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Jacksonville battles Highland in 1-0 loss
Projected major league pitcher shuts out Crimsons
His name rhymes with the way one might order their eggs cooked at Denny’s. But there’s nothing over easy about hitting Jake Odorizzi’s 95-mph, four-seam fastball.
Ask any one of the Jacksonville High baseball players who had to stand in against the Highland right-hander on Saturday. That is, if the line doesn’t say it all: In seven innings, Odorizzi shut the Crimsons out, 1-0, on three hits while walking one and striking out 14.
That was the second game the Crimsons played Saturday at Highland’s baseball jamboree. In the early game, Jacksonville routed Salem, 10-1, rapping out 14 hits. The bats didn’t make nearly as much noise in the second game.
“Odorizzi may very well be, by all accounts, the best pitcher Jacksonville High has ever faced,” said JHS skipper P.J. Moore, who added that Odorizzi committed to the University of Louisville last year, but might change his mind if he gets drafted by the major leagues as expected.
“He’s projected to go in the bottom of the first round,” said Moore, “and he’s probably looking at high six figures, as far as a signing bonus.”
Scouts from the Cleveland Indians and Kansas City Royals were on hand Saturday to watch Odorizzi mow the Crimsons down. But they saw more than just one good pitcher. Jacksonville junior Chaser Todd and freshman Caleb Howell combined to limit Highland (now 26-2) to one run on six hits, while striking out six and walking only one.
“They’re a pretty good hitting team,” said Moore, of Highland. “But our pitchers got ahead in the count and kept them off their stride today.”
Highland scored its only run in the first inning. Odorizzi, who leads his team with nine homers, led off with a single and later scored on a base hit by his catcher, Brent Kuper. Odorizzi spent the rest of the afternoon dazzling and bedeviling Jacksonville.
The Highland righthander improved his record to 8-0 with the win and kept his ERA at a perfect 0.00 for the season. He has walked five and struck out 95 batters in 50 innings.
“He’s the best high school pitcher I’ve ever seen in person,” said Moore. “I’ve seen Clayton from Chatham and I’ve seen Erickson from Chatham, and Odorizzi towers over those guys.”
Todd, Alex Meyer and J.T. Rowe were the only Jacksonville batters to get a hit off Odorizzi Saturday. Rowe’s hit was a double.
The Crimsons had little trouble with Salem (13-12) of the Apollo Conference, breaking open a 1-0 game with three runs in the third and four more in the fourth. Howell, Buddy Sexton, A.J. Barnes, Adam Bruner and J.T. Rowe all had at least two hits against Salem. Barnes hit his second homer of the season, a solo jack in the top of the fourth.
The Crimsons (16-13) close out their regular season with five games this week. On Monday, Jacksonville travels to take on Auburn, then hosts Central State Eight archrival Sacred Heart-Griffin on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Jacksonville will take on SHG again, in Springfield, then will travel to Quincy on Saturday to play Quincy Senior in a doubleheader.
Jacksonville gets its postseason under way on Wednesday, May. 21, when it plays Quincy Notre Dame at 7 p.m. at Chatham. The winner of that game will take on either Chatham Glenwood or Springfield Southeast at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 24.
