seniors Eric Patterson, Alex Nowlin, Mitch Bledsoe, Pat Murphy, and Sammy Dennis with Head Coach Shane Medlen
(RECORD PHOTO/LINDSAY VAUGHT)

MADISON-  It wasn’t the ending James Clemens baseball players envisioned. It wasn’t a playoff game or even a game with playoff implications. But it was a milestone and an important day in the development of the still fledgling program.

Senior Day last Saturday marked the final home games of the season as the Jets hosted Brooks for a doubleheader. They lost the first game 14-3 and won the second game 7-5 to move their record to 19-20 for the season. It was also the end for five seniors who transferred to the new school two years ago.

The Jets were eliminated from the playoff race two weeks ago.

After winning a series against Florence to open area play, the Jets lost three one-run games against Austin. Then area-leader Decatur beat James Clemens 6-0 in an area showdown. The next day Decatur defeated the Jets in a doubleheader 11-5 and 10-9 which sealed their fate. The losses seemed to linger as Decatur went on to win Class 6A, Area 16.

The Jets flatlined the next week in a non-area game against Buckhorn, losing 26-0.

The reason the Jets won’t make the playoffs start with pitching and fielding.

“We’ve got to get better pitching, that wins or loses ball games,” said James Clemens head baseball coach Shane Medlen. “Walks have been a problem. When you walk batters and go 3-2 with a lot of batters the defense kind of goes to sleep and the ball is hit and it surprises them and we’ve made too may errors. Early in the year we didn’t issue a lot of walks. We were forcing teams to hit the ball and we played good defense. Our pitching went into a slump. We’ve struggled throwing strikes.”

Medlen is already looking ahead to next year when James Clemens will be in Class 7A and in the same area as Bob Jones, Sparkman, and Hazel Green.

“We’ve got to get deeper on the mound. In 6A now 7A you can’t have three or four guys that you rely on and nobody else. Everybody wants to play doubleheaders so you play six or eight game a week. It’s tough to do if you don’t have a lot of pitchers.”

According to Medlen, one of his most consistent pitchers has been Tucker Clark.

“We’ve all taken it pretty hard. We all wanted it. After losing to Decatur it has been tough,” Clark said. “We tried changing the lineup but the difference between the beginning of the season and the end is huge.”

The highlight of the season was their team’s first win ever over Bob Jones. They later added another win over their cross-town rivals. After this senior class graduates there will be no one in the program who ever played for Bob Jones.

“It was a little of everything,” said Clark, a junior who played multiple infield positions and pitched this season. “Walks and errors were a problem and we are all slumping now at the plate. I’ve slumped with the worst of them. It’s been hard to find that intensity level. Leadership is something we have lacked. We have the talent to reach our goals. We’re going to get where we want to be.”

“I can’t wait to play 7A in the area with Bob Jones, Sparkman and Hazel Green. We will have to step it up because those are established programs. It will be our third year and we will finally have a full senior class and we will be ready to compete against them,” Clark said.

There were bright spots such as the development of young players. Head Coach Shane Medlen started two freshman including centerfielder Jordan Anderson. Team leaders such as catcher Nick Sainato, pitcher Heath Burchfield, Taylor Borst, Clark, Kyle Castelein at second base and Jordan Acosta at shortstop all return.

“I want to take that leadership role,” Clark said. “We’ve already been talking about it. Buying into what the coach says. It all comes with experience.”

Five seniors were recognized Saturday during a doubleheader with Brooks that was the final home game. Eric Patterson, Sammy Dennis, Pat Murphy, Alex Nowlin, and Mitch Bledsoe were treated to grilled hamburgers and hot dogs and best of all some extra playing time which has been scarce for some of them.

“I told them today that I was thankful for them,” Medlen said. “They had that choice of going or staying and they chose to come over here to try to start a tradition and that’s not easy.”

Eric Patterson started most games either at pitcher or shortstop. He has an offer to play in college at Martin Methodist but he has not decided to accept it.