Jacksonville’s Jack Rohlk waits for a pitch in the sixth inning of a game against Calhoun at Future Champions on Wednesday.
Dennis Mathes | Journal-Courier
Jacksonville’s Jack Rohlk rips a triple in the sixth inning of a game against Calhoun at Future Champions on Wednesday.
Dennis Mathes | Journal-Courier
Jacksonville’s Jack Rohlk celebrates after hitting a triple in the sixth inning of a game against Calhoun at Future Champions on Wednesday.
Dennis Mathes | Journal-Courier
Jacksonville’s Cy Kershaw delivers a pitch in the seventh inning of a game against Calhoun at Future Champions on Wednesday.
Dennis Mathes | Journal-Courier
Freshman Jack Rohlk went 3-for-4 with a pair of triples as the undefeated Jacksonville baseball team battled past Calhoun 10-7 in a back-and-forth game at Future Champions on Wednesday.
Jacksonville, off to its best start in years, improved to 5-0.
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Rohlk isn’t known as a triples hitter, but he came through in two big spots for the Crimsons on Wednesday against a team that beat Jacksonville last season.
“I’m not really the fastest guy on the team normally,” Rohlk said, “but I think I set myself up to get the triples there with the right-center approach.”
Rohlk hit his first triple in the bottom of the fourth with the Crimsons trailing 7-6. He drove in Bentley Lagergren and Nolan Peters to put Jacksonville back on top, 8-7. Rohlk then scored on a passed ball to increase the lead to 9-7.
“I was aggressive with my lead at third,” he said. “I saw the passed ball, and I just scored.”
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Rohlk hit another triple in his next at-bat, lacing a line drive to right-center field with one out in the sixth inning. He scored on a sacrifice fly by AJ Charpentier.
“I got the pitch middle-out, elevated right-center, just ran as hard as I could, got to third,” Rohlk said. “Almost thought it was going to be a home run, but didn’t get there.”
Rohlk said it’s been a little stressful being a freshman on the varsity team, but after the first game, he’s settling in. Rohlk, who has been playing travel ball since he was 8 years old, is used to playing at first base. “We needed a third baseman, so I chose to step up and play third this year,” he said.
“It’s been a little different,” Rohlk said, “but I’m working on it.”
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Jacksonville coach Cory Bunner said Rohlk had been struggling a little at the plate. But having coached him in junior high, Bunner knew what Rohlk was capable of doing.
“As a freshman playing at the varsity level, it’s a step up,” Bunner said. “He’s got a pretty level head about him. He doesn’t get too high or too low, and so you feel like it was just a matter of time. So I was glad to see him have a good day today.”
Rohlk wasn’t the only hitting hero for the Crimsons, who rapped out 11 hits. Peters went 2-for-3 with a bases-clearing double that erased a 4-2 Calhoun lead in the second inning. Ryan Headen also had a pair of hits.
Tuesday’s 10-3 win over Lincoln gave the team a shot of confidence, Bunner said.
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“I think we just did a nice job yesterday, and that confidence kind of spilled over to today,” the coach said. “It’s nice to see, especially as we continue forward and play really good teams and get into conference play even deeper. Games are gonna be tight, and you’re gonna have to battle at-bats. And I thought we did that today.”
Headen started the game on the mound and gave up seven runs (five earned) on nine hits in three-and-one-third innings pitched. He struck out three and walked one. Cy Kershaw came on in the fourth and shut out Calhoun the rest of the way on only one hit. He struck out one and walked one.
Jack Zipprich went 3-for-4 to lead Calhoun. Easton Wallendorf, Earl Elmore and Jacob Brannan had two hits apiece. Brannan’s two-run homer in the third gave the Warriors a 7-5 lead.
Earl Elmore and Selby Pohlman both pitched for Calhoun.
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The game ended with another spectacular catch from left fielder Ryan Headen. With a runner on and two out, Brannan hit a long fly ball to left. Headen backpedaled, reached the warning track and fell down with his back against the fence as he caught the ball for the final out. “He makes that play all the time,” Bunner said.
It was a big win against a team that beat Jacksonville 12-11 in the fifth game last year. The Crimsons struggled to a 2-3 start en route to a 22-14 season.
“Last year, our team lost to this team, which we aren’t too happy about, because we should have won,” Rohlk said. “So today, we came out ready to play. We hit the ball, and we played good defense.”