleanup hitter Jack Dreesen and another strong game by leadoff batter Owen Sklansky (2-2, 2 stolen bases, 3 runs scored) highlighted the Bomber's offense. With two outs and Dreesen on third, Charlie Schoenecker hit an infield single that ended the game via the "mercy rule" in the bottom of the 5th inning. This was a great win for the resurgent Bomber JV team!

 

4/20--JBS 7, Clayton JV 3

Four in a row! The Bombers played their best baseball of the season and beat a good JV team.  Jack Dreesen started and pitched three effective innings. He helped his own cause by starting a nifty 1-6-3 double play in the second inning. Rahul Jasti relieved and baffled the Clayton hitters for three innings with his sweeping curveball. The hitting stars were once again Owen Sklansky and Aaron Guller. The former had three hits, five stolen bases, and scored four times.  Guller also had three hits, driving in 5 runs. It will be interesting to see how the improved Bombers fare against a strong MICDS team next week.

 

4/17--JBS 15, Lutheran North 0 (3 innings)

Another perfect game!  Adam Blumoff bested John Abbott by needing only 32 pitches to get 9 outs, while Abbott needed 33. Abbott contributed two hits to the offense, however, as did Owen Sklansky, Jack Dreesen, and Aaron Guller. North is the weakest team the Bombers will face all year, but it's still important to play good baseball and not sink to the oppositon's level--which the Bombers did in both games against the Crusaders.

 

4/16--JBS 18, Lutheran North 0 (3 innings)

John Abbott pitched a perfect game! Granted, it was only 3 innings due to the mercy rule, but it was an outstanding performance. 9 pitches, 3 strikeouts in the first inning. A total of 33 pitches, 8 strikeouts, 1 groundball out, 6-3. Meanwhile, the Bombers took the walks and hit the strikes. Owen Sklansky, Owen French, Aaron Guller, and Daniel Diehl all had multiple hit games. Lutheran North was a weak team, but the Bombers certainly did their part to put this game in the win column.

 

4/12--JBS 14, Clayton Freshmen 4

As Cardinal pitcher Joaquin Andujar was fond of saying, "youneverknow." After Wednesday's poorly played loss, the Bombers bounced back with a great game against Clayton. The team amassed 12 hits, and more importantly, committed zero errors. Pitchers Adam Blumoff and Aaron Guller struggled with control at times, but the defense always came through when the Greyhounds threatened to have a big inning. Lucas Bernstein had three hits to lead the team. Charlie Schoenecker had two, and Blumoff had the most critical blow, a walkoff blast to the fence with bases loaded and two outs in the 5th inning.

 

4/10--Priory 15, JBS 5

The Bombers will have to play better than this to win games. Four errors in the bottom of the 6th led to 5 runs and the 10 run rule against a good but not great Priory team. The only real highlight for the Bombers was the hitting of Jack Dreesen (2-2) and Adam Blumoff (3-3). Nine hits total and five runs should be enough to win many games, but the defense simply has to get better for the Bombers to beat competitive teams.

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4/9--Priory 3, JBS 1

The Bombers outhit the Rebels 7-5, but Priory turned three double plays and threw out runners at third and home to thwart Bomber rallies. Jack Dreesen was the hitting star with two doubles and the team's lone RBI. John Abbott pitched five strong innings in a losing cause. Adam Blumoff pitched the final two, striking out three of the seven batters he faced. This was a tight game with the Rebels superior defense determining the final outcome.

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4/5--JBS 15, Bishop DuBourg 8

The Bombers slugged their way to a much needed victory in this one. Leading 7-5 heading into the bottom of the 4th inning, the Bombers exploded for 8 runs to put the game out of reach. Four Bombers led the hit parade with multi-hit games: Owen Sklansky, Jack Dreesen, John Abbott, and Julius Hollander-Bodie. This game should give the JV Bombers some momentum heading into next week's conference showdown with Priory.

 

4/3--Westminster 17, JBS 0

Hopefully, this will be the Bombers worst loss of the year. Westminster is a super strong team, but the Bombers committed 12 errors!!! It will be difficult to beat any team when making that many errors. In search of a positive, catcher Charlie Schoenecker had a strong game behind the plate, blocking numerous balls in the dirt that prevented Wildcat runners from advancing. Otherwise, this is a game that will test the Bombers' resilience. The good news is that there are plenty of winnable games on the schedule going forward.

 

4/2--Westminster 16, JBS 9

The key theme word for this game was "gritty", and even though the Bombers lost, there were plenty of examples of "gritty" play. First and foremost was Aaron Guller's pitching performance. After suffering a slight leg strain in his previous at bat, Aaron took the mound and pitched through pain in the 3rd and 4th innings. Julius Hollander-Bodie, also made a "gritty" play in the field, diving and catching a ball in left center field to stifle a Westminster rally. The Bomber pitchers had trouble holding down the Wildcats scoring, however, giving up too many walks (8) that made the opponents' hits productive. The Bombers will take another shot at the perennial conference leaders tomorrow.

 

PRESEASON GAMES IN FLORIDA:

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3/29--Malvern (PA) Varsity 11, JBS JV 5

Without any JV teams available to play, the JV Bombers had to take on another strong varsity team. They did have the varsity battery of Ollie Brown pitching and Ziyaad Raza catching for the first four innings, and that helped. With two college Division 1 bound players and other big (literally) hitters in their lineup, however the PA team proved too much for the JV Bombers. That said, the team hung tough and played competitively for all 7 innings. Owen Sklansky continued his strong play with two hits and two runs scored. Freshmen outfielders Julius Hollander-Bodie, Niko Theodos, and Charlie Schoenecker all made good plays in the outfield. Owen French was flawless at second base as well, and the good defense was critical to holding down the hard-hitting Malvern lineup. Back home now, the JV Bombers should feel confident that they can compete with the best JV teams, starting with Westminster next week.

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3/26--Episcopal (PA) Varsity 11, JBS JV 1

For reasons too complicated to recount, the JV Bombers ended up playing a varsity team on Tuesday night. The outcome was predictable, but the Bombers kept their heads up and played hard. Will DePlanty led off the 3rd inning with a sharp single and later scored on a long rbi double by Jack Dreesen. John Butka continued his good hitting with a single, and Aaron Guller broke out of a mini-slump with his first hit in three games. The defense was a bit shaky at times--something to work on in the next few days before heading home for the start of the regular season.

 

3/25--JBS 11, Hackley (NY) 10

Adam Blumoff pitched 4 strong innings as the Bombers cruised to a 10-3 lead. The relief didn't fare so well, allowing Hackley to tie the score, 10-10. The Bombers rallied in the bottom half of the last inning, with Rahul Jasti delivering the winning run with an rbi hit over third base. Another highlight was the base running of lead off batter Owen Sklansky, who stole two bases and scored twice. While the JV Bombers certainly have plenty of room for improvement, it was good to win one.

 

3/24--Chestnut Hill (PA) 7, JBS 4

In their first outing of the year, the JV Bombers played a competitive game against a very good team from Pennsylvania. In the first inning Owen Sklansky led off with a hit, John Butka also singled, and Jack Dreesen drove them both in with a double in the gap. The Bombers scored two more runs in 4th aided by five walks. The bats were mostly silent after the 1st inning, however, with Butka and Will DePlanty collecting the only hits. Starting pitcher Butka and reliever John Abbott threw three innings each. Both pitchers gave up a few hits and walks but showed a good variety of pitches that should prove effective against future opponents. Overall, this was a good first step forward for the JV Bombers.