Seniors deliver as J-M clinches share of title, gives Curtis 350th win

JEFFERSON – It’s been a bath Jefferson-Morgan baseball coach John Curtis has been waiting on for quite a while.
As self-inflicted mistakes mounted to create a visible, team-wide frustration after falling behind four runs through two-and-a-half innings, the Rockets were looking to their three senior captains – Eli Rafail, Issac Dean and Gage Clark – for answers.
Those answers came in the form of a single from Dean, followed by a double from Joe Headlee, to begin the six-run third inning and J-M went on to defeat Greensburg Central Catholic, 11-10, to clinch at least a share of the Section 2-A title and earn Curtis that well-deserved Gatorade bath.
It was the 350th career victory for the veteran Jefferson-Morgan coach and the Rockets’ first section title since the late 1980s.
The two leadoff hits for the Rockets in the third were followed by a sacrifice fly from starting pitcher Jacob Broadwater, helping his own cause with an RBI. Rafail then brought home the final two runs of the inning with a sharply hit single up the middle that gave J-M a 7-5 lead and the Rockets never trailed again.
“We had a little conference after we came off of the field in that third inning and just told our guys, ‘This is our field, our house, and we have to defend it,'” Curtis said about the sluggish start. “We know we can hit the ball and had five more shots at it. From there, our captains took over and told our guys it was time to buckle down.”
Jefferson-Morgan (10-1, 10-5) did exactly that in the next three innings by matching the runs scored by GCC in the fourth and fifth innings.
The Rockets added two insurance runs with a Rafail triple into the gap that rolled to the fence, scoring Clark. A sacrifice fly from Dean to center field put them ahead 11-7.
J-M needed all four of those runs as the Centurions failed to go away despite being down to their last out in the seventh inning.
A two-out walk by Neal McDermott, along with two consecutive J-M errors, put GCC (9-2, 9-3) in business.
James Rice and Antonio Cavallo took advantage for the Centurions with RBI singles before a game-ending flyout left them one run short.
“The third inning was the big inning for them and it hurt,” said GCC coach Nicholas LoNigro. “We gave up too many free bases today and any you give a team that many it puts the pressure back onto you. That might have been the main reason for that inning. They came up with timely hits and capitalized on the big situations.”
GCC allowed 12 Rockets to reach via walk or hit batsman.
Headlee led J-M by going 3-for-5 while making several running catches as he roamed center field. Rafail went 2-for-4 and collected a team-high four RBI.
Rice paced the Centurions with a four-hit day, driving in two runs.
While saving the best for last, the Rockets and Centurions – the top two teams in the section – meeting again today (4 p.m.) to determine if J-M wins the section outright or shares the title with GCC. Curtis said it simply came down to a devotion from the seniors, who have been through two consecutive losing seasons.
“These kids worked all winter,” he said. “Our seniors, that core of guys, were in the batting cage, on artificial mounds, conditioning and weightlifting because they knew something could really happen this year. Our younger guys joined right in.
“I don’t know if my heart has stopped yet. When the third and final out was made, we ended up having one more run. That’s all that matters.”