By Jeremy McDonald

jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com

JEFFERSON, Ore.–  Jefferson’s Jocelyn Hart and Sheridan’s Madison Blacketer each had themselves a nice little battle going on entering the fourth inning with the Lions leading 1-0.  Both pitchers and their defenses were dialed in and were rolling Thursday afternoon in the 3A Special District 2 match-up at Jefferson High School.

The lone run at the time was by way of a Jayden O’Neil sacrifice fly in the third inning with the Jefferson’s defense once more pitching another shutout inning in the top half of the fourth inning with Sheridan looking to do the same once more in the bottom half of the inning.

“It was going well, but I think we just need to keep our attitudes up and not get down too quickly.  We just need to relax and tomorrow have a good warm-up, good energy and start well,” Blacketer said of the start.

The Lions took advantage of the little opportunities that were presented to them in the bottom half of the fourth inning and slowly were able to bridge the hits, the walks and errors into six runs.  Turning the one-run ballgame into a 7-0 lead in their 10-0 win in five innings, tacking on the final three runs in the bottom half of the fifth to close out the game for their first league victory of the season.

“Big part for us,” Jocelyn Hart said of the inning. “This is a great start for us and I think it was a good game for us for whatever team we face next.  Keep your energy up and staying confident .  This (win) was good, we’ve been working hard at practice and coming in, winning a game.”

Hart struck out 13 and herself and her defense didn’t allow a hit. O’Neil led the offense with 4RBI’s as the senior, Hart and Amira Saad each had a hit in the game.  Blacketer had three strikeouts in four innings pitching as Sheridan will host Santiam Christian Friday at 4:30pm.  Jefferson will host Amity Friday at 4:30pm before heading to South Umpqua on Saturday.

Photos By Jeremy McDonald