Hall of Fame Classic; Day One

By Blake Hibler
Director of Scouting, PBR Indiana

JASPER-- When you think Jasper Baseball you should think tradition. Coach Gobert has been adding to the tradition for the last 26 years. The first step was the addition of Ruxer Field. If you have not taken in a game here, you are missing out. It's a college field, with an atmosphere unrivaled in high school baseball.

Jasper took on Evansville Harrison in game 1 of the Hall of Fame Classic, a round robin that features 6 teams. Jasper did not play exceptionally well, but got a great pitching performance from junior Spencer Otto. Otto is not over powering, but nibbles the plate and throws a lot of strikes. The win moved Otto to 4-0 and Jasper to 21-2. 

Offensively, in the first Jasper's  2015 Ben Moore scored the first run on a Mark Geisler ground out to second. Harrison responded with a run in the second on Lawoy Rollins ability to run. He beat out a ground ball to first, stole second and scored from second on an overthrow to first. That would be all that Jasper pitching would allow.

In the fourth Jasper would pull away, adding three runs on miscues by Harrison. Both Geisler and Austin Alles would score on errors, and 2016 Cal Krueger crossed the plate on a fielder's choice. That would be all Jasper needed to seal a 4-1 victory.

Game 2

North Central Panthers made the long trip down from Indianapolis to take on the Evansville North Huskies. The Huskies entered the contest ranked No.12 with a record of 15-3. The Panthers came in at 13-5. The Panthers got a huge boost with their No. 1 pitcher making his first start since the second week of the season last night. Mac Lozer, a Michigan commit, had been battling some tendentious. Lozer returned in mid-season form, sitting 83-85 with a good breaking ball. The changeup was effective, but not as good as in the past.

North Central made the most of their six hits, scoring five runs, compared to Evansville North's eight hits and only two runs. North Central never trailed in the game, but also never seemed to gain control. Panthers pitchers Mac Lozer and Andrew Sullivan had to work out of several jams. Lozer got the win while Sullivan recorded the last nine outs to pick up the save.

Offensively, the Panthers were led by two hits and two RBI from Indiana commit, Demetrius Webb.

The North Central Panthers improve to 14-5 after the 5-2 victory.