The Jets had been there before.
They’d be willing to do it again.
Cade Van De Weg took the Jets as far as he could, but when he left the mound, he had no doubts that his teammates could keep the team’s sectional title hopes alive – even if it meant another game of extra innings.
Jamison Roach did just that, taking over for the senior, who was out of pitches, and leading the Jets to their first sectional title since 2016 with a 3-2 win in nine innings Monday.
The entire contest was tight from start to finish, but it was especially tense over the first five innings, with both Van De Weg and Bluffton starter Colton Arnold limiting the opposing side to just a handful of baserunners. Van De Weg was aided in his count of batters faced by two outstanding throws by Reece Hammond. The catcher threw out two runners and called a great game behind the plate.
The championship game entered the sixth inning scoreless and Cade Van De Weg looked to be cruising toward another quick inning when he got the first two batters out on eight pitches.
Abram Gehrett singled up the middle and Van De Weg couldn’t get Xzavier Driscoll to bite on a couple of two-strike pitches. Instead, Driscoll drew a walk and Cameron Williams made the Jets pay, smashing a double to the fence that scored both Driscoll and Williams.
After falling 19-0 to the Tigers in the regular season, Adams Central was still waiting to score their first run against Bluffton pitching when they came to the plate, now trailing 2-0, for the bottom of the sixth.
Ethan Funk worked a leadoff walk to get a rally started, but Van De Weg fell behind in the count and popped one up on the infield. The Bluffton third baseman drifted back to the edge of the dirt but could not account for the wind and the ball dropped, sending Funk into a hurried attempt to advance to second in time. The throw, however, was poor and Funk popped up from his slide and both runners advanced into scoring position on the double error.
Hayden Bluhm then drove in Funk and advanced Van De Weg to third on a sacrifice fly and Jacob Miller then doubled to tie the game at 2-2.
Reinvigorated by his trip around the bases, Van De Weg set the Tigers down 1-2-3 in the seventh, picking up strikeout number eight along the way.
Having finished the sixth on 115 pitches, the night was over for Arnold. The Tiger starter, who struck out six, gave way to Dawson Lee, who held the Jets at bay and sent the game into extra innings.
Facing the potential of yet another game that would need to be suspended due to darkness, the Jets did their best to end the game quickly. Van De Weg worked around a leadoff walk in the eighth by Trevor Smith to get an out from his final batter, setting up Jamison Roach for success.
Van De Weg was not done contributing quite yet, though. He worked a walk and then got into scoring position on another hit by Miller before taking third on a wild pitch. The AC senior was stranded there, and the game went into the ninth, after Lee got out of the jam for the Tigers.
Lee then led off the next inning and was promptly plunked by Roach, but he spent the rest of the inning watching Roach deal, striking out all three batters that followed in the top of the ninth.
With the top of the order up in the ninth, the Jets applied more and more pressure in the inning with the sun setting behind the water tower. Joey Everett walked and Max Byerly showed bunt on the first pitch, bouncing the ball to Lee, who could not handle it cleanly. His throw after finally corralling the ball was too late and he compounded his error by walking Funk to load the bases.
The situation prompted the Bluffton coaching staff to call on a new pitcher, but it was in vain, as the very first pitch to Van De Weg was in the dirt at his feet, past the catcher and Everett scored easily from third to win the game and the sectional trophy.
Roach was credited with the victory, having struck out five of the six batters he faced and seeing out the game. He also had a double at the plate.
Van De Weg was fittingly in the toughest spot when the game was on the line. He will be especially dangerous in a one-game regional Saturday.
That regional game will be against a Westview team that is just 14-11. A start time for Saturday has not been announced by the IHSAA, nor has the location of the contest been determined.
The last time the Jets won a regional title, Dalton Combs and crew were playing in 2013.
Wherever and whenever Saturday’s game is played, fans of the Jets can hear the contest on WZBD, 92.7 FM.
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