The Jena Giants finished up their regular season with a 16-18 record which was good enough to earn the #15 seed in the playoffs. The Giants hosted #18 Port Allen in a three-game series in the first round of the playoffs last Friday and Saturday where they won and advanced to the second round of the Division III Non-Select playoffs.
This Giants team came into the season with a young team under new head coach Joe Hammett but have improved all season. In Game One of their series, they would turn to some of their veteran experience to lead them. Junior left-handed pitcher Collin Jensen came into the season with lots of experience as he has been starting on the mound for the Giants since his freshman season and has had plenty of playoff starts under his belt. Jensen would get the job done as he would pitch a complete game only giving up 4 hits and 1 unearned run. He would start the game with 5 scoreless innings. This is the start the young Giants team would need to give them some confidence. Jensen would finish with 7 strikeouts.
At the plate, the only senior on the team, Carson Willis, has had plenty of playoff starts as well as he has been starting since his sophomore season. Willis would get the Giants on the board in the bottom of the 1st inning as he would hit a ‘no doubt about it’ two-run homerun over the right field fence to put the Giants up 2-0.
In the 4th inning, Willis would come to the plate again and once again would hit a homerun over the right field fence to put the Giants up 3-0. The rest of the Giants’ bats would finally get going in the bottom of the 5th and 6th innings as they would score 4 runs in both innings with some of the big hits being a double from Jonathon Willis, Carson Willis, and Quinton Otwell.
The Giants would win 11-1 in 6 innings. Jensen would throw only 73 pitches in the game with 52 being strikes. Carson Willis would finish the game 3 for 3 with 2 homeruns, a triple, 3 runs scored, and 5 RBIs in the game.
With the win, the two teams would come back on Saturday to play a Game 2. The Giants would be the visiting team and would bat first. They would get on the board first as Kyler Chevallier would score on a sacrifice fly by Quinton Otwell.
Port Allen would answer with 6 runs in the bottom of the 2nd inning to take a 6-1 lead. In the 3rd inning Elijah Gemar would come in to pitch in relief of starter Bryce Thompson. Gemar would pitch 2.2 innings only giving up 1 run on 1 hit and finishing with 4 strikeouts.
In the 4th inning the Giants bats would get going as they would score 5 runs in the 4th inning, 5 more in the 5th inning, 2 in the 6th inning, and 3 in the 7th inning. Quinton Otwell would close out the game as he pitched the final 2 innings without giving up a hit and striking out 3.
Kyler Chevallier would lead the Giants at the plate as he would go 4 for 5 with a double, 2 runs scored, and 2 RBIs. Jonas Jenkins and Collin Jensen both had 3 hits and 3 RBIs in the game as well. The Giants would score 16 runs on 19 hits to go on to win 16-7 and advance to the 2nd round of the playoffs.
The Giants move on to play at #2 Westlake this weekend in another three-game series this weekend at Westlake. The Giants will play at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, 6:00 p.m. on Friday for Game 2, and if a Game 3 is necessary, it will be Saturday at 11:00 a.m.
Everyone is encouraged to make the trip south to cheer on the Giants as they look to pull of the upset in Westlake.
