Mar 30, 2022
Staff file photo / Brian Yauger Jackson-Milton junior Billy Sloan fires a pitch to the plate during a game against Western Reserve last season.
NORTH JACKSON — The “fountain of youth” is alive and well for Jackson-Milton baseball.
With just one senior on this year’s squad, the Blue Jays will rely heavily on their talented group of underclassmen, as the team looks to build on last season’s 21-3 campaign.
“There’s going to be a learning curve,” said head coach Matt Ruby. “But all the guys that return from last year have kind of set the tone — they know what we want from our practices and based on our scrimmages so far, they’re feeling good.”
As the team’s lone senior, catcher Logan Sokol knows that his younger teammates will be looking to him, especially early in the season.
But as catcher and the primary marshall of the team’s fielding and defense, he’s no stranger to that responsibility. Also, having been an underclassman himself, he knows what to expect.
“You have to expect that there are going to be mistakes from everybody at some point, but how we build from those mistakes and talk each other up from messing up, compared to a team talking someone down is what makes us different from everyone else,” Sokol said. “We are family day-in and day-out. I think that even though we have (young players), we’re all caring for one another and even if we mess up, we’ll get the next one.”
Despite the youth, the talent is there for Jackson-Milton, as evidenced by the team’s No. 15 ranking in the Division IV Ohio Baseball Coaches Preseason Poll.
Ruby said he expects the team’s pitching to be strong with returners in junior Billy Sloan and Aaron Romigh. Those two will lead the Blue Jays’ rotation, but the team also will have freshmen Drew Sloan and James Croyle to add to the mix.
“Our pitching is going to be our strong point,” Ruby said. “Our guys, they know the expectations. They have great leadership and we’ll just go from there.”
Fielding and defense were a strength for Jackson-Milton last season. According to Ruby, the Blue Jays went the first six games without committing an error.
Sophomore Cayden Mitchell is one of the couple returning infielders, and juniors Owen McDevitt and Aiden Pugh both return in the outfield, as well. However, the Blue Jays likely will start a freshman at centerfield and a freshman at third base whenever Romigh is pitching. Romigh will be at third base whenever he’s not on the mound.
“One thing we pride ourselves on, especially as coaches, is defense,” Ruby said. “Last year, that senior class, they already had a winning mentality. They knew how to win close games. It’s going to be interesting to see how we react when we’re in close games. … If we can pitch and we can field it, I think we’ll be alright.”
Jackson-Milton’s first couple games of the season have been canceled due to the recent winter weather, but the team is next scheduled to face John F. Kennedy at 5 p.m. Thursday. The weather has also forced the team to practice indoors in the school gymnasium some days.
“(The coaches) don’t want to be indoors anymore than (the players) want to be,” Ruby said. “We try to change things up a little bit and get outside when we can, but we just try to stay fresh and stick with our normal stuff every day and hope for nice weather.”
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