The Jena Giants finished up their regular season this past week with two district games against the Caldwell Spartans. This would be a big series for both teams as each team came in with identical district records and ranked near each other in the power rankings.
The Giants came into the series ranked #5 in the power rankings while Caldwell came in ranked #7. Both teams were looking to finish in the top eight, as the top eight teams receive a bye in the first round of the playoffs. Whoever could get a win in the series would get a lot of power points to improve their power ranking.
On Thursday, April 11, Caldwell would come to Jena as the Giants honored their military veterans and little Giants as all veterans and kids got in free. The veterans and kids also participated in the announcement of starting lineups and the National Anthem, with a flyover during the playing of the National Anthem.
Caldwell would take the lead first as they would score a run in the first and two in the third to take a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the third inning. In the bottom of the third the Giants would get on the board as Paxton Willis would come in to score on an RBI double by Jacob Pentecost. Caldwell would pick up two more runs in the top of the fourth to take a 5-1 lead. The Giants would score two runs in the bottom of the fourth to cut the deficit in half at 5-3.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Caldwell would lead 6-3 when the Giants would get a run on an RBI single from Brayden Oakes. The Giants would get another run as Zoyle Gemar would earn a walk with the bases loaded to make it 6-5. Caldwell would answer with three runs in the top of the seventh to take a 9-5 lead.
The Giants would fight back though as Zerrick Jones and Jacob Belcher would score to make it 9-7 in the bottom of the seventh. The Giants would have runners on second and third with two outs but would be unable to get them in as Caldwell would go on to win 9-7. Jacob Belcher and Brayden Oakes both led the Giants with two hits and an RBI each.
On Friday night, April 12, the Giants would travel to Caldwell to take on the Spartans in the final district game of the year. Caldwell would score three runs in the first and five in the fifth inning as they would go on to win 8-2.
Sophomore Carson Willis got the start on the mound for the Giants as he pitched 4.1 innings only giving up three earned runs on four hits with two strike outs.
Cayden Mursch had two hits in the game and also had an excellent diving catch in left field. Zerrick Jones scored the two runs in the game for the Giants. With Caldwell winning the two games they jumped to #4 in the power rankings while the Giants fell to #7 in the power rankings.
The brackets for baseball were released on Tuesday so the Giants will find out their seed then. Wherever and whoever the Giants play in the playoffs everyone come on out and support the team as they look to make a playoff run.
We will have all playoff games on 102.7 KJNA. If you are not in the listening area then you can download the MIXLR app and search for KJNAFM or go online at www.kjnafmjena. mixlr.com.
Photos from the Thursday game against Caldwell:
