Pitching, defense anchors Andover Central baseball team in the hunt for a 5A title
It hasn’t been a complicated formula for the Andover Central baseball team this season.
The pitchers pound the strike zone and rely on the team’s defense to back them up. So far so good for the Jaguars, who are off to a 13-1 start this spring and have already clinched the Ark Valley-Chisholm Trail Division II championship.
Andover Central is allowing just 2.4 runs per game and the pitching staff’s earned-run average is hovering right around 2.00. The staff is anchored by junior Rece Wilson, sophomore Jacob Horn and senior Alex Ronk.
“Our pitching has just been rock solid this year,” Andover Central coach Grant Bacon said. “And the good thing is that their pitch counts are always low because our defense is making plays behind them. They’re really good at getting ahead in the count and being efficient with their pitches.”
Wilson is throwing a first-pitch strike more than 70% of the time, while Horn is 5-0 and just threw a 77-pitch complete game and Ronk is a versatile thrower capable of filling whatever need the team has.
To top it off, Andover Central has a senior catcher in Matt Buffington who rarely makes a defensive mistake behind the plate. He’s been a calming influence to the underclass pitchers the Jaguars are relying on this season.
When balls are put into play, Andover Central has one of the best middle infield defenses in the state with senior shortstop Eason Elliot and sophomore second baseman Cooper Tabor. Senior center fielder Jack Bell is also a superb defensive player, while junior left fielder Lou Blackman has been a clutch bat in the lineup.
“Jack is a dude that just flies around out there and he’s everywhere for us,” Bacon said. “There are balls where you think are in the gap and are doubles, but he just runs them down. He covers a lot of ground out there for us.”
After a series split with Derby early in the season, the Jaguars have reeled off 11 straight victories, including sweeps over Andover, Eisenhower, Salina Central, Valley Center and Goddard. Andover Central finishes the regular season on the road with road trips to Emporia this Friday and Salina South and Arkansas City next week.
Andover Central has all but secured one of the four host sites for Class 5A regionals, which would be a goal accomplished, but far from the last one the Jaguars want from this season.
“These guys understand what we’re really striving for,” Bacon said. “We know this team has the potential to make a deep run, but they also understand you can’t think about that right now. We’re just taking it one game at a time.”
This story was originally published May 4, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
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