The Jena Giants had a big week this past week winning three games but losing two, including a heartbreaking loss to Buckeye for the district championship.
On Monday, April 7, the Giants traveled to Delhi Charter for a non-district game. The Giants would pick up a 4-0 win. Carson Willis had a great pitching performance going 6 no hit innings with 6 strikeouts. Zoyle Gemar was 2-4 with an RBI.
On Tuesday, April 8, the Giants would travel to Buckeye to take on the Panthers for the District 2-3A championship. Both teams would come into the game with 4-0 district records.
It would be a great pitching matchup between Jena sophomore Collin Jensen and Buckeye senior Adam Brodnax. The Giants would do a great job of getting runners on and putting pressure on Brodnax early and in the top of the 4th inning would get a run as Jacob Belcher would come in to score on a throwing error by Buckeye.
In the bottom of the 5th inning, Buckeye would answer with a run to tie the score at one. From there both pitchers would continue to dominate, and the game would end up going into extra innings.
In the bottom of the 8th inning, Brodnax would hit a hard, line drive to right field that would go all the way to the fence and Brodnax would make it to third on a triple. The Giants would attempt to make a throw at third to get Brodnax out, but the throw would go over the fence and would allow Brodnax to come in to score the winning run. Buckeye would win 2-1.
Collin Jensen was masterful on the mound for the Giants as he pitched 7.1 innings giving up 2 runs on 6 hits and finishing with 8 strikeouts. Jonas Jenkins, Jacob Belcher, Collin Jensen, Brayden Oakes, Isaiah Todd and Preston Taylor all had hits in the game for the Giants.
On Thursday, April 10, the Giants traveled to Menard to take on the Eagles in a non-district matchup. Menard would get the win 6-2.
Calex Campbell gave up 2 earned runs on 8 hits and had 2 strikeouts in the game. Jonas Jenkins was 2-3 in the game.
On Friday, April 11, the Giants took on Benton. It would be a tough one for the Giants as Benton would go on to win 15-0. Collin Jensen, Calex Campbell and Preston Taylor each had a hit in the game.
This past Saturday, April 12, the Giants hosted Hackberry for a doubleheader. The Giants would defeat Hackberry 14-1 and 11-1.
The Giants are now 22-10 overall for the season. This week they will be at Haughton on Monday to finish up the regular season.
On Tuesday, April 22, the brackets will be released, and the Giants will find out where they are seeded for the playoffs. If the Giants can get a top 8 seed, then they would get a firstround bye for the playoffs.
You can hear all of the Giants playoff games on 102.7 KJNAFM. If you are not in the listening area then you can download the MIXLR app and search for KJNAFM or go online at www. kjnafm.mixlr.com.
